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Chapter Text

The wooden park bench is covered with layers of fallen pink petals. Japan, Jungkook thinks. But that can be a red herring. Pink flowers can grow in all sorts of places. Two women walk by, speaking Chinese. But that can be a red herring too, Jungkook thinks. People can speak Chinese anywhere.

Jungkook’s geography teacher loves red herrings.

It’s a chilly day, drizzling a little. It can drizzle anywhere, so the weather isn’t really a clue. Jungkook takes a few steps to the end of the small park and is greeted with the sight of a tall construction looming in the distance. There are several spires, erratic sculptures covering the stone facades, grand, striking, glorious.

Aha! It’s the Sagrada Família. Jungkook confidently recites his answer—Barcelona, Spain.

A bell dings and he’s greeted with a hovering box of text in the air. Correct answer! You have completed all the questions for your geography exam. You may now return to your classroom.

Jungkook selects the Quit button on the drop-down menu and enjoys the refreshing sensation of logging out of his Virtual Reality exam system. It feels to him a bit like surfacing out of water that’s just the right level of cold. He opens his eyes to be greeted by the inside of his VR pod, one of many in the school’s special tech education room. Around him, some of his classmates are still lying down in their pods, not having completed their test yet, while some are also sitting up, looking excited. Understandably so, as geography is their last exam subject for the day. Now that they’re done, they’re free from all exams—at least for the rest of this month—and have the winter study retreat to look forward to.

Jungkook is as excited as the others himself. He’s had quite enough of exams, even if they’ve become much more interesting than the standard pencil-and-paper tests they used to have when Jungkook was in second grade after most schools in the nation went down the VR route. The geography exam now involved being dropped in random foreign locations and having to identify the country and city. In the history exam earlier, they were sent to a different time period and had to identify the era according to the furniture style and paintings hanging on the walls. And in the biology exam they had yesterday, the whole class appeared inside a virtual reconstruction of a human body… and had to find their way out without compromising the human’s health! Now that was fun, especially since everyone was in a small round capsule so that they wouldn’t be harmed by stomach acid and could only move by rolling around. They spent half an hour just crashing into each other and having impromptu rolling races until the teacher had to log in and get them to stop.

Either way, that’s over now. Christmas is coming, the annual winter study retreat is coming. It probably doesn’t really count as a “retreat” as they’re going to be in school the whole time, but Jungkook still can’t wait. He hopes this year is going to be as fun as the last. Their teachers always collaborated with outstanding alumni to design the virtual study sessions to make sure that the students get the most out of them while also having the time of their lives. Last year, for example, they had to survive three days in a jungle, and that alone taught them more about basic life skills than any lecture ever could!

Of course, it’s all virtual and safe, they can’t actually “die” in those sessions as long as they follow the correct logout procedure. Jungkook will never forget that incident where some rebel in another high school skipped all the necessary steps and disconnected himself by force. Poor guy is still in a coma up to this day. Most students know better now.

Jungkook looks over the row of pods to catch the eye of his best friend, Jimin, whose pod is on the other end of the classroom. Looks like Jimin’s just finished his exam as well, and totally aced it too, judging from the triumphant smile. He leaps down from his pod and pads over to Jungkook.

“I got lucky,” he tells Jungkook, plopping himself down next to him. “On my first question I literally landed in front of a sign that had the city’s name on it… and my third and fifth questions were London and Paris. Right next to Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower.”

“I got dropped in front of the Sagrada Família for my last one, and for my sixth I landed close to a pyramid. Guess I was pretty lucky too,” Jungkook says. “I think Mrs. Bae is going easy on us because it’s almost Christmas and she’s in a good mood.”

Mrs. Bae is indeed in a good mood. She breezes into the special tech education room and beams after looking around. “I see some of you are already done! You can go home early today if you want and pack for the retreat tomorrow.” And then she strides off, heels echoing loudly from the hall outside. There’s no need for her to stay and monitor the test progress as no one can cheat anyway.

Some of the classmates grab their stuff and head out, footsteps light. They all seem to be in a jolly mood. Who wouldn’t be? Study retreat week is basically a whole week of virtual video games, and during the break times between each game they get to hang out with their friends and bunk in the classrooms. It’s as close to a school-wide sleepover as it can get.

Jungkook and Jimin decide to hang out in the classroom a little bit longer and wait for Taehyung to finish his test. Taehyung is Jimin’s boyfriend, but they never make Jungkook feel like the third wheel and he’s immensely grateful for that. The three of them usually go home together after school when Jungkook doesn’t have baseball practice. They’d have come together too, but Jungkook usually arrives at the school at five to train alone, even when the baseball team has no practice scheduled. It’s a hard life being the school team’s star pitcher.

He yawns. It’s been a long day. At least there’s no practice during study retreat week.

“You’d better rest well tonight. Don’t think any of us will be getting any sleep tomorrow,” Jimin comments, grinning. The first night of the retreat is usually when everyone’s the most energetic. They gradually calm down as the week goes on.

“Yeah. We’ll probably play board games through the whole first night like we did last year,” Jungkook says, and yawns again. It is not an attractive yawn. He isn’t trying to hide it. In fact, it’s probably an especially unattractive yawn because he likes making Jimin laugh. Everyone’s either still in their pods or gone, anyway.

Except that another student, whose pod is across Jungkook’s, has just sat up, rubbing his eyes.

He totally saw the especially unattractive yawn.

He’s smiling.

It’s Kim Namjoon.

Aaaaaahhhhh!

Now, there are three things you ought to know about Jeon Jungkook. First, he’s the star pitcher of his high school’s baseball team. Second, he’s only ever spotted with Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung, because he’s shy and making friends is hard okay goddamit. And third—now this he hasn’t admitted yet to even Jimin and Taehyung—he has a big fat hopeless crush on Kim Namjoon, the class’s resident eloquent nerd. Which makes him Jungkook’s exact opposite.

I mean, eloquent nerd and quiet jock. Can it get more cliché than that?

And Kim Namjoon has just seen him yawn very unattractively. Which is horrible. His nostrils probably looked huge. He probably had three chins.

Hide me! Jungkook wants to say to Jimin, except it wouldn’t do because Jimin doesn’t even know about his crush on Namjoon and would have been confused as to why Jungkook needs to be hidden, and also because Jimin is too short for Jungkook to hide behind. So he just slaps the dumbest smile on his face while Jimin—thank god for Jimin—comes to the rescue.

“How was it?” Jimin asks Namjoon, like they’re having the most casual conversation in the world, which they are, except all Jungkook can think is awkward situation averted. Like, this wouldn’t even have been an awkward situation for most people, but Jungkook is simply an awkward person overall.

Namjoon smiles his lovely dimpled smile and Jungkook squeals a little inside. “Got a bit lost in my seventh world, but the rest was okay,” he says, completely unaware of the effect his voice is having on poor Jungkook’s heart. “In my last world I landed on a beach and I stopped a bit to hunt for crabs before submitting my answer.”

How cute is that? Jungkook squeals a little bit more inside.

“For eating?” Jimin asks, surprised. “I don’t think we’re allowed to cook in exams.”

“For befriending,” Jungkook corrects him, because how dare Jimin not know that Namjoon loves small animals? Except of course Jimin would not know, considering that he hasn’t been secretly memorizing Namjoon-related details 24/7 like Jungkook has, but Jungkook completely forgot about this fact in the heat of the moment.

“Yes, for befriending,” Namjoon agrees, and flashes a smile at Jungkook.

Jungkook.exe has stopped working.

Namjoon smiled at him.

Kim Namjoon smiled at Jungkook.

Namjoon smiled at him.

A haiku!

Jungkook isn’t even sure how he managed the walk home without Jimin and Taehyung suspecting a thing (they even stopped for bingsu because they’re the kind of guys who think bingsu is best on a cold day), but it somehow all worked out. He was able to act like a normal person and discuss exam stuff and retreat stuff with his two friends. At least on the outside, he was unfazed.

But inside, he was screaming. Namjoon smiled at him! His heart screamed as he had dinner. Screamed as he packed for the retreat. Screamed as he went to bed. He woke up the next day and his heart was still screaming.

And then it’s time for the retreat.

Jungkook tells his heart to stop screaming, because it simply won’t do, before stepping into the special tech education classroom. The rest of his class is already there. Last year the retreat was held outside of the city, in an old hotel, and that was pretty nice too—but it only fits half the school and therefore this year the classes who went last year will be staying in the school instead. Jungkook doesn’t really mind. They’ll be spending most of the time in virtual worlds their teachers designed anyway, and besides the ride up to the mountain resort last year was pretty rocky. It was not fun to be stuck in a bus full of puking classmates.

After their teachers give them the usual spiel about logout safety, the class head to their pods to lie down. First up is their English teacher’s session. She looks really enthusiastic and Jungkook is excited to see the activity she designed. He wonders how long it’ll last—time is wonky inside the virtual worlds, so even though the session is supposed to be two hours long, it could feel like a much longer time has passed to the student.

For some reason, as Jungkook takes one last glimpse at the whitewashed classroom walls and lets the familiar sensation of being immersed in water wash over him, he has this feeling that he’ll be gone for way longer than two hours. He wonders why. Maybe it’s his star pitcher’s intuition speaking.

And then he opens his eyes and studies his new world. Hmm, nice. He and the rest of his class are standing in a large, rustic living room—everything’s woodsy, cozy rugs in vintage patterns cover the ground, large leather armchairs sit under a chandelier of candles. There’s even a conversation pit complete with a fireplace next to it. The whole place is decked out in Christmas decorations. Lights, garlands, stockings, everything. There’s a huge Christmas tree standing in the corner too, though none of the lights stringed on it are lit.

Their English teacher is the artsy type. This does seem like the kind of environment she’d design for her students. But what does this have to do with English? Jungkook waits patiently for the usual floating box of text to appear in the air. That’s how they usually get instructions for the lesson or exam.

But there is no box, at least not yet. The stereo speakers on either side of the room crackle to life and a song begins to play. Jungkook thinks he’s heard it a few times, mainly played in stores when December rolls around, but he’s never paid attention to the lyrics. He sure is paying attention now, and so is everyone else, because what if it’s his teacher’s idea of an English listening comprehension test?

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Ten lords a-leaping

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Eleven pipers piping

Ten lords a-leaping

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming

Eleven pipers piping

Ten lords a-leaping

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings

Four calling birds

Three french hens

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree

The song seems to drag on forever, especially towards the end where each verse gets increasingly long. It’s a joyful song, sung by what sounds like a kids’ choir and accompanied by silver bells and festive trumpets. The sound quality is distorted, though, like in some sort of old-school horror movie. Jungkook wonders if it’s for the aesthetics.

And then the floating box of text finally pops up. The content isn’t at all what Jungkook had expected, though.

Hello! Merry Christmas, class!

To celebrate this festive occasion, we have prepared this very exciting game for you!

You may consider us your humble Christmas elf helpers. Your teachers are probably freaking out right now because we have hacked into their files and taken over. Poor faculty, poor staff! We wonder how they’re gonna explain this to your parents.

Either way, here are the rules of the game! Are you ready, class?

1. The game will go on for twelve days.
2. Per the Twelve Days of Christmas song, on the first day, the class must complete one challenge. On the second day, the class must complete a second challenge plus the one challenge they did the previous day. On the third day, the class must complete a third challenge plus the two previous challenges, so on and so forth.
3. Failing challenges has consequences. Consequences may differ for each challenge. As for what the consequences are… you will find out.
4. You may “die” during challenges. Once you “die”, you’re forcefully ejected from the game, and we all know what happens in that case. Let’s hope your parents won’t sue the school for this, heehee.
5. Each day’s challenge(s) will be announced at 10 a.m. but can be completed at any time of the day, in any order.
6. There should be enough food and water to last everyone for twelve days and you may even earn extra food by completing challenges, so no need to worry about starving to death in the game (as for your bodies outside the game, well, we assume the teachers will hook you up to IV drips or something).
7. With every challenge you complete, one light on the Christmas tree is lit up. Your goal is to light up the star on the top of the tree. The star will not be lit up unless all the other lights on the tree are lit up, so you’d better not fail too many challenges! Once the star is lit up, you can leave the game safely with no repercussions.

That is all for today. Additional rules may follow.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas in advance!

The class falls into uncomfortable silence after reading the box of text. Some classmates are laughing, but even their laughter is uncertain.

Kim Seokjin, the class president, is one of the classmates who are laughing. “This must be Miss Choi’s idea of a joke,” he says, though he doesn’t sound so sure. “She’s got the wildest ideas!”

“Or maybe all the teachers are in on this together,” Seokjin’s girlfriend suggests. “Maybe they’re responsible for a challenge each.”

“Ooh, this sounds fun!” Jung Hoseok, always ready to slap on a smile to cheer everyone up, concurs.

And then, in the corner, Min Yoongi, one of the calmest and most levelheaded classmates, speaks up. “Guys, my quit button is gone.”

This instantly sobers everyone up. Jungkook raises a finger and swipes for his interface in the air.

It looks different now. There’s a SHOP button that didn’t use to be there. The “contact a teacher” option is gone.

And the quit button is indeed no longer there.

They cannot safely quit the game without the button.

They’re trapped.

Chapter Text

They’re trapped.

Now, trapped in a game with Kim Namjoon isn’t such a bad situation to be in, Jungkook supposes. It sounds like a good title for a Yattpad novel. Trapped in a Game with Kim Namjoon. Mm, has a nice ring to it. Jungkook would be lying if he said he had never thought about being in a game with Kim Namjoon, but by “in a game” he meant the escape room type of game, which is all the rage right now with all the recent developments in VR. Not this strange (albeit cozy) rustic living room with the life-saving QUIT button nowhere in sight.

His classmates have descended into chaos when the situation finally settles in. Some of them, at least—there’s Karen, for example, her real name is Kim Hyunju but she made everyone go by her English name because the math teacher is also Hyunju and she absolutely doesn’t want to share a name with the math teacher. Either way, she is currently screaming like a banshee.

“What is this? It’s a prank isn’t it, this is stupid, my dad is the head of the PTA, once he hears about it you people are so dead, we’re supposed to be studying, not playing pranks, oh my god if I do badly on the national exam because of this… Which one of you did it?” She whirls around, searching for a target, then points dramatically at Min Yoongi, who happens to be standing next to her and regarding her with a politely puzzled smile. “You! It must be you! I remember now, the other day when I went to your parents’ restaurant the food was cold and I left a bad review which you people totally deserved, and you’re doing this for revenge aren’t you? Min Yoongi I’m gonna end you—”

Min Yoongi simply shrugs and moves slightly further away from Karen. The expression on his face reminds Jungkook of the face his mom made the day she discovered a sudden influx of moth larvae in their backyard. Jungkook’s never talked to Yoongi before—heck, he’s pretty much never talked to anyone besides Jimin and Taehyung—but he’s always thought Yoongi was a chill guy.

While Karen, bless her and her pretty eyelashes, continues screaming, some other classmates are panicking too. Mousy Kang Namsook, class secretary and normally the calmest and quietest soul, is running around checking all the Christmas ornaments like a frenzied deer, as if she thinks she could somehow find the QUIT button under them. Taehyung is awkwardly comforting a sobbing Kim Youngchae, who’s generally known as Fairy Cub because she’s so cute and fluffy, to the point that no one really remembers her real name anymore. An Jaewoo, nicknamed Cookie Monster by the rest of the class because he always has cookies on him and has this gigantic blue parka that he wears when the teachers are not looking, miraculously discovers a jar of cookies sitting on one of the shelves and starts stress-munching right away.

“Get me out! Get me out of here!” Karen shrieks, scratching desperately at Oh Yoonjin, one of her friends, one of her press-on nails coming off in the process. Poor Oh Yoonjin is trying her best to get her to sit down on one of the many comfy-looking seats but to no avail.

“Stop screaming, bitch, you females are always so loud. It’s not even that big of a deal,” says Scott, one of the class bullies. “Just because there’s no logout button doesn’t mean we can’t get outta here. The teachers can unplug the pods and shut down the whole thing, right?”

“That’s dangerous. Remember the kid who got into a coma?” Oh Yoonjin says.

Scott rolls his eyes. He’s never had any patience when talking to girls, whom he considers inferior. “Fine. So these ‘Christmas Elves’ want us to light up that damn star, right? No star, no game. Lemme just—” He drags over a chair and reaches up towards the star on top of the Christmas tree.

“Uh, I wouldn’t recommend—” Bang Taekook, one of the geeky kids, squeaks from his corner. But it’s too late. The second Scott’s hand meets the star there’s a loud, zapping noise, and Scott collapses melodramatically onto the floor.

“Oh my god are you okay?” Karen screams, covering her mouth.

Oh Yoonjin reaches down carefully to help Scott up. The large, beefy dude plops down on a chair with a dazed smile, eyes unfocused, looking very out of it but otherwise unharmed.

“I guess that means removing the star is a no-go,” Jimin whispers to Jungkook. “But how did Taekook know that it could be dangerous?”

Jungkook knows perfectly well why Bang Taekook knew. Jungkook’s never actually spoken to the guy, but geeky, bespectacled Taekook seems like the kind of person who'd enjoy mangas and visual novels and the like. If he’s read the same things Jungkook sometimes reads, he’d of course know that, in situations like this, whoever tries to solve problems with brute force would be in huge trouble.

While Jungkook knows this, Scott’s bully buddies sure don’t. They immediately jump to the conclusion that Bang Taekook has insider knowledge and have him cornered.

“You did this! Only a nerd like you would know how to hack the teachers’ accounts and make a stupid ass game like this!” yells Brad, bully #1, who’s generally the leader figure of the bully group.

“I knew it! I knew it! It’s all your fault!” yells Jordan, bully #2, who generally follows whatever the leader says.

“I… I…” poor Bang Taekook whimpers.

“It’s all your fault! Last year you didn’t come to the retreat and we were fine! This year you came and look what happened!” Brad shouts, neck veins throbbing in a very impressive manner.

“I… I had the flu last year…” Bang Taekook tries to explain.

“No excuses! How else did you know touching the star would be dangerous, huh?” Jordan slams a meaty fist on the wall. He’s gigantic and therefore his fist is gigantic too.

“I… I…”

“Now, now, lay off him. This isn’t the time to turn against each other.”

Everyone turns around to see the handsome Kim Seokjin, class president and voice of reason. Not even the class bullies are immune to the charismatic words of Kim Seokjin.

“Besides, let’s look at this logically. If Taekook really were the one behind all of this, he wouldn’t have warned Scott at all, don’t you think? Surely he would have kept quiet and enjoyed the spectacle instead,” Seokjin adds.

Logic is not Brad and Jordan’s strong suit, but Seokjin’s face is very convincing. They back off with one last glare at Taekook, who sinks back into his corner with grateful tears in his eyes.

Now that Seokjin is up and taking charge, Jungkook suddenly feels way calmer. He suspects that the rest of the class feels this too, as everyone is quieting down, even Karen. Yes, he tells himself, everything will be all right. The teachers are probably horrified right now. They’ve probably alerted their parents. The parents are probably horrified too. If they can’t figure out a way to get them safely out of this game, this might make national news. Jungkook doesn’t want to be on national news. He was once, when his baseball team was interviewed, and his grandma still has the newspaper clipping hanging on her kitchen wall. Jungkook is mortified.

Yes, the situation is not great. But everything will be all right, Jungkook tells himself. The class president is here to lead us all. My best friends are right here by my side. We have cookies. Kim Namjoon smiled at me yesterday.

Kim Namjoon smiled at me yesterday!!!

Jungkook kind of wants to slap himself for being so stupidly excited over something this trivial when he and his class are clearly in a Squid Game-esque situation but hey, the heart wants what it wants.

“All right.” Seokjin clears his throat, making firm eye contact with everyone. “I’m as confused as you all, but we mustn’t panic. We’ll get through this if we work together. According to the rules, the first challenge will be announced at ten a.m., yes? We still have around an hour before that, then. First, I believe we should take inventory. Explore the premises, figure out what this place looks like exactly. After we are done, I want all of us to meet up back here and report our findings. We will then discuss the rules in detail. Judging from the song lyrics and the rules, we’ll have… what, seventy-six challenges to complete in total?”

“Seventy-eight,” Namjoon says, quickly doing the math.

“Seventy-eight.” Seokjin nods agreeably. “That’s a lot. But there are also a lot of lights on the tree. We need to count them and see how many challenges we’re allowed to fail.”

Taekook, who’s in the corner by the tree, starts counting fervently, and Yoongi kindly joins him.

“Sixty-seven,” Yoongi reports after a moment. “We’ve got sixty-seven lights here. So we need to light up sixty-eight lights including the star.”

“That means we may fail only ten challenges if we want to win the game and leave,” Seokjin says, dismayed.

“What happens… if we fail more?” Fairy Cub sobs.

“We don’t know yet, but we won’t fail more than ten challenges, so we’ll be fine. Trust me, I’m Kim Seokjin!” Seokjin says.

Everyone becomes visibly relieved. If their class president says so, it must be true.

“So now let’s split up and check out the place,” Seokjin concludes, and Jungkook automatically moves towards Jimin and Taehyung. Of course, he can’t help but wonder which direction Namjoon will be heading in, but it’s not like he can just follow him around like some lost puppy, as much as he wants to. He’s the star pitcher of the school’s baseball team, not a lost puppy.

Luckily, Namjoon seems to have joined Yoongi and Hoseok, the cool, artsy skater boys, who also happen to be going the same way as Jungkook and his buddies. It’s not like there are many directions they can go in, after all, the living room comes with only four doors and there are over thirty people in the class. It’s natural that they’ll overlap.

Jungkook still can’t help feeling his heart leap in victory.

The door they choose to check out leads to a hallway. Jungkook steps into the passage after Jimin and realizes that one side of it is lined from top to bottom with windows.

Windows that show the outside.

Jungkook sees dark, rippling waters. Cave walls, lit by torches. Several dark tunnels, leading into the unknown.

They’re on a boat.

Chapter Text

They’re on a boat. A floating mansion, more like, but still technically a boat.

That’s the conclusion they’ve come to after the class takes around twenty minutes to explore the whole place. Some girls manage to find what looks like a conference room and all thirty-seven students have congregated there for an impromptu class meeting. The lights in the conference room are much brighter than the dim orange glow of the lounge and they all feel extra professional sitting there on their wheeled office chairs.

Yoon Minnie, a small, artistic girl, is drawing a makeshift map on the whiteboard according to everyone’s reportings. The boat appears to have four stories: a huge lounge, a huge kitchen, and a huge dining room on the first floor, six bedrooms and a smaller lounge on the second floor, two more bedrooms, a conference room, and an enormous recreation room with billiards and the like on the third floor, and a swimming pool plus hot tub in the basement. Each bedroom comes with its own bathroom, and there are extra restrooms on every floor. How such a large place is maintained is anyone’s guess, but the overall atmosphere is quite homey and nice.

Seokjin, who led the expedition into the kitchen, proudly announces that they have indeed found enough food to feed everyone for over twelve days. The freezers are all in working condition and there are ovens and sinks and ample counter space for ten people to cook all at once, making meal prepping a breeze. Seokjin is already planning the lunch menu as they speak.

“They’ve got lots of snacks in the pantry,” Cookie Monster says, gleefully munching on a chocolate chip cookie. He’s carrying a whole jar that he’s claimed for himself. “Maybe this game ain’t so bad.”

The others have mostly dried their tears too, now that they’ve realized that their immediate surroundings are in fact very pleasant. Jungkook would venture to say that this Christmas mansion is much nicer than what most people have at home. If only they weren’t floating on water in some creepy-ass torch-lit cave. It’s the kind of place where sea monsters lurk. If a giant sea monster attacks their mansion, how would they even fight back? This is a residential building, they have no weapons besides kitchen knives.

Jungkook shudders. He hopes whoever put them in this strange situation isn’t the sea monster type of person. Come to think of it, who is this person who put them in this strange situation? Perhaps their next step should be to discuss potential suspects?

Jimin seems to read his mind. “Hey, now that we know where we are, does anyone have any idea who could’ve done this?” He gestures vaguely at the surroundings.

“It’s gotta be one of the teachers… or maybe multiple of them,” Yoongi says, darkly. “People who have a vendetta against the school. The whole country will be outraged to hear about what happened to us—perfect way to ruin the school’s reputation.”

“Agreed. It has to be someone who wants to get the school in trouble,” Seokjin says. “I mean, it’s impossible for someone to hate all thirty-seven of us at the same time, so it can’t be one of our enemies. Do any of us even have enemies? We’re just ordinary high school students.”

Jungkook, nervously swinging left and right in his swivel chair, certainly cannot imagine Seokjin having any enemies. He’s the head of the student council and super popular. Freshmen follow him around giggling like baby chickens.

“I’m inclined to think that it must be someone with an ulterior motive as well,” Namjoon suggests. “Maybe one of the organizations who have been protesting the usage of VR in education. There’s been a lot of those a few years back, right? If innocent high school students get stuck in the system, the tabloids are gonna have a field day.”

“So we’re just means to an end? Sucks to be us,” Cookie Monster remarks between munches. Taehyung reaches over and Cookie Monster gladly gives him an oatmeal raisin cookie.

“Who out of these people would know how to hack the system, though? Isn’t it supposed to be very safe?” Jungkook wonders out loud. And then blushes immediately because Namjoon meets his eye and nods in approval from the other end of the desk.

“Good question, Jungkook. What do you guys think, Taekook? Hopekook?”

Bang Taekook, the bullies’ favorite punching bag, is known for being quite good at tech stuff. Likewise, Hopekook is the class’s biggest geek. His name is Cha Kookhwi—Hope is his English name, and as there’s another person in the class also named Hope, the English teacher started calling them “Hopekook” and “Jihope” respectively as a way to distinguish between them, and the nicknames stuck. Hopekook and Jihope can’t be more unlike each other, though. Hopekook is a lanky, bespectacled dude whose back is always hunched, and Jihope is a jolly, loud, graceful girl who’s friends with everyone and also Seokjin’s current girlfriend.

Taekook glances furtively at Hopekook, not wanting to be the first to speak up, so Hopekook pushes up his glasses and replies, “As far as I know, none of the teachers in our school are capable of this level of hacking, not even Mr. Park who teaches elective programming. That guy’s way behind the times, I could’ve passed his classes with my eyes closed when I was ten. Still, there are people you can hire to do the hacking for you if you know where to look, so we can’t rule anyone out just because they’re hopeless at coding.”

“Um, yeah. I think it also depends on what challenges come up, because the hackers you can hire don’t always do level designing and the culprit may have to write the challenges themselves… so we can maybe get hints as to what kind of people they are from the challenges,” Taekook adds, turning slightly pale from all the attention he’s getting.

“Makes sense.” Seokjin nods kindly at the nervous guy. “I guess we have to wait and see. It’s almost ten, right? How do you think they’ll announce the first challenge? Do we have to go back to the lounge for it?”

Turns out they don’t have to go back to the lounge for it. A projector screen comes down over the whiteboard out of nowhere and text begins to appear, bright and big.

“Oh my god, it’s Comic Sans!” Seokjin clutches his heart in fake horror.

“Comic Sans is not that bad,” Yoongi drawls. But they quickly stop bickering as the full details of the challenge show up.

DAY 1 CHALLENGE 1

[A partridge in a pear tree]

A partridge is a popular game bird.

Challenge Duration: 5 mins

Required Person(s): 1

Challenge Type: Aim

The challenge may be completed at any time during the day. Please decide on the participant(s) among yourselves. The participant(s) shall board one of the rafts outside the houseboat and enter TUNNEL 1 to start the challenge.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Jungkook gulps as his eyes sweep over the words “Challenge Type: Aim”. Because everyone has turned around to look at him. Because obviously he’s the best choice for this challenge, being the star pitcher of the school’s baseball team and therefore automatically having the best aim. Even Namjoon is staring, which makes Jungkook twice as mortified.

Jimin laughs and whacks Jungkook on the shoulder teasingly. “Looks like this one is yours.”

“Of course, if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to,” Namjoon speaks up gently.

Jungkook coughs, feeling his cheeks heat up under the scrutiny of a whopping thirty-six pairs of eyes. “I… I can do it, yeah. It’s just the first challenge, right? And it’s one person, five minutes. Can’t be that hard.”

Yes, can’t be that hard. What could go wrong in five minutes? Definitely not much. He stands up and stretches. “Might as well get it over with, yeah? So that we have an idea what the challenges might be like and have some more clues to go off on. Better than waiting till it’s late.”

“Yeah, no point in waiting.” Jimin stands up as well, one hand placed supportively on Jungkook’s back. “So where’s the raft supposed to be?”

“There’s one tied by the front porch,” Lee Jinmin offers. She’s a tall, pretty girl and a good friend of Jihope’s.

The whole class decides unanimously to walk Jungkook to the raft, which naturally makes him a hundred percent more nervous than he would have been. It’s just one small five-minute challenge—did they really have to act like Jungkook’s going on a perilous journey to drop a ring into a volcano and this is the last time they’ll ever see him again? But he knows that they’re just showing solidarity. After all, no one knows what the challenges even look like. He probably won’t be throwing rings into volcanoes, but what if it’s something equally difficult?

As soon as he rows the small raft into tunnel 1—a number is labeled beside each tunnel, lit up by the torches—he forgets all his worries for a brief moment.

Because he’s suddenly no longer in a tunnel, or even on water. The raft is sitting on dry, grassy ground, a forest clearing shrouded in a mist. It’s only slightly chilly and the fresh air is rather pleasant. Jungkook scans the area and doesn’t detect any threats—at least not yet. But surely he won’t be allowed much time to look around, right? The challenge lasts for only five minutes, after all.

Sure enough, seconds later a basket appears by his feet, full of baseballs, and a countdown timer pops up in the air.

“Welcome to the first challenge. There are many partridges in the trees surrounding you. Your mission is to knock down twelve of them with the baseballs within five minutes,” a sweet, melodic voice announces. And then the countdown starts.

For a few seconds, Jungkook’s heart races like crazy. What do partridges even look like? He’s not much of a bird expert. What if he hits some kind of other bird? What if he hits a partridge but it flies away instead of falling down? What if he runs out of baseballs?

And then the mist slowly dissipates and the trees come into clear sight, and Jungkook realizes that he needn’t have worried. There are a lot of birds in the tree, and it’s quite obvious that they’re partridges… because they’re literally stuffed plushies with PARTRIDGE! written on their faces.

For someone else, Jungkook supposes, this could still be a challenge. But for him this is a walk in the park. It takes him two minutes to knock down twelve of those silly birds, and he even stopped to tie his shoelaces once. He didn’t even break a sweat.

“Congratulations! You have completed your objective and may safely return to the base. You received +1 Aim as reward. You may take one baseball as a souvenir.”

Jungkook obediently takes one baseball out of the remaining ones in the basket. He isn’t quite sure if it will make a difference which one he picks, so he just goes with his gut and takes the one that feels the best in his hand. As soon as he steps back on the raft, he finds himself floating on water in the tunnel once more. Too bad—the clearing was so nice, he would’ve loved to stay there longer. Have a picnic. Invite Namjoon to a picnic. Damn, I must have looked so cool, too bad Namjoon can’t be here to see it.

Except he finds out that, after he docks the raft and is wrapped in a tight hug from Jimin and Taehyung, in fact everyone saw him complete the challenge. It was automatically played on the living room TV. And since there was no way all thirty-six of them could fit on the front porch, some of the classmates were inside the living room, so they saw and called the others inside to watch. So everyone actually did see him complete the challenge. So Namjoon did see him complete the challenge.

Wow.

“That was a piece of cake, huh?” Seokjin welcomes him back into the house with a huge grin.

“It wasn’t even that hard, you should’ve sent me, I’d have done it even faster,” complains Brad, the head bully.

“It’s only easy because it was Jungkook. Imagine if I had gone. That would’ve been a disaster,” Namjoon says. He’s not even saying it to Jungkook, he’s saying it to someone else, Jungkook’s not even sure who it is because he can’t see with Jimin and Taehyung very excitedly bouncing around and blocking the way, but Jungkook can’t help feeling proud, so proud, prouder than he had been when his team made it to the nationals.

Namjoon said his name. He knows who Jungkook is!

Like, of course he does, everyone knows who Jungkook is, they’re in the same class, but still.

Everyone’s celebrating, and it feels a bit excessive because Jungkook didn’t even do anything out of the ordinary, but he knows that the others are simply relieved—relieved that the challenges don’t seem to be that hard after all, and if all the challenges are like this one they’ll be able to light up the Christmas tree in no time. He can’t help this small niggling voice inside him, though, warning him that this is just the first challenge and it can’t be all that simple and straightforward. There are seventy-seven more challenges to go. But, well, everyone’s celebrating, so Jungkook shoves his worries aside and lets himself smile for a bit while Jimin and Taehyung dance around him holding hands.

That is, until Yoongi asks the important question: “Jungkook, any idea what +1 Aim means?”

Slightly flustered by the fact that chill and cool Yoongi is speaking to him, Jungkook shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe I… have slightly better aim now?”

“Try this,” Jihope, Seokjin’s girlfriend, stuffs a dart into his hand. In the distance, Seokjin holds up a dartboard. The pair must have obtained it from the recreation room.

Jungkook’s never thrown a dart in his life. He’s never watched anyone do it and has no idea how to even correctly hold a dart. The dartboard isn’t that big, and Seokjin is standing almost a whole room away.

Jungkook throws.

Bull’s eye.

Chapter Text

Jungkook thought that seeing as they were done with their challenge for the day, the rest of the day would be fine. After all, disregarding the fact that they were trapped on a boat mansion in the middle of a cave (?) in a VR world with no exit button and tasks to complete to hopefully (?) leave after twelve days, there isn't really any immediate threat. Like, there would be, for example, if they had ended up in an apocalyptic world where they have to fight to stay alive while completing tasks. Now that's a little terrifying to even think about. But this — this is basically vacation. Or maybe some version of the Idol Olympics , as Seokjin had told the class cheerfully to boost morale, except none of them are idols, even if Jungkook can think of a few of his classmates who'd look good up on stage, and this isn't really the Olympics, more like the Squid Game, but —

Point is, he'd assumed that now that the supposedly hard part of the day was over, they'd have peace. Now he wonders how he'd been stupid enough to think that. 

"Not entirely stupid, if we're being honest," Jimin whispers to him, seated in the conference room as they are as Seokjin tries to find a marker to write on the whiteboard on the far end of the wall. "I mean, I didn't really think any of us could have thought that Gavin would try to hoard all the mushrooms for some god-forsaken reason or that Britknee would lose her press-on nail in the soup and then overturn the whole pot trying to find it, or—"

"Or that Taegi was allergic to shrimp, and that Inseol refused to hand over the knife when Jihope asked for it, and…" Taehyung trails off, sharing a significant look with Jimin and then Jungkook, and Jungkook thinks back to the whole mess that was lunch time. The fact that so many things went wrong in the span of a half hour is just...

"For some reason, I assumed we'd get along well. We’ve all been classmates for such a long time," he muses. 

"I mean," Jimin offers, "we do get along well. As a class. By sticking to our cliques, and just doing our own thing, unless it's group activities where the teachers pair us themselves. And even then," he goes on, as Seokjin finally locates a marker with an aha , "we didn't really have to do stuff on our own, where we'd have to organise tasks among ourselves." He shrugs, and Jungkook gets it. Going on a field trip supervised by a bunch of teachers, or entering a VR world, again supervised, is way different from being stuck with your entire class in a weird fucked-up VR world.

He understands. 

But it also fills him with dread, because if this is how one lunch can be—and Jungkook would like to make it clear here that they didn't even end up having lunch in the end, because the situation had devolved into a food fight and the rest of the food had been either undercooked, overcooked, or just inedible—then he doesn't have much hope for the rest of the twelve days. 

He glances mournfully at the digital clock above the whiteboard that reads 17:15. Logically, he's aware they don't really need to eat since it's all VR anyway, but he's a growing boy and a growing boy is allowed to be hungry, VR or not.

"Okay, guys," Seokjin starts, after writing down the word CHORES on the board. It elicits a customary groan from most of the class, except for Jeon Woncheol, who was nicknamed Soap by the class because of how much of a clean freak he is. That dude loves chores. "It can't go on like this. We've got to figure out who's doing what so that we can have some semblance of order."

"Can't everyone just take turns in the kitchen and cook for themselves?" Lee Jinmin asks, kimbap in hand. Jungkook blinks, a little envious. He wants kimbap too. He has no idea how Jinmin has kimbap. Jinmin is the kind of girl who always has food on her for some reason, but how did she manage to produce kimbap in a VR world? 

"We could," Seokjin agrees easily, "but in that case only the people who can cook get to eat, and to be honest, most of us can barely make ramyeon."

"Well, everyone else can just starve then," Brad mutters. "I'm not cooking for any of these assholes."

Amanda, a pretty girl who mostly hangs out with guys, glowers at him, and the rest of her posse follows suit, which leads to Brad getting out of his seat with a scowl, his lackeys immediately standing up as well.

Jungkook drops his head in his hands. 

"All I want is some kimbap," he mutters into the table, words muffled, while the rest of the class scramble to stop the fight from breaking out. His stomach rumbles and he wonders, not for the first time, if he should have at least grabbed a carrot from the refrigerator before making his way to the conference room where Seokjin had called an impromptu class meeting. 

It takes another hour and a half of arguing and discussion over do we really need to eat if it's just VR? (Jungkook had almost burst into tears at this point) and do we really have to clean the washrooms ourselves if it’s just VR? and If we really have to clean the washrooms, can't we just do it for our own cliques? before Seokjin had managed to draw up a semblance of a chores rotation schedule on the board with the help of his girlfriend Jihope plus Hoseok and Namjoon. 

Jungkook's been assigned to dishwashing duty, at least for the first day, and it's something that makes him so elated, an elation that overpowers even his hunger for a second, because Namjoon is also on dishwashing duty. Jungkook could almost cry. He can already imagine their hands brushing as he finishes each dish and hands it over to Namjoon to dry, and the soft smiles Namjoon would send his way every time that happens, and the way Jungkook might maybe get soap in his eyes, or Namjoon would, he's not very picky about that, and the other person will have to try to wipe it off —

"Jungkook-ah, get up , we've got to pick roommates!"

Jungkook blinks, rudely interrupted from his fantasy, and lets Taehyung pull him up. His stomach is growling again, damn it.

"What?" He asks.

Jimin levels him an exasperatedly fond look. "Where do you even disappear to in your head? Sometimes, I think you could rival Romy when it comes to daydreaming." Romy is the class’s resident daydreamer who’s always staring out of the window. Jungkook totally doesn’t daydream as much as Romy.

"I was thinking about chores," he mumbles, following Taehyung who's fluttering towards where Hoseok and Yoongi are. "But seriously, what are we doing?"

"Hobi suggested that we could stand in groups with people we want to room with, and then once that's decided, we can pick rooms based on how many of us there are and all that — apparently the rooms are a little unevenly sized, so."

"Oh, that makes sense." Jungkook nods. And then looks over to see Taehyung standing next to Yoongi and Hoseok and Namjoon. What? He finds himself unconsciously digging his heels into the white tiles underneath his feet, which doesn't really make much of a difference because Jimin's basically dragging him along. Though Jungkook is the athlete out of the two of them, Jimin's strength is more than mildly terrifying.

"Why are we going in that direction?" He squeaks out, when stalling doesn't work, because yes, he's ecstatic that his besties seem to have, for some reason, decided that it would be a good idea to share a room with Namjoon, but he also doesn’t feel ready! He’s never even thought about sleeping with Namjoon — ahem, sleeping in a room with Namjoon, he meant . What if he doesn't wear a shirt when he sleeps? What if they end up cuddling? And what if —

"Because it can't be just you, me and Tae in a room. There aren’t that many rooms, you know. And unless you want to share with, uhh, Soap or Karen or Brad — "

"No way!"

" — then those four are the best choice we’ve got."

Four? Jungkook thinks, and looks up to see that class president Seokjin has also joined the group. And okay , that's a room of cool people, he’s very relieved because being a shy person the concept of choosing groups always terrified him, but also… Namjoon? His crush?? Sharing a room with him???

"Honestly, I know you find Joonie intimidating for some reason — "

Joonie ? Jungkook's eyes almost fall out of their sockets. So Jimin's on petname basis with his future husband? When did this happen? Et tu, Jimin? 

" — but Yoongi and Hobi are nice people, and we all know how friendly Jin is, so it'll be okay! You don't even have to talk to Joonie if you don't want to," Jimin goes on as the two continue towards the rest of the group, and oh , Namjoon — Joonie — is looking their way and smiling, how cute, and wait, what did Jimin mean by that?

"Why would I not want to not talk to Namjoon?" Jungkook hisses, as they end up standing on Seokjin's other side. Of course I want to talk to him, I want to do more than talk to him, excuse me? "Also since when were you guys on a nickname basis?"

Jimin stares at him weirdly and, okay , maybe Jungkook didn't manage to keep the jealousy out of his voice well enough? Maybe Jimin can see his pathetic crush on Namjoon now? 

"We’ve always been friends…?" Jimin says, tilting his head. "I mean, maybe not before the beginning of this year, but then you had more practice, and sometimes Tae’s got to go do drama things for the drama club, and there's usually only a bunch of us left in class, so we ended up talking. He's very sweet."

I know , Jungkook wants to say, because he does know, at the risk of sounding like a creep. He knows Namjoon is the sweetest, he's in love with him, he's —

"Jungkookie," Jimin starts, a little concerned, when Jungkook doesn't reply, too busy thinking about Namjoon . "I know being shy can be hard sometimes, especially in front of eloquent people. If you're that intimidated by Namjoon, we can always change roommates — " 

"No, I don't want to change roommates!" Jungkook blurts out, a little too loudly, he realises, when Brad and Inseol, class resident bully and class resident asshole, stop arguing long enough to stare at him, and they're all the way across the conference room. 

Jimin tries to pretend he didn’t see. 

"Hey, glad to be rooming with you!" Namjoon offers when the class finally stops staring at Jungkook and the rest of the guys in their corner, and Jungkook.exe stops working. Because Namjoon just said he’s happy to sleep with him—no, room with him, bad brain!! Jungkook can't help the loopy smile that creeps onto his face, and okay, maybe that makes him seem slightly deranged because Jimin's giving him a look but also Namjoon looks awfully fond so he doesn't really care. 

"Me too," Jungkook replies dumbly, smile still on his face, and then is saved from further possible humiliation by Seokjin tapping on the table to get the class's attention.

"So let me write down the names of people sharing a room," he announces, looking around, and variations of okay and yes can be heard.

As Seokjin jots down the names, Jungkook takes a good look at the other groups, and… whew, he feels lucky to be where he is. Not that the other groups are bad, it’s just that they’re composed mostly of people he’s barely ever spoken to, and that’s always scary.

A few of the groups are predictable. The girly girls, the drama club guys, the class bullies, and Amanda's clique, which consists of her plus four guys. There’s Vmon and Vhope, best friends and what the teachers would call hooligans, though they’re basically harmless and mostly just enjoy wearing colorful things and shiny accessories over their uniforms. They gave themselves the names Vmon and Vhope because they thought it would make them seem “gangsta”. And then there’s Hopekook, bespectacled nerd, and Jang Two-Sock, class clown, who got the nickname Two-Sock because his twin brother in the neighboring class once came to school wearing just one sock and was known as Jang One-Sock from then on. It was a strange clique, come to think of it, but the group was surprisingly close and Jungkook had always thought they were cool because it was evidence of how very different people could find friendship in each other.

Of course, in a situation like this, there’s bound to be a leftover room where the rest of the people who aren’t in a group are stuck together. Jihope, Seokjin’s girlfriend, is unfortunately in that room. While most of the girls in that room are pretty easygoing, they’ve got Britknee and Karen, who are both very high maintenance.

“I’m surprised that Jihope chose that room. I mean, wouldn’t she want to room with Jin?" Jungkook asks Hoseok, who happens to be standing next to him. He wonders if he's being too forward, especially since he’s barely talked to Hoseok before, but Hoseok simply flashes him a friendly smile that makes him very relieved. 

"They probably don’t see the point in that, since if they can’t be alone in their room anyway it’s not like they can do any couple things. But then again, they're not really the PDA type, don’t you think?"

That’s true, Jungkook supposes. Seokjin and Jihope don’t really do any couple-y things in front of the crowd, besides some casual hand-holding. This makes Jungkook wonder how Namjoon might be in a relationship. He wonders if he'd be the kind of person who'd like kisses in the middle of class, who'd like to be surprised with gifts. Of course, he probably wouldn't be as shameless as Tae and Jimin, not that he thinks there's anything wrong with their public makeout sessions, but Namjoon just doesn’t seem like the type, and —

"Hey, how about we go pick a room while the cooking team makes food?" Namjoon asks, snapping Jungkook out of his thoughts. Jungkook startles, hitting his knee on the edge of the table, and has to smile through a wince as Taehyung, the absolute traitor, laughs at him ( does he know? Jungkook wonders. Taehyung always seems to just know things) while Jimin just gives him a quizzical look. 

"Sure," Jungkook replies, hoping his voice doesn't come out in a squeak. Spoiler: it does, and Yoongi stares at him while Hoseok tries to stifle his laughter, but Namjoon's lips curve into a gentle smile, and the rest of the world fades away. Namjoon talked to him! Namjoon smiled at him! They’re gonna go pick a room together! He follows Namjoon out of the conference room with a dumb grin on his face. 

Picking out a room , as an activity, is not as exciting as Jungkook expected it to be, of course, apart from the fact that Namjoon's beside him. Just Namjoon too, because the rest of their group is either on kitchen duty or otherwise occupied with… well, Jungkook's not particularly sure, but he's more than okay with that because now he gets to spend time with his crush alone ! That aside, the activity itself doesn't really warrant much fanfare, mostly because all the rooms are literally the same, barring the size and the number of beds, and it's not like they offer different views either, considering the whole mansion boat is inside a cave.

Brad's group, the bullies, chooses one of the rooms on the topmost floor and the other bigger room is taken by the group that consists of the drama club guys, Soap and his friends, and Taekook. Understandable, because there’s so many of them.

Jungkook and Namjoon pick the first room on the first floor and scribble out all their names on the door, before pushing it open. The layout is one double, one single, and two pairs of bunk beds, with a mirror and a dressing table on one side, a washroom with a bathtub to one side, and a couple of wardrobes, though Jungkook's not exactly sure what purpose they serve, considering how they don’t have any extra sets of outfits. The walls, in the least, are Christmas-themed, but there's honestly not much else that adds charm to the room.

"We could probably decorate it once we earn coins," Namjoon says, like he's read Jungkook’s mind, settling down in one of the bottom bunks. "I see a couple of nice beds in the catalogue."

Wait. What coins? What catalogue? No one’s talked about coins or catalogues.

“You can find it on your interface,” Namjoon says, kindly, noting Jungkook’s deer-in-the-headlights look. “I noticed it just now myself. I didn’t bother to check the interface after the initial shock this morning, since there was so much going on.”

Jungkook didn’t, either. He would have, he thinks, since he’s the anal type of person who checks everything twice. He would have pulled out the interface multiple times just to see if the QUIT button’s reappeared had there not been so many things going on all at once. As it was, he barely remembered that the interface was a thing until now. 

As Namjoon looks on, Jungkook quickly flicks open the interface of the VR program and finds an unfamiliar SHOP button in the peripheral of his vision, as well as an INVENTORY button. Apparently he has a thousand coins and a small gift box sitting inside his inventory — for completing the first task, the description says. He ignores it for a moment and flicks over to the BEDS section in the SHOP, and… Namjoon's right. Half the options here look lovely, especially the double beds, which look more king-sized according to the measurements. Jungkook can already envision having to share a bed with Namjoon for some reason —

"I love the one that's sunken into the floor. It’s massive enough for seven people," Namjoon comments, and Jungkook flicks down the section some more to see — oh .

"Oh yes, it's amazing, we should get it," he exclaims. It’s a massive bed indeed, one that fits seven. Perfect! Now he has the perfect excuse to cuddle Namjoon because see, it's the “there’s only one bed” trope, no one can say Jungkook doesn't have his fanfic tropes straight now. Yes, he knows that if all seven of them sleep in one bed he might not be sleeping next to Namjoon at all, but he decides that he can figure out the logistics later. And, to be honest, even if he doesn’t get to cuddle with Namjoon, that bed is quite simply a dream come true. It looks fluffy and comes with a dozen pillows, and Jungkook can imagine building a fort out of it, even if it makes him seem a little like a child. 

Namjoon hmms . "It's a little on the expensive side — "

Jungkook looks at the 14,000 tag underneath it. 

"But I think we could make it work in a couple of days if we pool our coins?"

"That would work," Jungkook agrees, scrolling past the rest of the options. There's a variety of bathtubs, a jacuzzi even that they could install, drapes and pillows that do not look like Santa threw up all over them and, last but not least, clothes. And my, the options are just... Jungkook's amazed. As much as this whole thing seems like a Squid Game rip-off, there's sure been a lot of effort put into the little details. Of course, a little niggling voice at the back of Jungkook’s head reminds him that Squid Game was a little like that too, on the day before the final, when they were all fed fine steak, like animals being given a good meal before being slaughtered, but...

Positive thoughts only! He fills his head with the comfy sweatpants, entirely in black (!!), and the hoodies he's seeing. They're not even that expensive at just 200 a pair. But…

"There must be another way to earn coins that's not just succeeding in the challenges, right?" Jungkook asks, pushing the clothes to one side on his interface.

"Yeah, there’s a MINIGAMES section. Did you see? There are some simple games you can play to win coins. I haven’t got the chance to try yet, but looks like you can win up to 100 coins at most with each try." 

"Oh," Jungkook murmurs, fascinated, because that means they could actually get the pit bed right that day if they slay at the mini games, which they probably will because Jungkook is nothing if not a hardcore gamer. Everyone would want to spend on clothes, first, though, he thinks, considering they're all stuck in their uniforms and those are not really the comfiest. He taps on the GAMES button, waiting as the interface loads. There are games that can be played just once a day—he sees a Wordle clone, for example—but there are also other games like Sudoku, Scrabble, match-3, finish the proverb, and even rock-paper-scissors (best of three matches), which can be played as much as you want, though they yield much fewer coins. 

"It's a good way to pass the time when we're not doing challenges," Jungkook comments before navigating back to the giftbox inside his inventory. 

"Yeah, I think it's mostly to keep us from getting at each other's throats," Namjoon says, and Jungkook takes his eyes off the rotating green gift to look at Namjoon. His breath catches in his throat for a second, because Namjoon's leaning against the wall, legs stretched out in front of him, head tilted back, exposing the curve of his neck, and… and… Jungkook swallows, forcing himself to look back at his gift, to tune in to what Namjoon's saying instead of thirsting over him. "I mean, we're all effectively stuck in one place for twelve days, so no matter how nice someone is, there's always a possibility that tempers might turn nasty, so."

"It's a good distraction, yeah," Jungkook agrees, tapping on the gift, and watching as it opens in a shower of glitter to show a bonsai tree .

Now, on any other day, Jungkook would be quite annoyed by such a gift. Because he slayed a challenge, and the system decided to reward him with a bonsai ? What is he to do with a bonsai? It's not like he knows anything about taking care of plants, and this is one that he can't even eat if he gets too hungry (he's kidding. Mostly). But right then, right then a bonsai is amazing because it means he can —

"Would you like to keep the bonsai by your bed?" Jungkook asks, grabbing it from his inventory and handing it to Namjoon, whose eyes light up the moment he sees the plant. Jungkook remembers Namjoon talking about his own bonsai once in class, when they'd been doing a presentation. Jungkook doesn't quite remember much of what Namjoon said, but he does remember the enthusiasm in his voice and the way his dimples had rested deep in his cheeks. The dimples are extra prominent now, as Namjoon stares at the bonsai in disbelief, his lips curving into the loveliest of smiles that has Jungkook's heart stuttering in its chest for a moment. 

"I can have it? Are you sure?" Namjoon asks, reaching for the bonsai tentatively, cradling it against his chest like he would do a baby, and Jungkook nods, the words getting stuck in his throat, as Namjoon smiles some more at him. Jungkook's not quite sure if he'll be able to survive Namjoon smiling at him like this, because of him, so grateful as he sets the bonsai down by the windowsill, humming a little. And then he opens the curtains to reveal glow-in-the-dark-fungi decorating the walls of the cave… and Jungkook makes a noise a little like that of a dying whale at the back of his throat, because he's only human and it’s a glorious scene, let him tell you. There’s Namjoon, smiling softly at his bonsai, and in the backdrop is sheer brilliance, like someone's stuck a million stars on the walls of the endlessly dark cave.

Right then, right there, Namjoon looks ethereal, and Jungkook's only human. Only a human who can't bear to look at Namjoon for a moment longer without his heart spilling messily all over the room, and so he makes a hasty retreat, mumbling about needing to use the washroom, nevermind that there's one right in the room. 

At least, he thinks, five minutes later, as he collapses into one of the chairs in the now mostly empty conference room, he'd made Namjoon (his crush!) smile, even if he did make a fool out of himself. Sitting in the squeaky chair, his heart rate finally under control, he cringes at how he'd fled, but at that moment, in the face of the brilliance that was Kim Namjoon and his earnest gratitude — Jungkook had really stood no chance. 

Honestly, it puts a lot of things into perspective. Like, would he even survive if their fingers brushed against each other, and would his heart even be able to handle it if Namjoon held his hand or hugged him? Jungkook whimpers, Namjoon's smile etched to the backs of his retinas as he drops his head onto the table with a thunk.

"Oh," someone squeaks, and Jungkook lifts his head equally fast, an apology on his lips that morphs into a "It’s okay, you don’t have to leave" when he spots Kang Namsook, a mousy girl and the class secretary, getting out of the chair at the far end, a journal in her hand. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You sound like you'd rather be alone — "

"Oh no no, it's okay," Jungkook reassures her. He’s shy, Namsook is shy, the last thing Jungkook wants to do is to make a shy person feel uncomfortable. "You were here first anyways."

Namsook blinks at him owlishly from behind her glasses before gently taking a seat, opening her journal again and then setting a pen down on it. 

Chapter Text

For a couple of minutes, there's peace and quiet. Jungkook continues dreaming about Namjoon — he also thinks about the next eleven days to come and the horrors they might bring, but mostly he dreams about Namjoon — but of course a little bit of peace and quiet is too much to ask for. The conference room door is thrown open with a bang that has Namsook squeaking once more and Jungkook sitting up a little straighter. 

It's Jordan and Scott, two of the class bullies. Brad, their leader, is on cooking duty, and these two are apparently wandering around seeking their new victims. Their beady eyes widen in excitement when they scan the room to find Namsook, meek and small and the perfect target. They make a beeline towards her, specifically her journal, either completely not noticing Jungkook (hey, he's not tiny like Jimin and there were literally only two people in the room, so rude) or having chosen to ignore him, which… okay? Jungkook's cool with that. After all, it's not like he’s interested in talking to Scott and Jordan on any good day, if he's being honest. 

What's not cool is the way they snatch up Namsook's journal and flip it open, without asking her permission, disregarding the way she's hopping a little trying to reach it — honestly , it's unfair to hold it above her head, seeing as they're both at least a foot taller than her. 

Now, Jungkook's normally not a hero or anything, like he's not the guy who goes around breaking up fights while looking cool or the guy who tries to get two best friends who are fighting to talk to each other. That's mostly Seokjin. Or Hoseok. Or Jihope. Sometimes even Jimin because he's nice that way and he's tiny but when he smiles in a certain way, sometimes you wonder if you're already dead and this is Hell greeting you. So.

Jungkook usually never has to do this, mostly because he's rarely even in the classroom, but also because it's not something that really happens a lot. He's heard stories of before, honestly, when bullying was this thing , but all the bullying that happens in his class, most of the time, you know, when he's there, is just a few people acting like sore losers or children. 

Which, to be honest, applies to what is happening right now, too, because to hold a journal above someone's head? Like, how can it get more childish than that? Are these people in kindergarten? Jungkook is dying from second-hand embarrassment just seeing them do it. Regardless, the poor girl looks like she's going to burst into tears and Jungkook isn't going to sit around watching someone be mean to someone else for absolutely no reason, or even if there were a reason, really , Jungkook doesn't think being mean to them is the way to go about doing things. 

So he clears his throat, making his presence known, aware of how lame he probably looks, because he feels lame, throat clearing is an art that clearly only works in movies or when the drama club guys employ it… but it works. Because Jordan and Scott stop waving the book above Namsook’s head for a moment to spare a glance at him.

"Jeon," Jordan says, in lieu of greeting.

"Jordan," Jungkook greets back, because it seems like the polite thing to do when someone's saying your name, and his mother didn't raise no rude child. And then, "Give Namsook her journal back."

"She's writing about us !" Jordan grumbles, waving the notebook some more, and dear god, does his hand not hurt? "Why should I give it back to her? That’s so weird."

Scott just nods, refusing to look in Namsook’s direction. Jungkook remembers then that Scott rarely ever talks to girls. He'd assumed initially that Scott was just shy, because Jungkook himself finds it hard to talk to people who aren't Jimin or Taehyung, or even his teammates outside practice, because sometimes he never is able to find the right words. Jimin had told him later, though, that Scott wasn’t shy — he just didn't talk to girls unless if they’re annoying him too much, because he thinks he’s above them.

"Yeah, why should we give it back to… you know." Scott waves in the direction of Namsook, like he can't bear to even look in her direction for a second. Jungkook can't believe him. He also decides against his initial response of 'because it's hers', since it's clear that if they had that much common sense, they wouldn't have even taken the journal in the first place.

Instead he says "Just give it back," trying to sound as assertive as Yoongi sounds when he breaks up fights, and he's not sure how effective his don't-mess-with-me expression was, but the guys actually do hand the journal over to Namsook after some grumbling, probably because they think Jungkook deserves some respect with his star athlete status. Jordan says to Jungkook, as he leaves, "She's writing about you too. I'd watch out if I were you."

Jungkook sighs at their retreating backs and the dramatic way in which they bang the door shut as they walk out. Drama queens, the two of them. Should have auditioned for the drama club, really, and what was with that ominous warning, huh? Why wouldn’t Namsook be writing about him? The purpose of a journal is to write down the day’s happenings. If Namsook is keeping a journal, she’ll of course write about how she’s stuck in a VR world with the whole class. And if she’s writing about the whole class, of course she would write about him. Jungkook would be worried if she didn't. He is part of the class, last he checked, after all. 

"Uh, I can stop if… if you don't want me to… write about… um…" Namsook squeaks, a couple of seconds later, clutching her notebook to her chest, voice trailing off nervously. Jungkook waves it away.

"Everyone's just doing what they do to stay sane. No one can blame you for keeping a diary."

Namsook gapes at him at that, and Jungkook wonders if people have given her a lot of shit for writing stuff. It's funny, he thinks, as he turns away, that he's been in her class for a couple of years now, but knows so little about her, other than the fact that she's quiet, likes to write, is the class secretary and the —

"It's not really a diary. It’s… a draft for the Christmas Play."

— Yeah, and the writer for the class’s Christmas Play.

"But I heard you already submitted a draft," Jungkook says, turning to face her as she pats the seat beside her nervously. 

"I mean, I did. But I wasn't so satisfied, and I was thinking, if we could make this ," she gestures around her, eyes suddenly sparkling in a way he's never seen before, "into a production, it'll be a really cool way to process what happened in these twelve days once we eventually get back into our bodies. Like yes, we would probably have to give statements about it anyway, but imagine making the whole thing into a play! "

Jungkook blinks. That's a good idea, of course, unless everyone's too traumatized to do it, but who knows, maybe art will help them make peace with the whole thing? And besides, it's not like it's even set in stone, Namsook is just writing a draft, and even if they never make a production out of it, it'd still be nice to have a written record of the whole thing, he thinks. And who better to record down all the details than the class secretary?

"It's a good idea," he says slowly, and Namsook beams at him in a way that makes him feel weirdly gooey and warm inside. Because, while most of the class is civil to him as he's a jock after all and part of a team that brings glory to the school, apart from Jimin and Taehyung, he doesn't really have friends in the class. Certainly no one ever smiled at him that sincerely, the way Namsook just did. But ever since he's been trapped here, he's had two people smile at him earnestly (one of which is his crush!!) and it's different from what he’s used to, but nice. 

"You should write it," he encourages her.

"You want to read?" She asks, and before he can say yes or no , he has the journal in his hands, and... it's a good premise, he thinks, the more he reads. Of course, it's just the start, considering they've just landed in this strange new world, but she's already given everyone roles that match their personality from what little he knows of them, including his , because his character is complete heart-eyes for Namjoon's character, which is very realistic, and —

Wait.

Wait.

"Wait, you know?" He asks, his voice cracking embarrassingly in the middle. And here he'd thought no one knew… but what if everyone actually knew? What if the whole class knew, in a more than teasing way? What if Namjoon knew? 

"No one knows," Namsook rushes to assure him. "No one." She holds a finger up in a pinky promise, and Jungkook's heart stops threatening to gallop out of his chest. "It's just… I notice stuff." She shrugs. "I mostly sit alone, right? And I'm quiet, so..." She trails off, but… Jungkook understands.

"People tend to forget you're there."

Jungkook understands, because he might be a jock and take up space on the field, but he's noticed through the multiple parties he's been to, birthday parties, nothing too wild, that he usually gets forgotten because of how he prefers to stay in one corner, and he's... okay that way. He doesn't prefer interacting with huge crowds or multiple people the way Jimin or Hoseok do. Taehyung too, sometimes. He's mostly okay with fading into the background, and the thing about fading into the background is that people forget you can hear stuff. They just decide that you're part of the background, and god only knows how much gossip Jungkook's been privy to.

"I get it," he repeats, and Namsook offers him a grateful smile. 

"So yeah. That's why I know. Because I notice a lot of stuff and... it's cute," she says, smiling tentatively. "You'd be cute together."

"You think so?" Jungkook asks, feeling giddy all over again, because someone thinks he looks cute with his crush!!! And it's like, now that someone knows, he wants to gush to her, to tell her everything about how cute Namjoon is, from his dimples to his everything, but… maybe later. He's not going to overwhelm someone he's just started talking to with his enthusiasm, not to mention that while Namjoon and Jungkook might look cute together, they're decidedly not together.

"Yet," Namsook says, like she's read his mind. "You guys share a room right? That's already a step in the right direction. And besides," she sneaks a sly glance at him, "you gifted him a bonsai, didn't you?"

Jungkook stares at her.

"How do you know that ?"

Because that had literally just happened! And Namsook hadn't been in the vicinity in any way or form! And unless the ship walls have ears —

"Don't look so alarmed," Namsook tells him. "Yoonjin was walking past your room when that happened and you guys had the door a little ajar, so she saw that and she told Britknee who started complaining about how no one ever gives her cute gifts, and she’s really loud so Namgi heard and mentioned that to Jinkook who told Amanda and..."

Jungkook blinks.

And then he blinks some more as Namsook catches her breath, two pink splotches appearing on her cheeks. He wonders briefly if she's embarrassed, or if it's the fact that she's spoken so much without taking a breath that has her looking like that, but that’s not the point now.

He squeezes his eyes shut.

It's been only sixteen minutes and twenty-three seconds, give or take, since he'd fled the room with a meep, and all these people already know? This is not taking into consideration the fact that if one person in a clique knows something, the rest of the clique will also definitely know, so that's more than half the class who might have maybe realised he actually has a crush on Namjoon which goes beyond their simple teasing. He can't believe their gossip network is this fast, like, it's probably faster than his fastest track record, which is already incredibly fast.

He forces himself to open his eyes and meet Namsook's nervous face, sees the way she's biting her lower lip like she thinks she messed up, and… okay, he can do this, Jungkook thinks. It's not her fault the class is gossipping.

"Are they talking about my crush on Namjoon?" He asks, voice wobbly. 

Yeah, he can't do this. 

"No!" Namsook quickly amends. "They're just talking about how you got some plant and then you and Namjoon decided to keep it on the windowsill. That's it. I inferred the rest." 

And that... okay. He can work with that. So all the class knows is that he was decorating his room, good good. Yeah. That's good. 

That's —

"Hey, are you okay? If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll never mention your crush on Namjoon again. But also," she pauses, "think of all the endless possibilities to develop your relationship on this ship ."

A beat of silence. A giggle, and Jungkook groans a little, because terrible pun, Seokjin would probably love it, but also he can't help but smile, feeling the world resettle into its axis. Namsook is funny and they could probably be great friends. He wonders how he's never noticed before.

"You think?"

"I know ," she assures him. "And I'll help you because true love deserves to win, and I know I'm not going to get mine — "

Jungkook makes a sound of protest but she waves it off, seemingly unaffected, as she goes on,

"All you need to do is follow every fanfic trope ever. By the end of twelve days, he'll be your boyfriend!"

And... well, twelve days is not a very long time, but Namsook looks so enthusiastic and excited about it, and... Jungkook thinks, what if it actually works out, you know? Besides, what's the harm in trying? Best case scenario, he ends up actually becoming Namjoon’s boyfriend and gets to poke his dimples everyday, worst case scenario, he just ends up looking awkward, but eh. It's not like he can make a bigger fool out of himself than he already must have, so.

"I'm in," he says quietly, and Namsook grins at him. 

"Okay, so since we're going to have lunch — which is pretty much dinner — next, your first step is to show him that you can provide for him! All you have to do is to make sure you keep refilling his plate and giving him all the dishes that he wants! That's it!"

Jungkook tilts his head a little, because what ? When she'd said she'd give him advice, he'd been thinking more along the lines of talk to him, say this and that , not this — this, if he remembers correctly falls along the lines of all the a/b/o fanfic Jimin likes to read (he thinks it’s a secret but Jungkook knows because Jimin usually reads on Jungkook's phone).

Of course, Jungkook doesn't know a lot about a/b/o fanfic, but what he does know is that, in some of the fics, the characters are werewolves. Clearly he’s not a werewolf and has no idea how to become one, nor does he really want to become one. Honestly, the best thing to do at this awkward moment would be to back out, but then he takes a look at Namsook's hopeful face, and...

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," he says weakly, even as he promises himself he's not going to do anything of that sort, before getting up and saying, "Shall we head towards the dining room, then?"

"Ah, I'll join you in a bit," Namsook says, smiling at him, opening her journal and picking up her pen, and Jungkook nods at her, before leaving the conference room. 

He's got friends to meet, a boyfriend to seduce (in a non-werewolf way ), and a big lunch/dinner calling his name.

He'll deal with the insanity of everything else, after.

The thing about humans, Jungkook's come to realise as they sit down for early dinner (yeah, he's decided that it sounds better than “lunch/dinner”), is that they're insanely resilient. Like, forget cockroaches. They've survived for like a gazillion years only because they're too stupid to die and too hard to kill. They didn’t survive because they know how to survive. That is a fact because Jungkook can think of at least fifteen different scenarios where he's come across cockroaches that were practically running around holding signs that said kill me . That he was able to kill only three out of the fifteen is another completely different thing. 

So. Back to the point. The point being that humans are insanely resilient, in that they know how to survive in all sorts of weird situations… and make the best out of said weird situations too. After all, if you'd asked Jungkook two weeks back if his class would survive, say, maybe a zombie apocalypse, he would've been like, no way. He'd probably have bet that almost three-fourths of the class would die before the end of the first day, and half of them wouldn't have even done anything but panic right from the start. Maybe a couple of them would have even just... walked right up to the zombies and asked to be eaten? He's not sure. 

"Fair, you know. I'd always assumed that at least half our class has horror-movie-protag syndrome," Roh Danbi, nickname Romy, comments, when Jungkook voices his opinion to Taehyung-and-Jimin, who don't notice him because they're making out right next to him, and okay, maybe he should have looked before speaking, but he'd assumed that they would be less likely to make out in front of the whole class, not like that's ever stopped them before, but. 

He shoots Romy a grateful smile for replying, because if she hadn’t, he would have seemed like an idiot talking to himself. She shrugs, elbows resting on the table on either side of her ramen cup, chopsticks balanced delicately on top of it as she waits for it to cook. 

"You mean that thing that protagonists in horror movies do where they try to find the ghost?" He asks, and she nods vigorously.

"It's so stupid!" Romy groans. "Like, if there's an empty corridor and I hear some sort of weird noises coming from the end and the rest of my friends are asleep, I sure as hell am not going to go investigate what it is! I don't want to die!"

Jungkook laughs at that. He can empathise. He's not saying he wouldn't go investigate, but —

"Wait," she narrows her eyes at him. "You're one of those types, aren't you? You'd go in search of the ghost?"

"I mean…" he smiles at her sheepishly before serving himself some japchae that Oh Yoonjin just set on their table. "I'd at least wake up someone and let them know or drag them along with me." 

Romy shoots him a look . 

"Yeah, no, I'm glad we're not sharing a room now," she jokes, waving away the japchae when Taehyung offers her some, and Jungkook smiles. "Seriously, though, back to what we were discussing, I kind of get what you mean. I'd have expected us to be panicking about the major things like, you know, being stuck here with no quit button in sight, but no , the only tantrum we've had so far apart from the chaos after we woke up was when Britknee started crying over her press-on nail, like, damn, get your priorities straight, girl."

"Exactly!" Jungkook says, reaching for a pair of chopsticks. "We're just going on with our lives like this were all so normal. I mean, we're having a feast practically, for dinner. Someone's managed to hook up the music system — "

"Yoongi," Romy provides, stirring her ramen. "He was fiddling with it earlier with Namjoon and Hoseok."

"Wow, that's cool, it’s really nice to have music even if the choice of songs are… well…" he tilts his head as V croons Let's make some bad decisions in the background.

Romy laughs, and Yoongi sulks at them from across the table, reaching for the kimbap. "That's not my fault," he grumbles. "I had a playlist , a good one — "

"A great one," Namjoon reassures him, turning away from his conversation with Seokjin for a second, and Jungkook's eyes land on him, on the perfection that is Namjoon’s face, blushing bright red when Namjoon directs a smile in his direction. 

"A great one," Yoongi repeats, raising his voice a little. "But then Minnie tricked me to a game of rock-papers-scissors--"

"There was no trickery involved," Yoon Minnie, the class’s arts officer and a cutie, calls out from her table, indignant. "I won fair and square, you sore loser. Also what's wrong with Bad Decisions, huh?"

There's a second of silence there, as half the class recognises the potential for a bad pun, and —

"You could say," Seokjin speaks up, predictably, "Yoongi just made a bad decision."

The class groans, someone curses, Seokjin laughs, unabashed, and everyone turns back to their cliques and their food. Jungkook smiles to himself, thanking Hoseok as a plate of samgyupsal is passed his way, and damn, his classmates have really outdone theirselves. Even if some of the food is readymade stuff, there still must have been a lot of effort involved. And for it all to taste good?

"Honestly," Romy says, "I think Seokjin's pun was an example of how we've just accepted this as our new normal. Like, I'm sure we're all scared inside, but I think we all also think that we'll find a way to make things work out."

"Either that or everyone's just really good at faking it," Jungkook comments.

"Faking it," Hoseok says cheerfully, and Romy laughs, though it's not unkind. 

"I think it's a very cool thing about humans," she goes on, and Jungkook nods. "I mean, it could all just be a weird sort of coping mechanism, and us refusing to believe this is the reality, but... it's plenty cool, especially considering how nice the atmosphere is, right now."

And Jungkook has to agree with that. They've got a full course meal for dinner — land Jungkook's not even eaten half of the spread on the table, not to mention the dishes that haven't been passed over to their table yet. He knows that tteokbokki is on the menu, for example, he just needs to find which table has it. Everyone's seated with their cliques, loosely, because there are only four tables and that means that there's definitely going to be other people at your table, like Romy and Namsook at theirs. There's good music playing in the background — Arson, the song’s called, which is great as long as they don't have any pyromaniacs on board, don’t want them to get inspired or anything —

"Aww, they're so cute," Romy pulls him out of his thoughts, and Jungkook follows her line of sight to see Taehyung feeding Jimin some sweet and spicy shrimp off his plate, both of them giggling. Jungkook finds his lips tugging into a fond smile. No matter how many times he's seen this sight, he doesn't think he'll ever tire of it. Their love is just too pure. "I wish Gavin were like that sometimes, you know?" She goes on, and Jungkook turns to face her, blinking a little.

"Gavin?" Gavin, actual name Go Jihan, prefers to go by his English name because he thinks it’s cooler. Jungkook doesn’t know much about Gavin except that he presents himself as someone who’s very popular with the ladies. He certainly didn’t know that Gavin and Romy were a thing.

"You guys are together?" He asks, before realising how tactless that must sound. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean — "

"It's okay," Romy laughs, though it's a little forced. "I don't blame you, it's not like we talk a lot, and it's not like he ever wanted us to go public. But… for some reason, I feel like I can tell you and trust you to keep it a secret."

"Of course," Jungkook agrees, even if he's still a little confused because he’d always thought that, well —

"We've been dating for a couple of weeks now," Romy confesses, in a hushed whisper, breaking Jungkook’s train of thought. She sounds smitten, but there’s also what sounds like yearning in her voice. Like she’s terribly lonely. "I mean, I've crushed on him for longer, because he's… you know," she gestures vaguely. Jungkook most certainly doesn’t know. "But then I confessed to him, and he said he also liked me, and... we're keeping it on a downlow."

"Congratulations then," Jungkook says, because he's pretty sure that's what you're supposed to say when someone tells you something like this. He's not sure, partly because she doesn't sound very ecstatic and partly because the only other time he'd ever been in a position like this was when Jimin and Taehyung had told him about them finally getting together, woke him in the ass crack of dawn for it too, and he'd thrown a pillow at their faces, which isn’t the point right now. "I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy too," Romy says, softly, "But... it's just... sometimes it'd be nice if we could be like them , you know?" Her voice is wistful and Jungkook follows her gaze to see Jimin, who has now progressed from feeding Taehyung to sitting in his lap, being obnoxiously cute. "I mean," she goes on, "The one time I tried to give him stuff from my plate when we went out for dinner on a date, he just went and ate everything on my plate! And I was like, okay, maybe he's going to give me what's on his plate too, but no , he just ate that too, and he told me I shouldn't have ordered stuff if I didn't have an appetite…" 

"What?" Jungkook blinks, because what the hell? He thought Gavin was the suave, gentlemanly type. Jungkook's never been in a relationship but even he wouldn't be so dense, he thinks. 

"Thank you," Romy tells him, "I'm glad you get it." 

"That's just dumb. And uncalled for," Jungkook agrees, suddenly feeling very offended on Romy's behalf. He's not even spoken much to her before in class, but now he’s decided that she’s quite sweet. To think that someone would take a sweet girl like her on a date and then just... do that? "He didn't even ask you why you weren't eating?" 

"No," she complains. "Ugh. I don't even know what I see in him." She pouts at her ramyeon, before shaking her head. "Okay, yeah, no, let's not think about that. We've got amazing food in front of us, let's just eat it and enjoy and not think about idiot boyfriends, yeah?"

Jungkook nods, smiling, when she clinks her water glass against his in cheers. 

"Hey, also," she says, smiling a little at him, when she sets her glass down, eyes earnest."Thanks for listening. We never talked much before but I just realized that you're really cool, you know? I'm glad I sat down next to you."

And Jungkook doesn't know what to say to that, but he feels the same . Feels warm all of a sudden, and happier, because sure, he's used to being called cool because he's a jock, but this is different.  

The smile doesn't leave his lips as he starts eating. 

The rest of dinner is a rowdy affair. There's overlapping conversations, Jimin and Taehyung deciding they want to both feed him eomok guk at the same time, almost pouring it all in his lap in the process, Seokjin, Yoongi and Hoseok pulling him into their conversations, but above all — Namjoon, talking to him, smiling at him, and asking him for help with peeling the perilla leaves (and Jungkook's already imagining them as a married couple cooking together, nevermind the weird looks Jimin's shooting him, and okay maybe Namjoon didn't exactly ask him to do it, Jimin actually offered first, and maybe Jungkook kind of knocked his chopsticks clean out of the way in his eagerness to help Namjoon, but hey ! He's just helping Jimin too, because he knows Taehyung's opinion on the perilla leaves debate and he's saving Jimin's marriage too in the process! He ignores the tiny smile Namsook gives him at that, because no, that wasn't what it looked like, he wasn't trying to show Namjoon that he could provide for him , even though Jungkook definitely can).

So dinner is good. It's food that's incredible , right down from the tteokbokki to the pajeon to the pork belly, and he had no idea that multiple of his classmates knew how to cook, not to mention how they had parents who owned restaurants. It really went to show how there was only so much you could learn about your classmates in a school setting, even if you've been in the same class for a whole year.

Dinner is compliments that are passed around the table as freely as the ramyeon, and at one point he follows Choi Jinkook, a guy with legs as long and skinny as a spiders’, into the kitchen to make some more ramyeon because you can never not have enough ramyeon. They end up striking up a conversation, and by the time dinner's done and the only people left behind are the dish washing team, Jungkook's heart feels full full fuller than ever, all fears and worries forgotten, at least for a fleeting moment.

More so when he and Namjoon end up standing side by side, washing dishes, and Namjoon says, soap suds on his dimple and a smile on his lips, "Hey, it was sweet of you to talk to Romy during dinner. I was worried I'd made a mistake by inviting her to sit with us, because what if no one spoke to her? But you did."

"She's nice," Jungkook says. "She's really nice." He repeats, because he thinks he gets what Namjoon's not saying, how people say Romy usually has her head up in the clouds, being the class’s resident airhead. But then again, people also say that about Taehyung, and Taehyung's one of the best people Jungkook knows. He doesn't care about what people says. "Besides, if I refused to talk to her just because of her reputation, then by all means the two of us should also not be talking."

Jungkook wonders if it's the high from dinner that gives him liquid courage to meet Namjoon's eyes at that moment — to tell him in not so many words how improbable it feels for the jock and the nerd to be talking like this — to blur boundaries drawn so wrongly by people and tags they're given, even if half the class also simultaneously seems to think 'shipping' them is cute, not putting too much thought into it. 

And Namjoon smiles at that, this soft, shy smile that hides at the corner of his lips.

"Romy's cool," he says, and then, "you're cooler, and they're right, you're way too cool to be talking to me, but, I think you don't mind, do you?" 

No , Jungkook wants to yell. I love you , he wants to say. He wants to wipe the soap suds from Namjoon's dimples, wants to let his hands linger on his cheeks, wants to whisper against his lips you're the one who's too cool for me. Jungkook wants to kiss him. 

But Jungkook also has enough self-restraint and awareness to say, "I've always wanted to be your friend."

And okay , maybe not as cool as he'd hoped to be, but. 

"Honestly, I don't care for what people say about other people." He pauses, thinks about it for a moment, and then adds, "Unless ‘people’ is Taehyung, in which case I'll always take his judgment into consideration because he's — "

"Like a human vibe check."

"Yes!" Jungkook smiles, placing the plate by the side for Oh Yoonjin to wipe it down. He reaches for a bowl and his hands brush against Namjoon's, and Jungkook's heart skips a beat, but he keeps his voice even as he goes on, "But as I was saying, I don't care about what people say."

Do you ? He doesn't ask, but it hangs in the air between them, and Namjoon smiles at him. "I don't either. So does that mean we're friends?" 

Jungkook grins at him as his heart does a little tap dance, because he's friends with his crush (friends!) and they've said more to each other in one day more than they had in a year! 

"I just hope you're prepared for how much wilder your life is going to get, because if you’re my friend you’re also Jimin and Taehyung’s friend. We’re a package deal, and when the three of us are together we can be a bit..." He trails off, and Namjoon laughs, throwing his head back, this endearingly awkward hahaha that has Jungkook's heart flipping, even as Scott turns around to cuss at them because apparently they're being too happy for dishwashing duty, but eh .

Jungkook doesn't care. Especially when Namjoon says, "Well, you haven't seen how I can be around Yoongi and Hoseok, so."

He beams at Jungkook, and Jungkook beams back.

He also falls a little more for Namjoon with every dish they wash.

As cheesy as that sounds. 

(Dear god, he sounds like the lovesick version of Jungkook in Namsook's Christmas play. Eeek.)

They turn in for the night without much fanfare. Jungkook thinks it's mostly because Yoongi's already adorably asleep in one of the lower bunks he's claimed for himself, possibly because he's part of the breakfast team and will have to get up early. 

Jimin and Taehyung are given the double without any argument, Seokjin gets the single, because really, it's not like it makes any difference given how all the beds are the same , while Hoseok takes the bunk on top of Yoongi's, leaving the last pair of bunk beds to Namjoon and Jungkook.

"Top or bottom?" Jungkook asks him, blushing a little when the words leave his mouth because he hadn't meant for it to come out like that, and he knows there's an innuendo hidden in there that someone — maybe one of the bullies — would have pointed out because they’re crass like that, but Namjoon simply smiles sheepishly, scratching his nape as he says, "I'd like to take the bottom bunk if it's okay? I have a feeling I'll end up stubbing my toe multiple times if I have to climb up to the top bunk."

Jungkook absolutely loves this endearing guy. 

He adores him.

"I don't mind," he assures him with a smile, placing a foot on a ladder rung. "Good night."

"Good night, Jungkookie," Namjoon replies, getting into his own bed. "Good night, guys."

And as the room rings with hushed good night s, Jungkook tucks his feet into the warmth of the slightly scratchy blankets and lets the exhaustion of the day, the surrealness of it all, hit him. 

The remnants of the cosiness that he'd carried from dinner dim for the slightest then, especially as he thinks about the next day, inadvertent as it is, but... it's the next day. He'll handle it as it comes, and besides, it's not like he's alone. He's got his classmates, got new friends like Namsook and Romy and —

He blinks his eyes open, a sudden thought occurring to him, and silently slips out of his bed to creep onto Jimin and Taehyung’s. Taehyung is already fast asleep, but Jimin turns over and flashes him a grin, pulling the blanket up around them both.  

“I’ll let you sleep in a sec, just one quick question,” Jungkook whispers into Jimin’s ear. Jimin nods and motions at him to continue.

“Was it you who told me the other day that Gavin was dating Amanda?”

Jimin squints at him. “Yeah. I don’t know if it’s official or anything but I caught them kissing a couple of weeks back, and Amanda was pretty forthcoming about it.”

Jungkook’s heart drops. “Oh.”

“Why do you ask?” Jimin asks. “Do you have a crush on Amanda or something? Or worse, Gavin?”

Jungkook snorts, even as the last remnants of the warmth of the day ebb away. 

“Nah. There’s something I need to figure out… I’ll let you know, yeah?”

Jimin smiles and ruffles Jungkook’s hair. “Anything for our Jungkookie. Anyways, stop overthinking, whatever it is, and go sleep, yeah? We need you well-rested for tomorrow's challenges.”

“Yeah. Good night,” Jungkook mumbles, flashing Jimin an uncomfortable smile, and crawls back to bed, finally falling into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter Text

Jungkook wakes up from a restful sleep to Seokjin clanging on a pot with a ladle and the glorious smell of breakfast wafting in from the open door. The warm yellow light from outside floods into the room, and as Jungkook sits up and stretches from the top bunk he’s on, he thinks it would almost feel like one of those delightful weekend mornings if there had been any sunlight coming in from the windows. The glow-in-the-dark fungi are delightful, but naturally much dimmer than the sun.

This doesn’t dampen Jungkook’s spirits one bit, especially when he nimbly makes his way down the rungs only to be greeted with the utterly adorable sight that is groggy Namjoon, hair a mess, clothes rumpled, features softened from sleep. This is something Jungkook would decidedly be happy to wake up every day to.

As he quickly washes up in the room’s adjoined bathroom, he wonders if this is what a sleepover feels like. He’s never been to one, not even with Jimin and Taehyung, and this is kind of cool. Granted, he’s spent nights with his classmates too in last year’s study retreat, but there’s still something new and exciting about this situation—no teachers in sight, parents no longer one call away. It feels like freedom, even though they’re trapped, which is obviously the opposite of free.

The rest of the room’s occupants who are not Seokjin or Yoongi mutter muffled good mornings as they roll out of bed and get ready, using the toiletries they found neatly packed in the bathroom cabinet (luckily they didn’t have to spend coins on that). Once everyone’s done, they make their way to the dining hall. The breakfast team did a remarkable job—they’ve opted for a more western-style breakfast for a change from the previous night’s traditional meal, and Jungkook’s never been happier to see waffles. They’re topped with cream and strawberries and warm maple syrup and also come with cheese and apple slices on the side, as well as everyone’s choice of either tea or orange juice.

Jungkook quickly looks around the room to find that everyone’s changed out of their uniforms. Apparently the whole class has earned enough coins with the minigames to buy at least one new outfit. It’s interesting how, despite the limited choices, there are very few outfit overlaps. At least it makes the situation much less Squid-Game-esque now that everyone’s dressed differently.

“As the class treasurer, I’ve made it my mission to make as much money as I can get,” Lee Jinmin, who happens to be sitting next to Jungkook, informs him. Lee Jinmin has a model-like figure and an unsatiable desire for both food and money. Being the very efficient type, she’s currently sending forkful after forkful of breakfast into her mouth with one hand and stabbing the air in front of her like a madwoman with the other. Jungkook can’t see her screen but can tell that she’s most likely busy with one of the minigames.

“Which one are you playing?” He asks, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

“Rock paper scissors,” comes the reply. “I’m super good at it.”

That, Jungkook knows, is the truth. Whenever there were schoolwide sports competitions and each class had to send a representative to do rock paper scissors to determine the match orders, their class always sent Jinmin. She never lost even once. Jungkook is very much in awe of Jinmin and her rock-paper-scissors witchery and is kind of flattered that she’s talking to him so casually like they’ve always been the best of friends.

He can’t help feeling rather pleased somehow. All of a sudden, now that the familiar school environment is removed and the social hierarchy everyone’s used to has been broken down, he’s talking to new people left and right. Or perhaps it’s only to be expected—he’s known these classmates for a very long time, after all. They spend half the day together in close quarters, exchanging particles, breathing the same air. They have so much in common no matter they want to or not, so of course they’ll have an easier time talking to each other given the chance.

The thought is heartwarming. As Jungkook eats, he chats a little with Lee Jinmin about all the minigames she’s tried (looks like she’s good at all of them, but she believes that rock paper scissors is the quickest and therefore more efficient for making money), and thinks about the newfound friends he’s made in the span of less than a day.

He’ll have to talk to them soon. Namsook because, well, she’s the only one who knows about Jungkook’s big secret right now (and while he trusts her enough to not spill, he still wants to remind her to edit out all the parts about his big fat crush on Namjoon in the Christmas play—like, it’s not the sort of thing he wants to perform in front of the whole class, you know?) And Romy because… hm. Jungkook isn’t sure how to tell Romy about what he learned last night. Perhaps he shouldn’t tell her yet, not until he’s figured out what exactly is going on. It can all be a misunderstanding. Maybe Gavin isn’t actually cheating on Romy with Amanda—or is he cheating on Amanda with Romy? It doesn’t seem like either of the girls has any idea.

He should find out more before butting into their business, he decides. Like, Romy is his friend now and he wants to look out for her, but he’s got to get the facts straight first.

Besides, there’s not much time before the day’s challenges are announced. Challenges first, difficult conversations can wait till later.

The class crowds in front of the whiteboard in the conference room at ten o’clock sharp. Breakfast is finished, dishes are done, everyone’s got their teeth brushed and sneakers on and are as ready as they’ll ever be.

The projector screen comes down again and the challenges appear.

DAY 2 CHALLENGE 1

[A partridge in a pear tree]

A partridge is a popular game bird.

Challenge Duration: 5 mins

Required Person(s): 1

Challenge Type: Aim

DAY 2 CHALLENGE 2

[2 turtle doves]

Get ready for a lovey-dovey challenge.

Challenge Duration: 0.5 min

Required Person(s): 2

Challenge Type: 2-person teamwork

The first challenge is sort of expected. Jungkook remembered that, when the rules were first announced, they did say that, per the lyrics of the song, all the challenges in the previous days would be repeated again on each new day, in descending order. That means that there will likely be twelve one-person “aim” challenges in total, one on each of the twelve days.

And it looks like all of these twelve would likely fall on Jungkook’s shoulders. Like, he’s the school’s star pitcher and he’s got improved aim. And if he aces today’s challenge, he’ll get more improved aim. And then if he aces tomorrow’s challenge too, he’ll get even more improved aim, and so on and so forth. By day twelve he’ll probably be able to kill a mosquito from a whole football field away.

This doesn’t sound like a bad arrangement at all to Jungkook. Especially because, well, if he always takes the first challenge, he won’t have to take the other challenges, at least on the first few days (on the later days, he assumes, each challenge will require more and more people and eventually some of them will have to do multiple). That works perfectly for him, because while he’s good at throwing things, he doesn’t think he’s good at much else. He certainly isn’t as brainy as Namjoon, and if any of the future challenges involve brains, he just might fail them, which means failing his whole class, which means failing Namjoon, which is something he doesn’t want.

“So, I assume our Jungkookie will be doing the first challenge again, since it’s so easy for you?” Seokjin says, beaming. But before Jungkook can nod, another voice pitches in. It’s Scott, one of the bullies. Jungkook remembers him as the one who likes to act like girls don’t exist.

“It’s not fair to have Jeon do it all the time and get all the prizes. The challenge’s not even that hard! Just hit some stupid birds in the tree, anyone can do it. I can do it with my eyes closed.”

“In that case, would you like to do it today?” Seokjin asks, patiently massaging his temples. No one likes hearing Scott speak because his voice is jarringly scratchy and nasally for someone this tall and buff.

Scott shrugs, playing it cool. “Unless one of my bros wants to do it, I’ll gladly go ahead. Watch me kill ‘em in secs. Wish those were real birds.”

As Scott seems really eager to go and his bully friends have started cheering and hyping him up, the rest of the class decides to go with the flow and send him off at the pier. Discussing player choices for the second challenge can wait till later anyway, they have the whole day ahead of them.

Jungkook does have slight misgivings about letting Scott do the task. After all, they can only fail ten challenges in total, and this is just the beginning, so every little challenge counts. He knows the rest of the class is fairly confident that Scott will succeed because it looked so easy yesterday—but Jungkook is the only one who knows that it only looked easy because he made it look easy. The mission would in fact be fairly hard for anyone with below-average athletic skills, and while Scott is a muscly dude, his eyesight isn’t the best.

He really doesn’t want to rain on Scott’s parade, though, fearing that it would make him sound overly arrogant, so he shuts up. It’s probably gonna be fine anyway, he tells himself. Surely it can’t be that bad. It might be the cheerful atmosphere in the room rubbing off him, but for a moment, he wholeheartedly believes that Scott will be fine and soon they’ll all be celebrating a second light being lit up on the Christmas tree. And then they’ll ace the second challenge too—it’s only half a minute long, how hard can it be? They’ll be done with the day’s tasks before lunch even starts. And then he’ll have the whole afternoon to lounge around and maybe talk to Namjoon!

Head filled with happy thoughts of Namjoon, Jungkook joins the rest of the class in front of the TV in the lounge to watch Scott’s performance. It’s kind of cool, being part of the audience instead of the one who’s being watched. It’s just five minutes but Lee Jinmin even randomly produced some popcorn to share with her friends. She offers Jungkook some too.

On the screen, Scott appears in the familiar clearing, the one Jungkook arrived at the day before. What’s different is that while Jungkook didn’t know he was being watched yesterday, Scott sure does, and he keeps waving in the air to his audience, who laugh and hoot even though they know Scott can’t hear them. Jungkook joins, feeling like he were part of a crowd watching a basketball game. It’s fun.

And then the challenge starts and it’s not fun.

It could be the screen’s distorting effect, but Jungkook could swear that, during his challenge, the balls were not so small. And the partridges were much bigger.

Today, they are hand-sized. And not even Jungkook’s hand—Jimin’s.

The challenges must be getting progressively harder with each day.

The realization hits Jungkook and everyone else all at once. The cheers and laughter slowly stop as the class realizes that they might have made the wrong decision. Though, to be honest, Jungkook isn’t even sure that it would have changed things if they had sent him—he’s not confident if he could hit those much smaller partridges with those much smaller balls, even with his enhanced aim.

Scott seems surprised too, but he quickly gets to work as the timer starts. The class watches with bated breath as he throws his first ball—and misses. Second ball—still misses. Sixth ball, seventh—no hits.

The time ticks on.

Lee Jinmin forgets to eat her popcorn.

By the four-minute mark, Scott hasn’t managed to hit even one partridge, and he’s clearly tiring out, wringing his hands and rubbing his shoulders (he tried using both arms to throw but to no avail). Finally, as the final ten seconds tick away, he flops down flat on the ground and gives up.

“Hey! I ain’t friends with a quitter!” shouts Brad, one of Scott’s fellow bullies.

“We gonna teach him a good lesson when he comes back,” Jordan, the other bully, agrees.

“If he comes back,” Bang Taekook mutters darkly. Both Brad and Jordan whirl around and gang upon him instantly.

“Now what did you mean by that?”

Jungkook sighs to himself. He knows very well what Bang Taekook means. Geeky Bang Taekook has probably been reading the same graphic novels and playing the same horror games Jungkook has. In that kind of work, failing challenges never ends well. Jungkook just hopes that they’re not in that type of work—and also Bang Taekook needs to learn when to shut up. It’s the second time within two days that he almost got himself beaten up because of his apt but unwise comments.

Before Brad and Jordan can shove Taekook to the ground, a voice rings out from the screen. The same sweet, melodic voice that announced the start and end of the challenge yesterday.

“Congratulations! You have failed the challenge and will not receive any rewards. As a consequence of failing, it is now your job to keep Mrs. Partridge entertained.”

“Mrs. Partridge? What?” Taehyung asks beside Jungkook’s ear.

They immediately find out. A gigantic partridge the size of five humans lands gracefully in front of Scott. She has a big ribbon on her head and is wearing a corset and mascara.

“Did whoever designed this really have to sexualize a partridge?” Amanda groans.

“Some people may have a partridge kink. You’ll be surprised to find out what people are into these days,” Hopekook, one of Amanda’s friends, tells her.

On the screen, Mrs. Partridge squawks: “Tell me a story!”

The sweet, melodic voice rings out again. “You now have one minute of thinking time. After the minute is over, you must tell Mrs. Partridge a story. If you entertain her enough, you may return to your raft. You have three tries.”

“They never said what happens if he doesn’t entertain her enough within three tries,” Jimin murmurs, worried.

“Let’s hope she just gives him a nice partridge hug,” Seokjin says with a grin, but anyone can tell that the grin is forced.

“Tell me a story! Tell me a story!” Mrs. Partridge squawks.

“I wonder what kind of story partridges like?” Taehyung muses. “Maybe a story about worms?”

“I’d tell a story about partridges learning to play baseball because they keep finding baseballs on the ground,” Namsook says. “And then they form a successful baseball team and defeat other birds in Avian Major League.”

Jungkook smiles at her. Trust avid writer Namsook to come up with a plot right off the bat.

“Tell me a story! Tell me a story! Tell me a story!” Mrs. Partridge squawks.

“The minute’s almost up,” Yoongi says in dismay.

“I don’t think he’s going to tell her a story at all,” Jimin whispers, frowning in worry. “She’s obviously a girl and you know Scott doesn’t talk to girls.”

He’s right. As the final ten seconds are counted down, Scott simply doesn’t budge. He’s sat up from his original sprawled position, humming a little, refusing to acknowledge that the big partridge is even there.

“Bad move, bro! It’s bigger than you!” Jordan yells at the screen, but Scott obviously cannot hear it.

The sweet, melodious voice continues to count down the seconds. “Five… four… three…”

“Tell me a story! Tell me a story! Tell me a story! Tell me a story!” Mrs. Partridge squawks.

“Oh god,” next to Jungkook, Romy covers her eyes.

“Two… one…”

“You didn’t tell me a story!” Mrs. Partridge squawks, flapping her wings like a very agitated vampire bat.

And then she swoops upon Scott and cuts his head clean off with her beak.

Chapter Text

The silent, breathless anticipation in the lounge is replaced by shrill screams and despairing cries. Most of the class may not exactly be on great terms with Scott, but it doesn’t mean they’d want to watch him die right in front of them, and in such a brutal way too.

They’re in high school. They’re not ready for this shit.

“It’s fake, it’s just VR, you know,” Seokjin tells the rest of the class, but Jungkook can tell that the confidence in his voice is feigned.

“Yeah! Once we get out of here he’ll be waiting for us for sure,” Hoseok adds, though he doesn’t sound very certain.

“But… didn’t the rules in the beginning say that… whoever ‘dies’ in the game is gonna be disconnected from their pod? Wouldn’t that put him in a coma?” Fairy Cub, a cute girl who has the sort of eyebrows that make her look terrified most of the time, whimpers.

“That’s what the rules say, but they can be lying! No way whoever did this actually wants to harm us, right? They’ll go to jail for that!” Hoseok says brightly.

Jungkook has a sinking feeling in his stomach, which tells him that whoever did this probably won’t mind going to jail very much.

The gruesome scene on the large TV screen is replaced by static, and Yoongi switches the TV off. Namjoon, who is standing in the back near the door, reports that the raft that had carried Scott to the tunnel had returned. Without Scott.

Jungkook meets Namjoon’s eyes as he speaks. Namjoon seems calm on the surface, but Jungkook can sense the dark, tumultuous waves of emotion underneath. He wonders if his own eyes are the same. He wants to comfort Namjoon in some way, smile at him, tell him everything will be okay—but how can he, when he doesn’t even believe it himself?

Scott’s “death” is like a wake-up call that has everyone sobering up instantly. Suddenly this is no longer a game. Suddenly there’s this very real possibility that they can fail this whole thing. Suddenly there’s this very real possibility that none of them will get to go home. Graduate high school. Become adults. Live their lives. All because of this game that they somehow ended up in.

Jungkook has never felt so lost.

It seems that the rest of the class feels the same. And when thirty-five pairs of red-rimmed eyes turn in unison to their class president for guidance, Seokjin rises to the occasion.

“I’ll do the second challenge.”

Jungkook finds himself protesting immediately. Yes, Seokjin is the class president and super awesome and everything, but he ’s the one with enhanced aim.

He takes a step ahead. “No, let me do it.”

Seokjin regards him with gentle eyes. “Yeah, you’re the only one with a superhuman enhancement out of us all, Jungkookie. But who will go with you?”

Oh, he’s right, Jungkook realizes. This is a two-person challenge, and the theme is teamwork. It probably should be completed by two people who are very close to each other. Volunteering himself means volunteering one of his best friends, and he isn’t ready to do this to Jimin and Taehyung.

Taehyung catches on immediately. “I’ll go with him. I’m a swell storyteller.”

“I’m an even sweller storyteller,” Jimin refutes.

“No, I’m —”

Before the couple can start their bickering, Vmon and Vhope come marching over to them. Vmon is wearing bright red camouflage and Vhope a neon green hoodie. The fact that they tend to wear loud colors over their usual uniforms and gave themselves “gangsta names” made them very unpopular with the teachers, who often call them hooligans, but they’re actually respectful and friendly students, outfits aside.

“You two are assuming that you’ll fail the challenge. But if we don’t fail the challenge at all, we won’t even have to tell stories. I think the two of us should go,” Vmon says.

“Yeah. We’ve known each other since we were in our diapers,” Vhope adds. “If the theme is teamwork, it’s gotta be us.”

They do have a point, Jungkook thinks. Vmon and Vhope are very athletic. They had a substitute PE teacher once, who for some reason thought he was all that. When he heard that Jungkook was the school’s star athlete, he made him pick a partner in the class and play against him in a two-versus-one table tennis match. Jungkook picked Vmon, and they steamrolled the teacher, twenty-one to six.

“I still think we should do it, Jinnie and I,” Jihope, Seokjin’s girlfriend, joins the fray. “I mean, while we may not be amazing athletes like you guys, we… you know…”

“Yeah.” Vhope laughs. “You don’t have to say it, we know we’re not very smart.”

“Nonsense, neither of you are stupid. You just don’t pay attention in class.” Jihope chuckles. “But just in case the challenge involves school subjects, it’s better if Jinnie and I go, you know?”

Vmon and Vhope exchange a look and finally nod. “If it ends up not being about school subjects, though, we’ll go next time,” Vmon declares.

“Of course,” Jihope promises.

It seems that their decision is final, and Jungkook isn’t one who dares to go against the class president and his girlfriend, the class’s very own power couple. It’s true that the two of them are very well-rounded students, neither of them is unathletic, they have good grades, they’re quick-witted, they can sing and play the piano, they’re tall and broad and nimble on their feet. When it comes to a challenge the class currently knows nothing about, it’s better to send all-rounders.

“It’s just thirty seconds, right?” Seokjin says, tone casual, though his posture reveals how tense he is. “Maybe we should just get it over with.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be able to get lunch with this looming in the horizon. Might as well do it and then enjoy lunch,” Jihope agrees.

“Yay, lunch,” Seokjin cheers.

“We’ll make sure we have a delicious lunch waiting for you,” Yoongi says, voice a bit hoarse, even though they all know they can’t very well finish cooking lunch in thirty seconds. Besides, Yoongi isn’t even on lunch duty.

The class, some of them still recovering from the previous shock, gathers at the pier to see the couple off. They climb onto the raft, the raft Scott had been perched on barely an hour ago, and row their way to the second cave.

Jungkook stands there and watches as the darkness of the unilluminated tunnel swallows them whole before returning to the TV with everyone else, this time without popcorn.

Seokjin and Jihope soon emerge in what looks like half a basketball court, shrouded by a thick, white fog above and on all four sides. Then the familiar melodic voice speaks.

“Welcome to the second challenge. Your objective is simple. When the countdown starts, a sheet of tissue paper will be dropped from the basketball hoop you see. Your task is to work together to make sure that this tissue paper does not touch the ground for thirty seconds by blowing at it only. You cannot use your hands or attempt to let it rest on your heads or other body parts. You may only blow at it.”

Seokjin and Jihope look at each other. Jungkook wonders if they’re going to talk strategy—though what strategy is there even, for a challenge like this? But the voice does not give them time to do that.

“The countdown starts… now!”

Seokjin and Jihope dive into action. For a few precious seconds, the sheet of tissue paper drifts down slowly, like a snowflake, from the basketball hoop. And then, when it reaches somewhere around Seokjin’s head, he cranes his neck and blows. The tissue floats up just a tiny bit and comes down again. Jihope rushes over to help.

Now, while this process may be quite straightforward, it’s actually surprisingly hard. The tissue paper does not rise up that much with one blow, in fact, depending on the spot it’s blown on, it might not float up at all, and one missed opportunity could mean that the tissue paper would come down by a lot. The couple begin to bend down lower and lower, until they’re both sprawled out on the ground, pressed against each other. It’s lucky that the time limit is thirty seconds—they manage to get through it, just barely. If they had to go for a few more seconds, the tissue would have either touched the ground or landed on someone’s nose.

Jungkook sees his fellow classmates’ ashen faces and knows exactly what they’re thinking. This challenge is definitely not an easy one. It takes technique and luck, and if all challenges increase in difficulty every time they come around, by tomorrow, the time limit will probably be way longer. Maybe they’ll have to keep the tissue paper floating for one minute.

He can’t even imagine how they’re supposed to get that done.

Seokjin and Jihope high-five each other, grinning, as if to make up for the lack of grinning they had done in the past thirty seconds, and wave at their audience. Then the voice speaks.

“Congratulations! You have completed your objective and may safely return to the base. You both received a #telepathychannel as reward. You may take one souvenir each. However, as tissue papers are not good souvenirs, you may name one item each that you want as your Christmas gifts, and we, your humble Christmas elves, will provide it.”

“Ooh, nice,” Lee Jinmin says. As a lover of money, she likes free things.

“#telepathychannel? What does that mean?” Taehyung wonders.

“I don’t think it’s a tangible thing, like how Jungkookie’s +1 aim isn’t tangible. Maybe they’ll… become able to talk with telepathy?” Jimin muses.

“Sounds like a great way to save time and bandwidth,” Jungkook comments.

“We should get one too,” Jimin says, nudging Taehyung with his elbow. Jungkook doesn’t really feel left out—Jimin and Taehyung are a couple, after all. Maybe he should get a #telepathychannel with Namjoon instead. His cheeks heat up just by thinking of it.

“We should, but I don’t think I’d be able to clear that tissue task,” Taehyung points out.

“Maybe not now, but we can practice ,” Jimin declares and grabs a tissue from the coffee table. The two of them start practicing immediately, though it looks more like a disastrous sort of limbo dance than anything else. Jungkook laughs and turns back to the TV screen, leaving his best friends to their shenanigans.

“I’ve always wondered if there are fish in the waters outside our ship,” Seokjin says. “Can I get a fishing rod please?”

A fishing rod immediately appears in his hand. Seokjin looks utterly delighted.

“My turn. I’m finding it awfully sad that the whole class is together, yet we don’t have board games. I’d like a deck of UNO cards, please?” Jihope says.

Her wish is granted, and she finds herself holding the deck in her hands right away. The pair wave at their audience once again before disappearing from view. Soon, they’re rowing their way back to the pier, Seokjin swinging his brand-new fishing rod.

“What’s the point of asking for that if you don’t have bait?” Inseol, the class’s smartass, asks as the couple climb back on board.

“I’ll make some,” Seokjin says, happily.

“Don’t think I’d want to eat any of the fish that’s caught from these waters anyway,” Inseol mutters and slinks back into the house while Jihope’s friends hop around and hug her and Seokjin greets the rest of the class with high-fives. All of a sudden the atmosphere has brightened just a bit—they’re one more challenge closer to freedom, and… and a system that’s generous enough to give them a fishing rod and an UNO deck and a telepathy channel has got to be created by nice people, right? So Scott can’t be dead. The gory scene they witnessed was just a scare tactic. Scott is fine and he’ll be waiting for them all back at school. Lucky dude, he got let off the hook early!

Jungkook follows the rest of the classmates back into the mansion. The lunch crew set off into the big kitchen to work, and Jungkook somehow finds himself being dragged into the room he shares with Seokjin and the rest by the class’s golden couple themselves.

“Did you check the description of your baseball?” Jihope demands, as soon as they make sure the three of them are alone in the room.

Jungkook stares. “There’s a description?” He left his baseball under his pillow. He thought it was just an ordinary baseball—it certainly felt no different from one in his hand.

“You gotta put it in your inventory first, and the description will appear,” Seokjin explains. “My rod here says: [FISHING ROD] A powerful fishing rod that can be used on more than fish. As long as you attach an item your target loves to the string and swing the rod, the target you have in mind will immediately be summoned to your side, no matter where they are. Cool down: 1 day.”

“I don’t quite understand,” Jungkook says, truthfully.

“I don’t either, so I’m gonna try it out now,” Seokjin says. He picks up a pair of headphones lying on Yoongi’s bed—he bought them last night for quite a cheap price as they don’t really play any music and simply exist for aesthetic purposes. Seokjin ties the fishing string around them, and swings his rod—

Seconds later, there’s a knock on the door. Jungkook opens it to reveal a very confused-looking Yoongi.

“What?” Yoongi says.

Seokjin bursts out laughing. “I guess we’ve used up today’s attempt, but looks like this really works.”

“Mine is pretty cool too,” Jihope says, sitting down on the closest bed (Hoseok’s) and taking out her deck. Jungkook and Yoongi (who decided that he might as well join the fun now that he’s here) move close to take a look.

“The description is really long. Here goes…” Jihope clears her throat. “[UNO DECK] You may draw five cards each day. REVERSE cards reflect any opponent’s attack back to the opponent. DRAW 2 OR 4 cards allow you to draw additional cards. SKIP cards make you completely immune to one attack.”

“That’s real cool, but…” Jungkook shudders at the implications. The existence of these functions means that they’ll have opponents in the future. Opponents who will attack them.

Not fun.

“What about the number cards?” Yoongi asks. Jungkook finds it interesting that Seokjin doesn’t seem curious about Jihope’s deck at all—have they already discussed the item functions in their #telepathychannel?

“Oh, those can’t be used on myself unfortunately, but are great for support. BLUE cards grant a friendly unit of my choice water powers, GREEN grants healing powers, YELLOW grants lightning powers, and RED grants sheer strength. The amount granted depends on how big the number is.”

Yoongi inhales through his teeth in excitement. “We should test it on someone after lunch.”

Jihope nods and turns to Jungkook. “So what about you? We’re assuming that your baseball is a special baseball too.”

Jungkook climbs up the rungs to his top bunk and reaches under his pillow. The baseball sits there innocently, looking no different from any other baseball, except maybe a little bit cleaner.

He calls up his inventory and holds out the ball, which instantly disappears from his hand and pops up in one of his inventory slots. He taps and checks the description.

[SLOW BALL] Toss this ball to dramatically slow down time for 10 seconds. User has a 50% chance of gaining photographic memory while in effect. Ball automatically returns to user. Cool Down: 24 hours (can be shortened by upgrading with coins).

Wow.

Chapter Text

Jungkook can’t stop thinking about his amazing baseball all the way through lunch. He hasn’t tried it yet so he’s not sure how dramatically he’ll be able to slow time down, but it would be so helpful on the baseball field (not that he’d be able to bring this baseball out of the game, he supposes). And photographic memory! Imagine using it while studying for a test. He can cram all the important stuff into a single sheet of paper and just stare at it. Do this a couple times a week and he’ll ace every written exam ever.

Ha. Written exams? Typical high school student. Jungkook almost wants to laugh at himself. Here he is, stuck in a game where one of his classmates just got his head clean pecked off by a human-sized partridge wearing a corset, and he’s still thinking about exams? Really shows what the education system does to students’ heads.

Lunch doesn’t have a particular theme, the classmates in charge each made one thing and called it a day. Miso potato soup, tomato ramyeon, one-pot cheesy penne with red pepper, a huge pot of rice, and a huge plate of fried veggies—nothing too time-consuming, but enough to feed thirty-six traumatized high school students.

The class has opted to have lunch buffet-style, so that they can sit in a large circle in the conference room and discuss things while eating. There’s a lot to discuss. Seokjin and Jihope explain to the class how their telepathy channel works (it’s kind of like an online chatroom, except they don’t have to spend time typing), and then they, plus Jungkook, tell everyone about the special “souvenirs” they received.

This gets everyone visibly excited. Even Brad and Jordan, Scott’s bully friends, who have been quiet ever since their friend’s unfortunate demise, perk up a bit. No one wants to get their heads cut off by giant birds, but special items with special skills are super enticing, especially to all the seasoned gamers out there.

“Except for the fishing rod. I still think it’s useless,” Inseol, the class’s very own smarty-pants, remarks.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Yoongi drawls. “One second I was in the lounge and the next thing I knew I was standing in front of Jin’s door. Really saved me the trouble of walking all the way there.”

“You only think it’s cool because you’re lazy,” Inseol says with a shrug. “I’d have asked for something much more useful.”

“Such as?” Sugar Cookie, a soft-spoken girl who happens to have the seat next to Inseol, asks. She’s probably doing it out of politeness, not wanting to leave him hanging, Jungkook thinks, but Inseol seems to have taken it as an invitation to describe in detail all the firearms that he’s done research on and dump the history of his entire gaming career on her. Very soon, when it becomes clear that Inseol is talking to only Sugar Cookie (and getting his spit all over her too, poor girl), the rest of the class decides to continue with their discussion without paying him any mind.

“So it looks like the three of you should do all the challenges from now on? Because you’re ridiculously overpowered compared to the rest of us,” Britknee says, gesturing towards Seokjin, Jihope, and Jungkook. Britknee’s full English name is Britknee-Gaga-Minaj. She named herself after some of her favorite artists and the English teacher didn’t really have the heart to stop her.

“Surely they can’t do all the challenges,” Hoseok points out with a smile. “That’s gotta be very exhausting.”

“But they’re clearly the best choices,” Britknee refutes. “Like, who was it that said ‘with great power comes great responsibility’? Was it Gandhi or something? Anyway, I’m not gonna put myself in danger when there are clearly people who can do the challenges better than me.”

“It’s actually a Spider Man quote,” Go Taegi informs her. She’s a huge Marvel fan.

“Yeah, wasn’t Gandhi in Spider Man?” Britknee replies, refusing to be proven wrong. “Or was it Doctor Strange? I forgot.”

Namjoon clears his throat. “Well, while it’s tempting to just make the three of them do all the challenges from now on, I also think we should send as many others as possible.”

“And put the rest of us in danger? Really? We could die,” Karen screeches from her corner. Considering their similar personalities and shared love for pressed-on nails, one would assume that Karen and Britknee would be best friends. Strangely enough, they’re at each other’s throats most of the time.

Namjoon sighs and turns to her. “See… we’re on our second day. We sent a total of three people into missions. That’s not much. Tomorrow we’ll have to send 1+2+3, which isn’t that many either, and besides the three of them can do multiple missions, so that’s also okay. But the number will be rising alarmingly fast very soon. By day five we’ll need fifteen people. By day eleven we’ll need sixty-six! Someone will obviously have to go twice, three times, maybe even four times in one day, but either way we can’t have all three of them go repeatedly because very soon we’ll be getting challenges that require more than three people.”

Now, what Namjoon is saying has always been quite obvious from the start. Jungkook’s quite surprised that Britknee and Karen had not, in fact, thought about it already. For some reason, though, the fact that it’s coming from Namjoon’s mouth just makes it sound 100% cooler.

“That’s why, since we’ll all have to have a go sooner or later, I think it’s better for as many of us to go into the challenges and try to earn some abilities and special items as possible. That way, later on in the game, we’ll have more special skills and tools at our disposal,” Namjoon concludes.

Seokjin nods at Namjoon and speaks up. “Exactly. After we’re done eating and cleaning up, we should all gather at the gym, where there’s the most space, and start training. Those who think they’ll do better at throwing things can start practicing their aim. Others can split up into pairs and start working on keeping tissue paper afloat.”

“And, perhaps, if neither of these is your thing, you might want to head to the swimming pool,” Namjoon adds. “I mean, part of the song goes Seven swans a-swimming. I assume we’re eventually gonna have to do some swimming, and it’s a seven-person challenge, so the more good swimmers we have, the better.”

The class nods solemnly. Jungkook is struck with the sudden, surprising revelation that he actually has no idea who in his class are swimmers and who are not, because their PE teacher is lax and during swimming classes the class always set up a net and played volleyball in the pool.

“Of course, it’s totally understandable if we can’t become skilled in these things with just one day of practice. So, perhaps, tomorrow, if no one is confident enough in their aim yet, Jungkook… will you…?” Namjoon trails off as he meets Jungkook’s eye, catching him by surprise.

Namjoon is looking at him.

Namjoon is looking at him!

Act cool! Jungkook quickly shushes his inner screams and manages what he hopes is a suave grin. “Yeah, I can do the partridge challenge tomorrow.”

A relieved smile spreads across Namjoon’s face, as if he was worried that he had somehow offended Jungkook by asking him to take on the challenge once again. Which is silly because he could never offend Jungkook, Jungkook thinks to himself—but, of course, Namjoon doesn’t know that.

“I promise I’ll do my best to train so that I can hopefully help take the burden off your shoulders one day, though,” Namjoon adds, and his dimples are prominent, and Jungkook is breathless, but it would be bad for the class (not to mention silly) if Jungkook dies of oxygen deprivation before he can even complete the challenge tomorrow, so he reminds himself to breathe like a normal person.

“Okay,” he says, softly, smiling back at Namjoon. For a few seconds, it’s like the rest of the class has faded into the background and he and Namjoon were the only two people in the world.

And then, of course, good old Seokjin ruins the moment by chuckling and nudging Namjoon in the shoulder. “Nah, don’t think you’ll be doing the aim challenge anytime soon. We gotta save you for the brainy challenges that come up in the future.”

“How do you know if there are brainy challenges? What if they’re all… you know, physical stuff?” Namjoon asks, and the trance is broken, but Jungkook adores Seokjin too much to even feel annoyed.

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but… I mean, this system was originally designed for education purposes. There’s got to be brainy challenges,” Seokjin reasons.

“All I know is that there probably will be dancing challenges because part of the song goes Nine ladies dancing. Hoseok would ace that,” Namjoon says. “And Eleven pipers piping —sounds like a music challenge. Yoongi would love it.”

“I’m not a piper, I don’t pipe,” Yoongi argues.

“What do you think Five golden rings would be about?” Jimin wonders.

Before anyone can give their input, Inseol, who had previously been ranting to Sugar Cookie all about his (virtual) gun collection, declares: “Pretty sure I know the answer!”

“What is it?” Jimin asks, tactfully diverting Inseol’s attention while poor Sugar Cookie slips away to the nearest bathroom, presumably to wash her face.

“There’s this game show on TV—it’s British, you know, so I bet none of you uncultured people have even heard of it—called Five Golden Rings. Basically you’re given five golden rings, and then they project a picture on the ground—a map of Scotland, for example, and you have to find Edinburgh and place the ring down on the spot where you think Edinburgh is. If Edinburgh is indeed within the place you ‘circled’ with the ring, you win! The rings get increasingly smaller and there are all sorts of different question genres. I bet we’re gonna have something like that for the Five golden rings challenge.”

“Interesting,” Taehyung says and turns to Namjoon. “Now this one does sound like a brainy challenge!”

“I don’t know where Edinburgh is, though,” Namjoon says, dismayed. “I mean, I know its general location but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pinpoint the exact spot on the map.”

“I wouldn’t even be able to pinpoint the exact location of certain places in South Korea,” Jungkook says, not wanting Namjoon to feel bad about himself.

“There are lots of questions that don’t involve geography,” Inseol says with a shrug. “Anyway, if anyone wants to brainstorm upcoming challenges, we can talk. The rest of you brainless ones can go practice your aim or whatever you want.”

“I guess brainless me will go practice my aim now,” Vmon says, nonchalantly, as he brings his bowl to the sink. Next to him, Vhope stifles a chuckle. Inseol rolls his eyes and goes back to his food.

Jungkook joins Vmon and Vhope later in the gym, both of them taking turns throwing darts at the dartboard on the wall. They’re not doing too badly, especially considering how they’re just beginners. They turn and grin at Jungkook when he comes in, hands still wet from doing the dishes.

“This is hard, I don’t know how you ever do it,” Vhope complains, laughing.

“You guys are doing great. It took me like ten years to get to where I am, so…” Jungkook admits, slightly flustered because Vmon and Vhope are yet two more classmates whom he’s barely ever spoken to and are now treating him like an old friend. This is getting old, Jungkook, he scolds himself, you gotta stop being nervous in front of everyone, they’re just being friendly.

“That’s dedication,” Vmon says, voice full of admiration. “I tried to learn to play the clarinet once and gave up in two days. Which was not good because clarinets are expensive shit and I already bought it with all of my allowance, so I gave it to my bro Vhope here to try. Good thing he’s a natural.”

“At least we know who’s gonna ace the eleven pipers challenge.” Vhope grins. “That’s still a long time away, though, so we’re just tryna get better at this so we can help you out. Like Namjoon, we wanna help lessen your burden.”

A warm, fuzzy feeling fills Jungkook’s stomach. “Thanks, guys, I appreciate that.”

“No, we’re the ones who oughta thank you. Like, imagine if we didn’t have you. Imagine if we failed our very first challenge on the very first day and someone got eaten by a partridge. Imagine the state the class would be in right now,” Vmon says.

And… well, he’s right. Jungkook hasn’t really thought about it, about how the first challenge sets the tone to the whole thing and would dramatically affect morale. But now that he’s actually imagining it… it does seem like a very good thing that he was there, that he nailed the first challenge.

“Anyway, help us practice, yeah? Tell us what we’re doing wrong,” Vmon says, looking somewhat embarrassed that he had been so candid. Jungkook laughs and grabs a dart.

Two hours later, Jungkook finds himself sinking into one of the beanbag chairs in the now bustling gym. At least half the class are gathered there, some of them throwing darts, some throwing balls at the wall (they don’t have any baseballs, Jungkook’s is the only one but apparently he’s the only person able to touch it, but they found a whole ball pit by the swimming pool), some rushing around blowing on tissue paper (Jimin and Taehyung, in particular, have become insanely good at it), some sitting around talking strategy. Cookie Monster is, for some reason, rolling around on the carpeted ground, and he just rolled all the way over to Jungkook to hand him a cookie before rolling away. All in all, a very typical day for a bunch of high school students.

Jungkook can’t help marveling over how… at home he feels at this very moment. Like there’s a safe, secure spot for him on the class’s popularity hierarchy. Like he belongs. It’s kind of nice. He’s never been part of a big friend group before. It used to make him nervous, whenever he had to interact with more than Jimin and Taehyung. But now he feels at ease.

What’s better is that Namjoon has just sat down in the beanie bag chair next to his, holding a bottle of iced water, which he hands over to Jungkook, though not before pressing it to Jungkook’s cheek with a mischievous smile.

Jungkook yelps at the sudden iciness, but Namjoon is laughing and he starts laughing too. It’s so wonderful, to be laughing with Namjoon. Just the two of them in their own little bubble, enjoying the companionable silence, watching the others do their thing.

“We’re going to be okay,” Namjoon says, quietly, and Jungkook knows he’s thinking about Scott. Jungkook has been thinking about Scott, too. Most likely, everyone’s been thinking about Scott, they’re just avoiding talking about him.

Jungkook gulps down a mouthful of icy water and glances sideways at Namjoon. He’s leaning back in the chair, one hand sweeping back his hair, one hand sitting on his lap, almost asking to be held.

And in a burst of sudden courage, Jungkook reaches out and covers the hand with his own. A friendly gesture, an assuring one, one that, he hopes, says yes, we’re going to be okay.

Namjoon smiles at him, a smile that seems to mean so many things at once, and Jungkook smiles back. Namjoon does not retract his hand.

None of them have any idea what the next day will bring, but right now, they’re together, and it’s all that matters.

Chapter Text

Jungkook wakes up in the middle of the night. It could be early morning too, he thinks, because the glowing fungi only show so much — he checks the time, 03:21 — yeah, still middle of the night. He doesn't particularly know why he woke up, maybe a nightmare? He's not really sure, but then that's how it's always been — he doesn't really remember most of his nightmares, except that in most of them, he's running a lot for some reason, and that he keeps getting chased by something he's never been able to put a face to. 

He thinks someone like Namjoon would be able to explain the meaning behind that particular nightmare, what his subconscious is trying to tell him, but all he manages to infer from this is that he's got to work on his running, so that eventually he manages to outrun whatever's chasing him. Though, now that he's thinking about it, he'd heard a couple of ominous caws while being chased, so —

He shakes his head. 

Nope. 

He's not going down that path. It's probably the after-effect of seeing Scott being beheaded by that giant partridge, nothing else, and surely Scott has to be fine, probably sipping a Pina Colada back in their real world and telling the authorities about what was happening, so maybe they wouldn't even need to spend all twelve days there! 

It's a ridiculously optimistic thought. Jungkook, stereotypical jock that he is, is aware of that. But he holds onto it, as he quietly climbs out of bed — evidently not quiet enough , because Seokjin blinks at him sleepily from his bed, a question in his drowsy eyes, and Jungkook mouths just going out for a bit , smiling the slightest to show that he's okay. Seokjin nods once before flopping back into sleep, and Jungkook leaves, shutting the door behind him softly. 

The hallway is empty, for the most part, which makes sense, because people should be sleeping, but he does hear a few murmurs from one of the all-girls room, the one that did not have Britknee and Karen. There's half-stilted laughter, quiet whispers comforting in the quieter night, and when he crosses the shared washrooms at the end of the corridor, he sees two silhouettes — Romy and Gavin — making out, which has him pausing in his tracks, because… he'd forgotten about that. With everything that had happened with Scott, and then just... the rest of the day, he'd forgotten and hadn't been able to get an opinion from Jimin and Taehyung, and logically he knows he should do something about this, but… 4 a.m. in the morning doesn't feel like the time for confrontation.

Sure, it leaves him feeling a lot like a coward when he slinks down the rest of the corridor to walk down the stairs and into the meeting room, where he spots Namsook who’s working on her draft and Taekook who’s probably playing a mini game—but tomorrow, he tells himself. Tomorrow he'll speak to Romy and Amanda, tomorrow he'll tell them, once they're done with their challenges, that they're both dating the same guy. Tomorrow, he promises himself, because they deserve this night of peace, he reasons. The class deserves this night of peace. He knows this especially as he crosses the recreation room and spots Vmon and Vhope tossing around a ball, one lonely light switched on at the far end, Jang Two-sock snoozing on the floor. Hopekook, class techie, is there too, fingers flying over his interface, quiet whispers of it's familiar, the code, reaching Jungkook’s ears. He wonders if Hopekook is playing a minigame too. 

And these are far from the only people who are not asleep, Jungkook soon realizes. Because there's the perpetually hungry Lee Jinmin raiding the kitchen with a torchlight in her hand (150 coins, he remembers it was in the shop on the interface), and Jihope and Amanda seated at the table, a bowl of ramen in between them, heads bent close as they talk in hushed whispers about something. All of them pause to offer him variations of smiles or a wave of their hands as he passes by.

Too many people are awake, and none of them are even questioning why the others are up too, he realises, as he walks past all of them to the tiny pier-like extension attached to the far end of the bottommost level, past the pool. Unlike the pier where the raft is tied, this is an extension someone had purchased using coins—probably Seokjin who mentioned wanting a perfect spot to fish. We can't trust those rafts, he'd said. And... it wasn't Jungkook’s conscious decision to end up there. He'd just wanted a moment of quiet, of thought, to process everything that had gone down, a moment he hadn't gotten before because they'd all overcompensated for the horrific situation with enthusiasm. In hindsight, Jungkook can see that as a coping mechanism, as a way to make sure that no one stops for long enough to think about Scott. But now… now, in the quiet of the night, suddenly terribly dark with no moon to gaze upon (and who knew that would make Jungkook so terribly maudlin?) he can admit to himself how scary it feels. He can admit to himself that Scott getting beheaded was not a pleasant sight, and that for all they're being optimistic, they're being that way only because they can't afford to think otherwise.

Because otherwise is a scary place to be.

"You want to join me?" A quiet voice asks from the end of the pier, and it's only years of visiting haunted houses with Jimin, where Jimin inevitably screams louder than the horrors of the house, that saved Jungkook from flinching as his eyes focus on the silhouette seated at the edge of the pier. 

He wonders how he missed that.

More so, when he finds his feet taking him towards that person and realises it's Yoongi , and really , how had he not noticed that one person from their own room was missing? 

"If you don't mind?" Jungkook replies, sitting down, legs dangling off the pier, besides Yoongi's own. Briefly, he wonders if it’s safe, but then he sees how unbothered Yoongi is, and well… it's not like they'd have piranhas in there, would they?

"Couldn't sleep?" Yoongi asks, reaching for something by the side, and Jungkook blinks, half in answer and half questioningly, as the object he retrieves ends up being Seokjin's fishing rod. Yoongi smiles at the confusion in Jungkook’s eyes, this lazily sweet smile that's not condescending in any way, but rather makes Jungkook feel warm, like the way he'd feel after eating a plate of lamb skewers. Weird , he thinks, chiding himself for feel like this just because of a smile from someone he'd probably exchanged less than ten sentences with previously. He's aware he's being repetitive, but… sometimes, it's a little hard to believe that people just want to look at him, and smile , for no reason, no strings attached, and not because he's won another match for the school. 

"I can't use its special powers," Yoongi explains softly, voice a comforting drawl, slipping into a satoori that reminds Jungkook of Taehyung's, "but I can use it to fish. And I'm not really a huge fan of fishing, but I figured I'd rather do something with my hands while sitting here as opposed to simply sitting, you know?"

And... Jungkook knows , as he reaches into his pocket for his baseball. He doesn't throw it into the air, of course, because that'd mean slowing down time, and he doesn't really want that, not when the night already seems to be moving like sticky-hard dalgona, like one wrong moment could shatter it, but the weight of the ball in his hands is nice. Grounding. Reminds him that he's real, that he's alive in this VR world, that they've gotten through two days and managed to light up two stars on the tree. Of course, there’s still a long way to go to reach  their goal, but... baby steps, right? He gotta remind himself to just breathe when the bigger picture freaks him out a little too badly.

So he asks, "Have you caught any fish?"

And Yoongi shakes his head, not even looking too miffed about it, lips still curled up in that pleasantly lazy smile. It's a comforting look on him, a side to him that Jungkook was unaware of, because all Jungkook knows about Yoongi is that he’s in the poetry club, the way he supposedly made a senior cry with just his rap, and the way he broke someone’s nose for speaking shit about Hoseok. Yoongi feels like leather and piercings, and somewhere along the way Jungkook had started seeing him as an untouchable bad boy for no reason, probably slightly influenced by all the fanfic Jimin likes to read and write... and yet, seated beside him, in the quiet of the night, the water lapping against his ankles comfortingly, he doesn't find it hard to reconcile that image of that Yoongi with this one. This softer version that allows Jungkook his silence while reminding him that he's not alone, that in this little bubble of space they have carved out for themselves, they're both alone together, and that they're okay like that — safe with their thoughts and their fears and the things that keep them up at night. 

This feeling is further reinforced when Yoongi asks, more of a suggestion than a demand, more like gentle prodding, really: "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

Do you? He asks, and it's a choice because he doesn't look at Jungkook, keeps his body angled towards him, but gaze still trained on the water, very convenient if Jungkook would rather pretend he didn't hear the question. Open, just in case Jungkook wants to talk, but it’s also okay if he doesn’t want to . That's something Taehyung had told him once, about body language.

It makes him want to admit his fears, yet he hesitates. And maybe Yoongi can see something in the reflection of Jungkook's face in the water, or maybe he's just that perceptive, because he says, quietly, between one breath and another, like he doesn't want the words to linger too loudly in the too-dark night and turn into a manifestation of something none of them want to face: "I'm scared."

He offers it up so easily, his fears, and Jungkook thinks, humans are a little silly. They say scared at the sight of a cockroach, a rollercoaster ride, exams... but then the things that actually scare them, they hold them close to their hearts and brush them off like they mean nothing, like showing that fear makes them seem weak and unsure, and… humans are silly , because everyone's like that, but no one wants to admit it, so they all fall into this dance of pretending everything's okay, when they could simply say I am scared, and take comfort in the fact that they're not the only person going through it, that their fears don't have to be bundled up and hidden somewhere where it'll just weigh them down and tire them out.

That they could just admit that they’re human , because that's what they are. Scared teenagers, at the end of the day, not quite young adults, not quite kids — just human.

Like Yoongi. 

Who seems all the more cooler in Jungkook's eyes as he says it, and it prompts his own tongue to loosen, prompts him to admit, quietly enough to not cause ripples in the water, "I'm scared too. It was fine the first day because we could convince ourselves that it was the Idol Olympics, but then the Scott thing happened, and... it's scary. That someone would do this to him. To us. And I don't even know why they’re doing it."

The why bothers him a lot, because they're a bunch of teenagers. And okay, maybe they're lousy, they're stupid, there are a couple of bullies even, in his class, but at the end of the day, they're still stupid teenagers, and to think that someone would go so far… and for what ?

And Yoongi doesn't reply immediately. Doesn't say, like a couple of his classmates had said when that had been brought up during the day, that maybe it was a misunderstanding, maybe there was a glitch, maybe it's a serial killer who chose them at random, and maybe it's just an extended prank by the teachers. He doesn't reply thoughtlessly, and when he does, it's not with meaningless platitudes, not that Jungkook has anything against those, because everyone copes differently, but —

"I’m not particularly sure," Yoongi offers slowly, "But I also don't think Romy's right."

"Romy?" Jungkook asks, more to himself than Yoongi, because what does Romy even have to do with this? And then he remembers. Back in that evening when the topic had been brought up over dinner, Romy had said: "I think it's karma. I think it's because we did something, and this is punishment." Her suggestion had been shot down, but only by a few loud people, and then Taehyung had accidentally blown up the microwave oven so everyone immediately forgot about the comment, but... "You don't think it's because of something we did? That something bad is happening but it's not because we deserve it."

And it's a statement as much as a question, because Jungkook agrees with that sentiment. He remembers how half the class had fallen quiet at the comment, but his first thought had been that's stupid. Because, honestly, he liked to think he was a pretty good person, objectively, and even if he'd ever done something bad, surely Namjoon hadn’t . Namjoon is perfect. Namjoon definitely doesn't deserve anything like this, not to mention Jimin or Taehyung, and really, not to mention anyone in the class, because this whole thing is straight out of a Squid Games AU, and they’re just stupid teenagers, at their worst . 

"I don't agree with Romy," Yoongi repeats, waiting for Jungkook to gather his thoughts. "Because sometimes bad things happen to the best of people, and sometimes the worst of people live up to ninety and boss everyone around and make everyone’s lives miserable, and I think as much as I believe in life being a circle, sometimes the things that happen, happen for reasons that have nothing to do with us, or who we are as people."

And that… that's quite true, Jungkook thinks. 

No one deserves anything that happens to them, unless that thing is something immeasurably good.

"But," Yoongi goes on, "as far-fetched as this sounds, I do think it’s possible that this whole thing happened because of something someone perceives that we did to them."

"As opposed to because of something that we actually did?"

"Yeah," Yoongi says, simply dipping the fishing line a little deeper into the water, "Because this whole thing feels very personally curated for us, like whoever it was knew our schedules , knew where we'd be, knew it was time for our retreat — "

"But that's most of the school, not to mention it's also on the school website," Jungkook cuts him off, not as an argument, just trying to figure out where Yoongi's coming from and brainstorm along.

"Well, yes, but then, why just our class, you know? Like, if it were an outsider, or someone with a sort of specific motive, or even kidnappers, they could have gone for any of the other classes — and I'm sorry for saying this, but it's not like we have anyone special in our class the way Class B has, or — "

"That idol's daughter?" 

"Yeah," Yoongi murmurs. "Or like Class C, with that politician's son, and even otherwise, why the whole class, you know?"

"But what if it was a psychotic serial killer?" Jungkook asks, but without much conviction, because it doesn't feel like this whole thing would have been done by a psychotic serial killer for some reason. Not like Jungkook knows a lot of psychotic serial killers, he swears he doesn't, and he's also not one, and he's pretty sure Jimin isn't one either even if he sleeps with a knife under his pillow.

"Frankly, it’s more likely to be a social experiment than a psychotic serial killer," Yoongi comments drily. "Which it could be, I'm not saying I'm right, but who would want to do anything of that sort with a bunch of high school kids, you know? For one, there's too many of us and high school kids are a pain in the ass to manage, and… honestly, it's not like we're exceptional in any way, not to mention extremely unpredictable. So what even is the end motive, huh?"

And that's... fair. Jungkook thinks that if he were conducting a social experiment, he definitely wouldn't choose their class to be the sample subjects for it. Not that there's anything wrong with their class, but... It's not like they're special in any way, like Yoongi pointed out, and it's not like these students are especially similar to each other, other than besides sharing the same class.

"So, you're saying it could possibly be someone's twisted way of getting back at the class because they feel we deserve it for something we supposedly did?"

"I mean, that's all I can think of, of course, I'm most probably wrong, but..."

"You could be right, though," Jungkook mumbles softly, because that's quite a lot of thought Yoongi's put into the whole thing, and the more Jungkook thinks about it, the more convinced he feels, because Yoongi's right — it does feel like the challenges are curated for them. Like, he’s the only star pitcher in the whole year. And the first challenge they got was a baseball challenge. Could it get more suspicious than that?

"Like," Jungkook muses, "So far, the challenges are hard, but they're not so impossible that not a single person in our class would not have been able to beat it, you know?" 

"Exactly," Yoongi says. "And okay, sure, you could say that’s not correct because Scott died, but — "

"That’s mostly because he was being stupid," Jungkook offers, and immediately feels bad because he doesn't want to talk badly about someone who's supposedly (even though he hopes not) dead. "Because he decided to take an unnecessary risk," he amends. Because Jungkook would have a much better chance at clearing the challenge. Not because he was exceptionally good, but because he was decent and also had a +1 in aim. 

Yoongi nods in agreement. "The second argument against this theory is that, so far, all the challenges that came up involved very common general skills, so surely other classes could’ve managed them too and it's not just us, but… I don't know..." he trails off, reeling the line in to set it by the side, bait still hanging on the hook. "It's just a gut feeling, you know. And I know that's not exactly a convincing thing to say, but..."

"Sometimes gut is enough, though," Jungkook says, because instincts are a powerful thing, he thinks. He thinks about all the matches he's won, relying on his instincts; he thinks about all those times Jimin invited himself over to his house, even when Jungkook never told him he was sad; he thinks about all those things that people do for no logical reason, and how that's what makes them the most human. Because humans are mostly governed by logic, sure, but... instincts, instincts aren't something you ignore so easily either. 

And the thing is, if what Yoongi says is right, and that their class has been specifically targeted as a whole, that means the pool of suspects can be narrowed down considerably, even though he's not particularly sure who's even in the pool in the first place. It’s got to be someone who knows their class extremely well, and... it's a scarier thought. That it could be someone quite close by, because if Jungkook himself, who's been in the class for so long knows only the bare minimum about his classmates, who even could this person be, that they'd know so much? A teacher, perhaps? Multiple teachers?

Or even one of the classmates?

"We should tell people this, try to figure it out," Jungkook says, after a bit. 

"True, but they might end up panicking, and..." Yoongi trails off, but Jungkook knows where he's leading with it. And while he knows, logically, that it's better to lay all the cards on the table, there's no point in inducing mass panic over this when they don't have any sort of solid evidence.

"We could maybe tell the rest of our roommates?" Jungkook suggests. "Trying sleuthing around — " he cuts himself off, because okay, that's dumb, they're in a VR world, what would sleuthing even do? 

Yoongi, however, nods. "Yeah, just our roommates. They’ve got a good head on their shoulders, and we can try to figure it out together." And then he turns around to smile at Jungkook, this soft, quiet smile that's not quite the gummy kind he's known for, but a softer, sleepier, unguarded version. "I'm glad we ended up talking."

Jungkook goes pink, cheeks heating up, because Yoongi's sincerity is... warm in an almost overwhelming way. In a way that feels right, because when he mumbles back a shy, "I'm glad too… I feel much better now, somehow," he thinks about how he had barely even held a proper conversation with Yoongi before. But now, in the cover of the darkness, in a world that's not even real, Yoongi's presence feels like a sort of anchor to soothe his restlessness, a wave of steady calm against his tumultuous thoughts, an assurance that he's not alone in feeling the way he is, and... it feels right in the best of ways.  

And then they fall silent, because sometimes words are good, but then again, sometimes silences are equally good, especially when they're comfortable silences, shared with Yoongi. It feels good to lean against Yoongi’s shoulder, thighs pressed together, the silence of the night only broken by the lapping of the water against their ankles and the boat, and —

And then there are footsteps, the faintest of them, before a warm blanket is thrown around his and Yoongi's shoulders, and again, the only reason Jungkook didn’t topple into the water in shock was again, the prolonged exposure to Jimin's sneak attacks. 

"You two might as well sit around naked while having your midnight rendezvous. I mean, it's not like we're in the middle of a freezing cave," a voice grumbles wryly, tucking the blanket around them both aggressively, and Jungkook turns around to see an adorably pouty Namjoon glaring at them, hair sticking up in all directions. 

He feels warm all of a sudden, and wonders if the previous chill was because of the temperature or because of fear, and if the warmth is because of the blanket or the sight of Namjoon and the concern in his voice.

"Namjoonie," Yoongi mumbles, and his cheeks are tinted pink when Jungkook glances at him. "We just got caught up talking."

"I can see," Namjoon grumbles some more, and oh , he's mad, and logically, Jungkook thinks the appropriate response would be to appear a little remorseful, like Yoongi is trying to be right now, or at least figure out why Namjoon is mad, but all Jungkook can think is he's so cute, I'm in love, I just want to kiss his adorably pouty lips until his frown goes away. 

Yeah, he's got issues. 

And priorities. 

But eh.

Thankfully, Namjoon brings up the issue himself, settling down on Jungkook's other side (his other side!! Not Yoongi's!!). Their thighs are pressed together, and Namjoon is radiating warmth like he's a furnace, and Jungkook wants to snuggle up beside him and never let go. Bad Jungkook, he tells himself, stop daydreaming and listen to your cute crush talk!

Said cute crush is currently on an angry rant. "I woke up and saw two of you missing from your beds, no note, no message, nothing! I thought something bad had happened!"

"I… wasn't thinking?" Yoongi offers sheepishly, and Namjoon reaches across Jungkook to pinch Yoongi hard in the thigh. Jungkook's nose grazes against his neck for a second, which makes him blank out, because Namjoon smells like… he doesn't know , because this isn't a/b/o fic and people don't have distinctive smells, but he smells like home , like comfort, like the fabric conditioner Jungkook loves.

"That's the worst part," Namjoon says bitterly, still looking put-out, as he pulls away, and Jungkook manages to refrain from doing something ridiculous like chasing after Namjoon's warmth at the last second. "I know you didn't mean to do it, but I got so worried, okay? At least with Jungkook, Jin told me that he saw him leave, but you!"

He’s blinking a little rapidly, like he's trying not to cry, and Jungkook shuts down the lizard part of his brain that's finally managed to comprehend that Namjoon was also worried about him (his crush was worried about him !) only for the lizard part of his brain to immediately start worrying about how to comfort Namjoon — because he doesn't know! 

"We're okay," Jungkook finds himself saying, in the end, as cheerfully as he can, or as the situation allows for, going as far as to place a hand on top of Namjoon's and squeezing, because Jimin and Taehyung both like holding hands when they're upset, so. "Really, though we're sorry we didn't think of a note, but like Yoongi said, I don't know, I just got up and walked out. Not much of a thought process involved." Jungkook grimaces. Okay, good going, you basically told your crush that you don’t use your brain a lot, but also, he thinks, it's okay, because in the grand scheme of things, Namjoon can be the brains and Jungkook can be the brawn of their not-relationship. Yeah.

"I'm really sorry, Namjoon-ah, I swear," Yoongi says softly, getting up to walk around and kneel down beside Namjoon. "I wasn't thinking, and... I'm okay. We're both okay, we're all going to be okay, and we're going to get out of here in one piece."

Namjoon blinks some more, and Jungkook can see the sheen of wetness in his eyes, the way his nose scrunches in tiny as he tries not to sniffle and then says, "Just give me a hug, idiot."

And then, before Jungkook can feel jealous of their friendship (but now that he's thinking of it, what if they're secretly dating? Would that be a possibility? Would they let him join as a third? Can Namjoon stop looking unfairly pretty even when close to tears?) Namjoon's also turning to him, a softer but equally pouty smile on his face, and Jungkook wonders if it's unconscious, as Namjoon says, "You, too."

Jungkook malfunctions. Thankfully, and for the first time in his life, it's the lizard part of his brain that he's thankful for, because it takes over and his arms automatically come up around Namjoon's waist, and his head rests in the crook of Namjoon's neck, a safe space, a steady anchor of sorts, even as Yoongi mimics him in the other side, with the addition of the softest of kisses to Namjoon's temple. And Jungkook doesn’t even have time to start overthinking about that, because Yoongi leans over to do the same to Jungkook — a purely affectionate action that seems somehow so natural in that moment. 

It’s a reminder that they've got each other and that they're okay. That they'll be okay, somehow, as long as they have each other, and later, when they've stopped hugging, when they trudge back to their room, later, when Yoongi offers him the softest of smiles before crawling back into bed again, the clock showing 05:43, Jungkook thinks about how he’ll be fine as long as the people in this room are here with him. Because it's them . Because, for some reason, and maybe it's destiny or fate, or them being in a boyband together in some other universe, it feels like as long as they're all together, they'll be okay.

(And maybe half of the sappiness he’s feeling comes from Namjoon mumbling to him, in the softest voice possible, before he could climb up to his bunk, about how he was sorry if he'd been overbearing, about how he'd just been worried, and please take care, Jungkook-ah, I don't think I could handle it if something happened to you. And it's just Namjoon being kind, Jungkook knows, just Namjoon being a sweetheart, but also his lizard brain loves it, makes him go crush loves me , and well, he'll give his lizard brain this one thing, for saving him from social awkwardness and making sure he got that hug.) 

He goes to sleep, easier this time around, all thoughts of kidnapper motives and Scott and conspiracies pushed to the back of his head. It lingers, of course, but it's easier now to put it away to examine later, when they actually have evidence in hand or a hint as to what's happening. It's easier to sleep, with Namjoon's smile etched behind his eyelids, and the phantom warmth of his hug lingering in Jungkook's veins. 

Chapter Text

"You look way too happy for someone who refused to get out of bed today" is the first thing Jimin tells Jungkook when he walks into the kitchen the next morning in search of his breakfast, a.k.a, whatever is on Jimin's plate. As revenge for him pinching his nipples to wake him up, of course. "He looks too happy, doesn't he, Tae?" Jimin looks up at his boyfriend, who's seated on top of the table for some reason, beside Jimin, half-drowning in a bowl of cereal.

"It's a new day," Jungkook comments, taking his spot next to them and stealing some ramen right off Jimin's chopsticks before navigating to his own SHOP menu, wondering what to eat for breakfast. They can all choose their own breakfast today because the cooking team decided that they didn't want to cook all three meals for a whole class of teenagers who ate like they'd never seen food before in their lives. And, to be fair, that made sense. Besides, considering how the SHOP had upgraded to more pre-packaged food and ready-to-eat stuff that only needed to be microwaved, it was kinda okay. He settles on gimbap for the moment, and turns to look at Jimin. "I just don't see why you're so surprised? I'm quite the morning person, aren't I, Tae?" 

Taehyung doesn't deign him with a response, but then he didn't reply to Jimin either, so Jungkook doesn't feel too bothered. Of course, that's what he thinks until Taehyung looks up suddenly, at a certain someone standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and goes, a devious smile on his lips, "Namjoon, your thighs are delectable. "

Jungkook chokes on his gimbap.

Taehyung turns back to his cereal as Namjoon blushes a faint red, absolutely uncaring about the fact that Jungkook's literally dying, that Jimin's maybe smacking his back a little too hard to be actually helpful, and really, at this rate even if Jungkook doesn't die out of mortification, he's still going to crack a couple of ribs.

He wonders if it's payback for him shoving Jimin off his bed that morning while he was trying to stay under the covers and away from Jimin's tiny relentless fingers. 

"You okay, Jungkook-ah?" Namjoon asks, settling down on Jungkook's other side, voice so concerned , and Jungkook nods as much as he can without choking some more on the gimbap.

I'm okay , he tries to say, making an O with his fingers, before stretching out his hand to pinch Taehyung's ankle hard , where he's drumming it against Jimin's thigh, after Namjoon turns away, apparently convinced that Jungkook's not going to die after all.

"You heard that?" Jungkook hisses after making sure that Namjoon's not listening. The guy, bless his soul, is pre-occupied with pleading with Yoongi to make him coffee.

"Heard what?" Jimin asks, a pout on his lips. "What have I missed?" 

"Our baby Jungkookie mumbled thighs when he saw Namjoon come out of the shower wearing just his boxers and a towel over his shoulders?" Taehyung says, phrasing it like a question, like he isn't  the devil incarnate , and Jungkook's going to withhold all cuddles from him. For the next week, at least. No more cuddles for Kim Taehyung, absolutely none. 

"How do you know I was even commenting on, you know…" Jungkook jerks his head in Namjoon's direction. "It could have been your scrawny thighs for all that mattered. Or maybe I was talking about my own thighs."

Taehyung hmms in a way that says yeah, right, I totally believe you, before pointedly training his gaze on Namjoon's thighs, at his shorts, and then moving onto his arms, and this is objectification! Jungkook wants to yell. Wants to say stop looking at my future husband like that, and also Namjoon is way more than his thighs and his muscles and everything he hides under those boring uniforms, because back in school Jungkook sure as hell didn't know his future husband looked like that, but—

Saying that would mean admitting to Taehyung that, yes, he has a mortifying crush on Namjoon, and yes, he’ll also be admitting that he was also objectifying Namjoon when he came out of the shower, which was—hey, Jungkook's doing his best to keep a hold of his lizard brain, okay?

Of course, as if it’s not enough that Taehyung's waggling his eyebrows at him, clearly too pleased with this turn of events, Jimin manages to catch on to what's happening too right then, and goes, "Wait, what? You have a crush on Nam — mmph ." He tries to lick Jungkook's hand where he'd managed to slam it over his mouth, but Jungkook presses it tighter and whispers, in the lowest voice he can manage, "I'm pretty sure the whole class will know if you're any louder!" 

Not to mention Namjoon, of course, who (bless his heart) seems oblivious to the whole thing as he continues to make pleading puppy eyes at Yoongi, asking for coffee.

And would you look at that, Jungkook suddenly wants to become a coffee shop owner. 

He tears his gaze away from that heart-wrenchingly domestic scene to narrow his eyes at Jimin, letting go only when Jimin sticks out his pinky in promise to not shout out his new ground-shattering discovery, though the gleeful smile on his face makes Jungkook want to smother himself with pillows. 

He wonders if it's too late to walk out of the dining hall right then and take refuge at the pier again until the challenges started for the day. Especially when Jimin complains, "I can't believe you didn't tell me you had a crush on him!" And then, turning towards Taehyung, pout appearing on his lips again, "And you ! How could you not tell me this was a thing? I thought we had a soulmate code?" 

"In my defense," Taehyung says, "I started suspecting only after he gave Namjoon the bonsai — "

"Jungkook gifted Namjoon a bonsai?" A new voice asks, sounding a little too excited for 9:45 in the morning, and really , how did Jungkook end up in a class full of gossips? He can't believe them. And here he was thinking that most of the class was sensible! But again, Jimin had to get his information from somewhere, right? It only made sense that the class had its very own grapevine. 

"When did this happen?" The new voice — Choi Jinkook, a skinny guy with legs like a spider’s — asks again, as he slips into Namjoon's vacated seat beside Jungkook, and as much as Jungkook mourns the loss of his previous seatmate, he's quite glad Namjoon's not here to witness this whole trainwreck. 

He meets Namsook's eyes across the dining room, and allows himself a moment of solitary mourning. Good old Namsook winces in sympathy when she sees the group sitting around him, all eagerly demanding details.

And the thing is, it might be easy to say Jungkook's overreacting, as he eats his ramen, watching Taehyung, Jimin and Choi Jinkook gossip about his crush like he's not there, which… hello? He sure as hell doesn't drool over Namjoon when he's representing their class in quiz competitions? And now they’re saying that Jungkook was there at every single quiz competition simply to watch Namjoon shine? The blasphemy? That's true only 99% of the time. Sometimes, and it's this rare 1% of the time, he does go for other reasons like supporting Taehyung or maybe to participate himself. 

But again, to an outsider, this would probably not be a huge deal. Everyone gets crushes, it's a thing, nobody really cares. It’s different, though, when you’re best friends with Jimin and Taehyung, who probably consider this perfect material for teasing him.

"Namjoon," Jimin suddenly calls out, a sly sly look on his face, "did you know Jungkook here makes amazing ramen? You should ask him to make you some if you've not had breakfast yet."

...Yeah. This is what happens when your best friends know. Jungkook resists the urge to faceplant into the table, instead choosing to glare at the three minions right next to him, all of them wearing brilliant shit-eating grins on their faces, and…

"Is that so? Jungkookie's quite talented, then," Namjoon says, a hint of awe in his tone, and oh , would you look at that, Jungkook doesn't feel quite so murderous anymore. "I'm terrible in the kitchen," he admits, and when Jungkook turns to look at him, there's a soft pink dusting his cheeks. He looks so soft , which is completely in odds with his chosen attire, a sleeveless hoodie and short shorts, but...

"I can make you ramen," Jungkook says, clambering out of his seat. "I'm done with my own breakfast." 

"Would you be okay with that?" Namjoon asks, cheeks turning pinker, an embarrassed laugh escaping his lips. "I don't want to be a bother, and besides Yoongi said he'll—"

"I'll do it! It's no bother," Jungkook cuts him off. And okay, maybe he's being a little childish, reacting the way he does when Yoongi's name comes up. Yes, he still suspects that Yoongi and Namjoon are secretly boyfriends. No, he hasn’t forgotten something that important yet, no, no. He can’t help glancing at Yoongi, though, and sees him talking to Hoseok by the side, an adoring expression on his face, and Jungkook recognises that, because that's how he guesses his face looks 95% of the time when Namjoon's name is mentioned. Interesting. So does that mean that Namjoon and Yoongi are indeed not boyfriends? But that’s a question for another time. Now's not the time to speculate about things like that, not when he's got the prettiest boy in the universe waiting for him to make ramen, and Jungkook thinks, in another world, and if they were much older and cooler, he'd meet Namjoon somewhere outside, and he'd ask him to come home with him to eat ramen and —

Ow . He stumbles into Namjoon when Taehyung brushes past him to get to the sink, shoving him with a little more force than necessary. He does call out a sorry that's so wholly insincere , a smirk on his face, and dear god, Jungkook thinks, this is worse than that period when the boys in the class would start catcalling whenever Jihope and Seokjin sat anywhere close to each other, only stopping their shipper antics when they finally started dating. In fact, this is much worse, because at least those two had reciprocated feelings while Jungkook is just one person with a pathetic crush.

Of course, he supposes, he could have bribed Taehyung and Jimin into silence… but he can't do that to Choi Jinkook, he doesn’t even know what that guy likes. Well, he could tell Jinkook he didn't feel comfortable and he would probably drop it, because Jinkook isn’t an asshole, he’s more of your average high school kid who teased people for having a crush because that’s what everyone else is doing. (And he has a feeling most of the class is going to end up doing it too, soon.) Yes, Jungkook technically could put a stop to the teasing, but as Namjoon's hands come to rest on his waist to steady him, Jungkook's own resting on either side of him, like a weird version of an assisted kabedon, he wonders if he really wants to stop it at all. 

After all, this teasing gives him more of a reason to talk to Namjoon. Yes, if it made Namjoon uncomfortable , if they ever did something like that, he would definitely speak up, but for now... as long as it's harmless teasing at his expense... he thinks he doesn't really mind. 

"It's a pretty tiny dining space," Namjoon says, an embarrassed smile on his face when Jungkook finally steps away, and Jungkook mumbles a soft yeah before asking, "What type of ramen do you want to eat?" 

"Make me whatever you think is your best," Namjoon says, the smile curving along his lips into something even softer and lovelier, and fireworks explode in Jungkook's heart. 

He's going to make the best damn ramen ever. 

When they end up in the conference room again, five minutes shy of ten a.m., Jungkook finds himself in a corner beside Yoongi, Jimin and Taehyung.

"How're you feeling?" Yoongi asks him quietly as they settle down, and Jungkook reaches for the baseball in his pocket, a familiar weight in his hand. 

"Better," he admits, because it's the truth. Sure, he's nervous, because he's the first contender up, and no one knows how harder today's challenge will be, but he'd had a lovely morning so far, unweighted by the brevity of the previous night. He thinks that's something to muse upon later, how things seem scarier in the night and a little more bearable in the day, not quite so all encompassing as before, though that could partly also be because burden shared is burden halved, and that having something like a sort of course of action does wonders to one's morale. Still, he worries that him having such a lovely morning, with the pleasant weight of Namjoon's attention on him, would equate to the rest of the day being not quite so pleasant, as superstitious as it sounds. 

After all, his own challenge is not what’s worrying him the most. Jimin and Taehyung have volunteered to do the second challenge, a sensible decision as they outperformed everyone else in the class in pair tissue blowing during practice yesterday. Yes, a sensible decision, but call Jungkook selfish — he'd just rather it not be them, even if he knows that inevitably, at one point, they'll also have to take part in challenges. 

Jungkook is worried about his best friends. And yet, when he tells Yoongi he feels better , it's not a lie. 

Because at least he can be reassured now that no one's taking this whole thing lightly anymore. Also, he knows that Jimin and Taehyung have always been connected in a sort of uncanny way and that they've practiced hard enough that even if there were a thunderstorm, they'd probably find a way to keep the tissue afloat in air for as much time as is needed. Besides, he's confident in himself, in the faith the rest of the class has in him, the confidence in Namjoon's eyes as he'd waited beside Jungkook while he made ramen, and his soft smile when he'd taken the first mouthful, eyes fluttering shut in the loveliest of ways. 

Sue him, but Jungkook deosn't think anything could be a more powerful motivator than love.

So he repeats "better" to Yoongi, and finds his arm being squeezed in a return, a silent gesture of acknowledgement as much as encouragement, and he takes in a deep breath as the projector screen comes down.

DAY 3 CHALLENGE 1

[A partridge in a pear tree]

A partridge is a popular game bird.

Challenge Duration: 5 mins

Required Person(s): 1

Challenge Type: Aim

DAY 3 CHALLENGE 2

[2 turtle doves]

Get ready for a lovey-dovey challenge.

Challenge Duration: 1 min

Required Person(s): 2

Challenge Type: 2-person teamwork

DAY 3 CHALLENGE 3

[3 French Hens]

Put your thinking caps on.

Challenge Duration: 10 min

Required Person(s): 3

Challenge Type: Puzzles

"I'll start with the first challenge?" Jungkook asks, the moment the class sort of settles down. There's a bit of discussion about who should do the third one, he can gather, but… it's not related to him, and he'd rather get his challenge out of the way first. 

"Sure," Seokjin calls out, reaching for the mic on the podium. "And Jimin and Taehyung will be doing the second task, right?" 

Jungkook turns to look at his friends as he gets up, wishing, for one last selfish moment, that they would say no . That they would say that they aren't ready, or that someone else would suddenly volunteer. But, of course, as expected from Jimin and Taehyung, they chorus "Yeah. Once Jungkookie's done, we'll go in."

And then, there's no reason for Jungkook to stall anymore. He steps out of his place, lets Jimin and Taehyung pull him into a hug each, and walks out of the room towards the pier, his classmates’ good lucks ringing in his ears. Mostly, he thinks of the fighting Namjoon had called out when Jungkook had walked past him, as he gets onto the raft that'll take him into the tunnel.

It doesn't get less easy, he realises, as he rows into the tunnel. He'd thought that because he'd taken this path once, the sense of familiarity would help him stay grounded, but all he feels is nervousness when the raft finally comes to a halt against the green grassy area. 

He steps out, takes a deep breath, thinks about Scott in the same place the previous day and, a little masochistically, looks down at the grass to see if there are bloodstains, if there are any remnants of what had happened. But there's none, and then there's no more time to think about Scott, or Namjoon, or Mrs. Partridge, because there's the melodic voice again, reminding him of the rules, and then a basket of baseballs appears in front of him, except this time they're accompanied by a large slingshot, and before he knows it, the timer's already started. 

He reaches for the first baseball, fits it in the slingshot, and then turns towards the trees, where the partridges should be, except... there are none. Not even an extremely tiny one, which he'd expected to see. And for a moment, he wonders if maybe he's supposed to find the partridges. Wonders if he's supposed to read between the lines, because in that case he has no idea what his mission is, and suddenly the tick-tick of the timer sounds a little too loud, as loud as his heartbeat, and —

There. 

He catches a flash of green, something fluttering up from the trees, and… he aims. Uses the slingshot to aim, praying that his +1 buff works, and it does. He hits the first partridge, and waits as more fly out from the trees, surprised by the sudden disturbance, as quickly as he can fit the balls into the slingshot. It's a little harder than the first day, now that all his targets are moving. He misses a couple, has to run back to get balls because apparently they don't refill automatically, but he still manages to complete the challenge with a little over half of the time left.

It has him feeling slightly proud of himself, even if most of that which courses through him in that moment is relief , because that's yet another challenge they've won, yet another light to add to the tree. He reaches for another baseball from the basket to take back home as a prize, and hears the faint ding of a gift settling in his inventory. 

All he feels is relief and adrenaline leaving him as he steps back onto the raft and lets it take him to the boat, where the class welcomes him with hoots and cheers like he's just returned from war. Yes, he's relieved, even if he doesn't think his nerves will fully settle until he has Taehyung and Jimin back with him, safe and sound. For now, though, he accepts his classmates’ enthusiasm, because him winning was probably a morale boost, he realises. It was harder than the previous partridge challenge, the one where they lost someone, yet he cleared it. So… he accepts it, and allows himself to hug Jimin and Taehyung when the cheers settle.

Allows himself to hold them both tight, for a moment, before they walk out of the room, holding hands, determined smiles on their faces. 

"They've got this," Namjoon tells him, sitting down beside him in Jimin's spot. And then, "You were really cool out there."

Jungkook smiles at him, as gratefully as he can, and when Namjoon stretches his hand out in his direction, for comfort, he realises, he takes it, squeezing hard, as Jimin and Taehyung appear on the screen, eyes wide, still holding hands.

Their challenge is much the same as the previous day, except they're supposed to keep the tissue in the air for a minute, and it's a lot, Jungkook wants to say—one minute is too much, he wants to say, but then he sees his best friends cross the halfway mark with ease, managing to blow the tissue higher and higher, both of them scarily in sync with each other. It’s almost like they already have telepathy before they even got the telepathy channel reward. What’s even more impressive is that they even have the time to smile at each other from time to time.

And before Jungkook knows it, the timer counts down to 0, and Jungkook lets go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"They did it," Namjoon says, terribly proud, as the class erupts into cheers and Taehyung and Jimin bow together on screen to an imaginary audience, beaming wide. Before Jungkook even realizes what he’s doing, he’s already pulled Namjoon into an instinctive hug. 

For a moment, Namjoon freezes, and Jungkook wonders if he should pull back, wonders if he overstepped, because he knows Namjoon's not big on skinship and perhaps the hug last night was a thing of the night, a thing borne of the darkness. But then Namjoon relaxes in his hold, settling his chin on Jungkook's shoulder as he holds him close, letting Jungkook use him like a personal teddy bear, as he repeats "they did it… they did it…" like he knows Jungkook needs to hear it again.

He does. 

But mostly, he needs Jimin and Taehyung back by his side right now , needs them to hug him again, and they do the moment they step into the room. They make their way towards Jungkook, waving away the rest of the congratulations and that was super cool s, and Jungkook thinks, everything's okay now , they're back safe and sound. 

The relief doesn’t last long. Only seconds later, Seokjin taps on the table once and says, in the ensuing silence, "So Taekook, Namsook and Namjoon, do you guys want to do the third challenge now or after lunch?" 

Jungkook's heart drops.

Chapter Text

It’s not fair, Jungkook thinks. It’s not fair. It’s like he never catches a break. First, he had to undertake a life-or-death challenge. He survived it, and then he had to watch his two best friends complete another life-or-death challenge. They survived it. And now he had to watch his crush complete yet another life-or-death challenge. What the hell is this? It’s like making someone who’s deathly afraid of airplanes fly three days in a row. They’d disembark all relieved only to have to go through the nerve-racking process again the very next day.

At least, Jungkook supposes, the third challenge lasts only ten minutes. He’ll only have to stay worried for ten minutes, unlike on a plane ride where you have to remain stranded for hours.

Yes, he’ll only have to stay worried for ten minutes, and then everything will be fine. Jungkook refuses to think of the alternative, in which case nothing will ever be fine again. But that won’t happen, no. Jungkook trusts in Namjoon’s abilities. And Namsook and Taekook too.

Jungkook has to admit that the class did a good job choosing the three participants for the third challenge while he wasn’t around. The challenge is supposed to be about puzzles, and these three are some of the class’s cleverest. Namsook is an avid writer and reader, so if they’ve got word puzzles, they can leave it to her. Taekook is a computer whiz and good at math, physics, and the like. Logic puzzles and those that involve numbers will be easy for him.

As for Namjoon—did you even have to ask? Namjoon is good at everything in Jungkook’s eyes. Well, maybe except for cooking. And peeling an orange with his toes. Jungkook knows this because the class played truth or dare on last year’s study retreat and Namjoon was dared to do that. He failed miserably, though that was no fault of his. Most of the other classmates, aside from Seokjin, couldn’t do it either.

Ah, truth or dare. Those were good times. Jungkook wonders absently if his class would ever be the same again. If anyone would ever be in the mood to play truth or dare again, now that they have this… this whole incident hanging over their heads like a storm cloud.

He wonders this as the class watches the (empty so far) screen with bated breath. It seems that the third tunnel is longer—or perhaps Namjoon, Namsook, and Taekook are just bad rowers (which is, to be honest, quite likely)—because they take a much longer time to appear on the screen than Jungkook and the Jimin-and-Taehyung duo did.

The audience lets out a collective sigh of relief when the screen finally brightens. The three are in a room, Jungkook notes. An ordinary bedroom, it seems, quite tiny, fitting no more than a bed, a desk and chair, an electric keyboard, a small fridge, and… three boxes. Made of metal, sitting on the bed.

Why are there three boxes?

“Why are there three boxes?” Jimin asks. He’s taken his place beside Jungkook on the couch again. There aren’t quite enough couches so the majority of the class are standing, but they agree that Jimin and Jungkook deserve to sit on the couch because of the challenges they just went through. Taehyung, as expected, is sitting in Jimin’s lap.

The three boxes do seem out of place in the room, which looks otherwise like a cheap rental apartment, bare-bones, cramped, devoid of any personality. The three students barely have any place to stand and Taekook ends up sitting down on the chair to free up some space.

And then the melodic voice, which sounds almost like a friend to Jungkook now, speaks.

“Welcome to the third challenge. As you can see, there are three boxes holding one hen each. Your mission is to open the boxes and free the hens within ten minutes.”

Ah, so kind of like an escape room puzzle. That doesn’t sound too dangerous, and right up the alley of these three, too. They really did send the right people.

As soon as the countdown starts, the three students get to work. Jungkook watches them in slight fascination—not because they’re performing any badass model student moves or anything, they’re simply staring at the boxes and reading some instructions on them, that’s all—it’s just that it’s rare to see Namsook and Taekook like this, so confident and so in their element. Surrounded by the rest of their classmates, they’re quiet and apologetic, almost determined to take up as little space as possible. Jungkook can barely remember ever seeing them genuinely excited, besides that time he and Namsook were talking about writing.

They look genuinely excited now. And it makes Jungkook happy for a moment, to the point that he almost forgets about the time limit, but then Park Inseol says something and immediately snaps him back to reality.

Inseol is the class’s smartass and has been clearly annoyed that he wasn’t chosen as one of the three for this task. He’s been complaining to everyone who would listen, and now he’s made it his job to comment about everything the three are doing as well.

“Those shapes, he gotta take them apart!” He exclaims, pointing at the piece of paper Taekook is holding, having found it tacked on one of the boxes.

It’s a white piece of paper with several black blocks in various sizes on it. Taekook is holding it up for everyone to see.

“What’s he doing? He should be taking those shapes apart and rearranging them,” Inseol grouches, impatient.

“Take them apart how?” Seokjin asks, kindly.

Inseol shrugs. “Who knows, there’s gotta be scissors or box cutters in the drawers or something. What’s the point of having a desk if there’s no stationery?”

“This box requires a four-digit code,” Taekook is saying, both to inform his two fellow challenge-solvers and for the benefit of the audience.

“Well, how are you gonna find out what the code is if you don’t do anything to the paper? Cut the shapes up! Ugh!” Inseol shouts, pointing at the screen. “It’s escape room 101!”

“He can’t hear you, you know,” Jimin mutters.

Inseol is about to say something indignant in reply when Yoon Minnie tactfully diverts his attention by asking “Have you been to many escape rooms?”

Yoon Minnie is the class’s arts officer and very cute. Inseol finds Yoon Minnie agreeable because she always seems adorably confused. Jungkook has always suspected that Minnie just acts like that to see Inseol make a fool of himself, but he has no concrete evidence. Either way, Yoon Minnie has Jungkook’s support.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been to many escape rooms! There was this Egypt-themed one, I cleared it all by myself,” Inseol tells Minnie with pride.

“All by yourself? That’s so impressive!” Minnie exclaims with sparkling eyes. “But I heard escape rooms are more fun when there are a lot of people. Is that true?”

“I prefer to go by myself so that I wouldn’t be dragged down by idiots. They make me sick,” Inseol says. “That Bang Taekook, for example! What’s he doing? Why is he not cutting up the paper? What a fool, you guys should’ve sent me.”

“But these puzzle challenges require three people, and you like to go alone. What if you get sick? We need to stay healthy for all the upcoming challenges!” Minnie says, looking genuinely concerned.

Inseol rolls his eyes. “I don’t mean that they literally make me sick.”

“But you said—”

This trainwreck of a conversation is interrupted by loud clucking. Bang Taekook yelps in surprise as his box opens and a hen leaps out, feathers and all, into his arms.

“Oh, wow,” Taekook murmurs, flustered, as the hen settles down in his hold. “This is kind of nice.”

Namsook giggles. “She likes you.”

Taekook pets the chicken on the head with an awkward smile. “Thanks, I guess, little one. I’ll make sure Seokjin doesn’t cook you.”

“How did you open the box? I didn’t even see your paper,” Namjoon says from where he’s studying another one of the boxes.

“The code is 6437. Just look at the white space,” Taekook replies.

“Looks like no boxcutter is required,” Yoon Minnie whispers to Park Inseol, looking surprised. “But… but you said…”

As tempting as it is to watch Inseol’s reaction, Jungkook has more important things to focus on, such as Namjoon standing up with his box and moving to the electric keyboard. As an avid stalker of Namjoon’s Soundcloud, he’s not gonna let an opportunity to hear Namjoon play music slide.

But why play music? What does the box have to do with music at all?

Bang Taekook, who has no free hands now due to the chicken, has the same question. “What are you doing?” He sits down next to Namjoon, who smiles at him and begins to read from the card that comes with his box.

“See, my box has three locks, and the card has three passages on it. First: I wear a green dress with many layers. Bunnies love me. What am I? I believe that this is a C-A-B-B-A-G-E.”

With every letter he recites, Namjoon plays a corresponding note on the keyboard. Do, la, si, si, la, sol, and finally mi.

The first lock on his box clicks open.

“Wow!” Taekook exclaims, “how did you figure out these passages had anything to do with the keyboard?”

Namjoon grins, blushing slightly because of Taekook’s impressive face. “Uh, I thought the keyboard’s gotta be here for a reason, so…”

“As expected from Namjoon, huh?” Yoongi says from somewhere above Jungkook’s head. Jungkook turns around, sees Yoongi standing behind his spot on the couch, and grins.

Namjoon continues reading out his card. “Second passage—now this is longer—: Many around the world love me.

But many children are not allowed to have me.

With me, some go to bed late.

Without me, some have a headache.

Tell me: where can you find me? ”

Jungkook hears Yoongi chuckle behind him. “I know this.”

“I believe that this ‘me’ refers to COFFEE, which can be found in a C-A-F-E,” Namjoon says, and plonks down four notes. The second lock clicks open.

“As for the third passage… it goes ‘ Some people are called this because of the shape of a certain body part of theirs’. ”

Taekook frowns. “This one is obscure.”

Namjoon agrees. “Yeah. Way too many body parts to consider. But eliminate everything that cannot be spelled with only the letters A to G, and we don’t have much left. Also, I think I know the answer because I happen to be called this a lot due to my head shape. It’s an E-G-G!”

As he plays the three notes, mi, sol, and sol, the final lock of the box opens as well and a large, fluffy hen comes tumbling out of the box into Namjoon’s arms. Namjoon blinks, unsure what to do for a second, and then laughs as the chicken squirms and looks up at Namjoon and says bawk bawk bawk.

Jungkook tries his best to not look upon the scene with heart eyes and fails miserably. Jimin is gazing at him from the side and he really hopes that Jimin thinks the reason he has a fond smile on his face is that he thinks the chicken is cute, not because he thinks Namjoon is cute.

Of course, Jimin knows him the best. He nods knowingly… but does not tease. Instead, he squeezes Jungkook’s hand gently. “Just one more box to go.”

Jungkook squeezes back. Sometimes he forgets, too caught up in his own crush feels, but Namjoon is Jimin’s friend too. It sucks for him just as much—Jimin, too, had to watch his friends (and boyfriend) put themselves in danger too many a time today.

He can’t wait till this is all over and they can finally relax—until it all happens all over again the next day, but at least they get a few hours of respite and that’s better than nothing.

Six minutes have passed by now. Two hens have been freed, and Namsook is sitting on the bed, holding a piece of paper, looking on the verge of tears.

“I’m… I’m sorry… I have no idea…” she whimpers.

Namjoon and Bang Taekook sit down on either side of her, and Namjoon reads out loud the text on the paper Namsook’s clutching in her trembling hands, so that everyone can hear. Not that it makes any difference, since even if someone knows the answer, they can’t tell the three, but still.

“Looks like it’s one of those personality quizzes,” Namjoon prefaces. “The box requires a three-digit number to unlock.”

“That’s not even a lot of combinations,” Inseol yells, despite how clearly none of the three can hear him. “Just start trying every number from 000 to 999, geez!”

Oblivious to all the screaming that is happening on the other side of the screen, Namjoon continues:

“Question one: First question! Mrs. Hen has invited you on a date! Where will you go with the lovely Mrs. Hen?

1) Shopping mall! I’ll buy Mrs. Hen so many new clothes!

2) Opera house! I want Mrs. Hen to see how cultured I am!

3) The movies, of course! I’ll show Mrs. Hen what a gentleman I can be!”

“Why would I want to date a hen?” Karen grumbles. Jungkook has always been slightly afraid of Karen, but he’s inclined to agree with her on this.

Namjoon reads on:

“Question two: Letter-writing time! What will you put down in your love letter for your beautiful Mrs. Hen?

1) I’ll praise Mrs. Hen’s lovely feathers and beak!

2) Nothing delights me more than Mrs. Hen’s voice. I’ll write about that, of course!

3) Well, I’ll describe a fond memory Mrs. Hen and I shared together!”

“This is making me mildly uncomfortable,” Jimin admits to Jungkook.

“Question three: Choices made? Only one more question left! Mrs. Hen wants to grant you a superpower. Which will you choose?

1) X-ray vision!

2) Electricity manipulation!

3) Orange immunity!”

“Orange immunity? What’s orange immunity?” Taehyung whispers.

“I guess it makes you immune to oranges,” Yoongi says, tone deadly serious.

“Orange immunity… that’s strange. I can’t help thinking there must be a reason the person who wrote this personality test put this in as a choice,” on the screen, Namjoon mutters.

Strange, indeed. This whole puzzle is considerably weirder than the other two. No wonder Namsook is having a hard time. The poor girl looks distraught, wringing her hands, eyes rimmed with red.

Seven minutes. They have only three minutes left.

“I chose one, three, and two. What are my results?” Romy, who apparently loves personality quizzes, asks. No one is able to give her an answer.

But that does make Jungkook think. Why make a personality quiz without results? What’s the point? Unless this isn’t a personality quiz after all. In that case, what—

All of a sudden, Namjoon sits up straight on the bed. “I got it. Six, one, two. Try it.”

Namsook’s fingers are shaking too hard, so Taekook takes over and fiddles with the number lock. Seconds later, the door of the third metal box swings open and a hen falls out into Namsook’s lap.

Namsook starts bawling.

“How did you get that?” Taekook asks, voice barely audible over the cheers that erupt in the lounge.

Jungkook has to strain his ears over the whoops and shouting and singing to hear Namjoon answering the question. “I thought the whole thing was worded a bit strangely. Like, ‘choices made?’ Why say that at all? So I tried reading the first word of each question, and it says ‘FIRST LETTER CHOICES’. So I read the first letter of each of the choices. The first letter of every first choice spelled SIX, the first letter of every second choice spelled ONE, and so on.”

Taekook says something in reply, but the words are completely muffled by all the noise the class is currently producing. Seokjin manages to shush everyone just in time for them to hear the melodic voice speak and offer reward choices.

“To reward you three for your success,” the voice declares, “you will receive one special item each in a MYSTERY BOX. The person who opened BOX 6437 will receive a GLASSES MYSTERY BOX. Open to get one random pair of special glasses. The person who opened the MUSIC BOX will receive a MUSIC MYSTERY BOX. Open to get one random musical item. The person who opened BOX 612 will receive a PERSONALITY QUIZ MYSTERY BOX. Open to get one random personality-related item.”

“What even is a ‘personality-related item’?” Jungkook wonders.

“Wait, I opened Namsook’s box, does that mean I get two items?” Taekook is saying onscreen.

“It’s okay, it’s yours, I failed, you deserve to have it,” Namsook says with a sob.

“But I didn’t solve the puzzle, Namjoon did,” Taekook points out.

“If you agree to FORFEIT your box to a fellow classmate, you may,” the melodic voice declares.

“Okay, I forfeit the personality quiz mystery box to Namjoon,” Taekook says.

Namjoon turns to him in surprise. “You didn’t have to—”

Taekook shakes his head. “You solved the puzzle, it’s yours.” He smiles wanly. “Besides, I already get a new pair of glasses.”

Bang Taekook has never been especially outstanding in the looks apartment, mostly due to his complete lack of fashion sense and the nonexistent amount of care he puts into personal grooming, but at that moment Jungkook suddenly realizes that Taekook has quite a nice smile. Perhaps he never did notice it because Taekook rarely ever smiled.

Or maybe anyone who’s nice to Namjoon is just automatically appealing in Jungkook’s eyes.

“You may also choose one small enhancement each,” the melodic voice adds. “You can choose from sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.”

“Hey, that sounds more fun than ‘aim’,” Jungkook can’t help blurting out.

“We can send you into the puzzle challenge tomorrow if you want,” Seokjin tells him, grinning.

Jungkook grimaces. “Nah, I’d fail.”

“You’d definitely do better than Inseol,” Yoon Minnie whispers into his ear, and Jungkook chuckles.

On the screen, Taekook and Namsook opt for a small sight enhancement—a sensible choice since both are nearsighted—and Namjoon, music buff that he is, goes for hearing.

As soon as the three disappear from the screen, Jungkook rushes out to the pier, heart pounding with joy.

They’ve lit up a grand total of three lights on the Christmas tree today. No one died. No one even got hurt. He’s okay. Jimin and Taehyung are okay. And Namjoon is okay too. And here he comes, sitting on the raft with Taekook and Namsook, and the three mystery boxes—

And three hens.

“Ooh, looks like we’ll be having a feast tonight,” Kookie Monster says.

“I’m not letting you eat my new pet!” Taekook shouts.

It’s nice seeing Taekook coming out of his shell. Jungkook laughs. Kookie Monster laughs, and on the raft, Namjoon is laughing too. The anxiety that had been plaguing Jungkook’s mind is suddenly lifted like a fog, especially when his eyes meet Namjoons, bright and softened with mirth.

At least for now, he feels like this is shaping up to be the best day ever.

Chapter Text

The class enjoys a cheesy curry for lunch. The newly-arrived chickens are not cooked (Taekook purchases a small enclosure from the interface to keep them in), though the curry does come with fried eggs. Jungkook hopes the hens do not see this.

The conversation over the dining table eventually and inevitably turns to a discussion over who should be sent to do the missions the next day. Jungkook would have liked the respite to last a little bit longer—just a few more hours where they can chill and forget this whole situation even existed—but he knows that it only makes sense to discuss early when they still can. In a few days, perhaps, they won’t even be able to have lunches like this anymore. Some of the challenges might take longer, considering that more people will be involved. And they’ll have to stuff six, seven, and more challenges into the same day. That’s a lot of people gone at once.

Jungkook shudders and tries to not think about it—the image of a half-empty dining table, occupants all tense with worry over their classmates who have not yet returned, does not spark joy in his mind at all. That’s right, he won’t think that far. He’ll just sit and enjoy the curry (which happens to be really delicious, whoever made it knows their stuff) now and let the others carry the discussion.

“I think I’m confident enough in my aim to take the first challenge tomorrow,” Vhope says. Vmon turns to him in surprise. The two of them are always together, so Jungkook finds it unexpected that Vmon did not previously know about Vhope’s decision.

“I thought we were taking the second challenge together?” Vmon exclaims, nudging Vhope in the ribs.

“We can take it together the day after tomorrow,” Vhope suggests. “I just think it would be nice to give Jungkook a break, it’s unfair to force him to put himself in danger every single day just because he’s our star pitcher. And right now I’m the best choice after Jungkook.”

No one can really contest that. Judging from the practice sessions that have been going on, Vhope is indeed doing very well, even without enhanced aim. The only one who can give him a run for his money is probably Oh Yoonjin, the girl who’s the best at sports, but Yoonjin also happens to be good at a great deal of other things and probably wants to keep her options open.

“I mean, I’m okay with that,” Jungkook says, suddenly realizing that everyone’s eyes are on him. “I don’t mind doing the challenge for another day, but I don’t want to be hogging all the prizes either. I already have two balls.”

Some of the boys whose minds are in the gutter start chortling about Jungkook and his two balls, and it seems to be settled—Vhope it is.

Jungkook has to admit that he’s relieved. While the aim challenge is nothing he can’t handle (so far, at least), it’s still a huge amount of pressure. It would be nice to get to rest for a day. Surely no one would nominate him for the other challenges, right? He assumes that he’s no good at puzzles since he’s never tried to solve any. And… what will the fourth challenge be about? Four calling birds? No idea what that would involve, but hopefully there are other classmates who are good at it and they clear it in a jiffy.

To be honest, Jungkook just can’t wait to get out of bird territory. Four challenges about birds in a row have traumatized him. At least five golden rings are not birds.

And then, Namsook speaks up, looking all small and innocent behind her heavy glasses. “Um, if Jungkook isn’t doing the first challenge tomorrow… maybe we could have him do the second challenge… with Namjoon?”

Jungkook wants to shake her hard and thank her all at once. Because, first, wow, way to bring up his crush on Namjoon in a totally unsubtle manner. He thought she agreed to keep it a secret! And second, well, hey, as much pressure as the challenges are, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined what it would be like, doing the tissue challenge with Namjoon. Judging from how Jimin and Taehyung did it, it was always pouted lips, warm breaths, and a flurry of tangled limbs. They even accidentally kissed each other once.

But still. Jungkook wants to bury his face in his hands. Did she have to make it this obvious ?

“I thought we already agreed to give Jungkook a break,” Vhope speaks up, completely unaware of Namsook’s motives.

Namsook blushes and looks down at her unfinished food. “Um… it’s just… I thought, since Jungkook has enhanced aim and also two rewards already, and Namjoon has two rewards too as well as enhanced hearing… they’re, um, probably the most capable of us all right now, right? And um… I’m just throwing ideas out there, don’t mind me… the challenges get a little bit more difficult every day, right? Perhaps in the future we’ll have a challenge where the challengers end up in different locations… and I just feel like it would be beneficial to have two of our current best players to have a telepathy channel, you know?”

The class ponders over her very earnest outburst. Jungkook ponders over her very earnest outburst. Of course, he’s pretty sure this is just a stupid reason Namsook made up on the spot to cover her shipper tendencies, but… but it does make sense in a way.

Not to mention that it would be pretty nice to have a telepathic link with Namjoon. Jungkook had noticed that Seokjin and Jihope had said remarkably little to each other after they got their channel. It was almost like the couple had a quarrel—and then he remembered that they were probably just talking in their heads.

Imagine doing that with Namjoon. Wow.

“Well, I don’t particularly mind doing it, but Jimin and Taehyung will have to give us special training today, because while Jungkook may be a great athlete, I don’t think I’m any good at keeping tissues afloat,” Namjoon says, smiling at Jungkook, dimples prominent, and Jungkook melts in his seat.

“Uh, I… I mean, yeah, I wouldn’t mind either,” he stutters, quickly regaining solid form after suddenly realizing that the entire class is waiting for him to give a response.

“Well, then, it’s decided!” Jimin declares, giving Jungkook a big pat on the back, grinning. “We’ll make sure to give you a training experience of a lifetime.”

Jungkook can’t help but notice that his grin seems forced—the amusement doesn’t reach his eyes, and there are tight lines around his lips.

“Just want you to know that there’s no shame in pulling out if you want,” Jimin whispers to Jungkook later, grimly, as the class dives into another discussion regarding who to send for the third challenge. “I know you’re happy to give it a go because of Namjoon and all, but… it’s a difficult challenge. I can’t sugarcoat it. It’s really hard.”

Jungkook smiles at him, trying his best to look convincing. “Let’s do the training first. If we really suck, I promise I’ll pull out.”

Jimin nods, though the worry is still prominent in his eyes, and Jungkook can’t help feeling lucky. Because he’ll get an afternoon of training with his crush, which will probably involve a lot of close contact. Because he’s potentially getting a telepathy channel with his crush too.

And most importantly, because he knows that he has the bestest best friend in the world.

After lunch, the class heads to the recreation room. Not all of them are planning to train, since the previous two days’ practice has already proven that some of them are hopeless cases at these specific challenge types. Nevertheless, they still all gather to see the rewards the group has racked up today. Seokjin wants the entire class to have a clear idea about the functions of each item in their arsenal, just in case they come in handy in future challenges.

First, there are the hens. According to Bang Taekook, who puts one of them into his inventory to see the description before taking it out again, these hens lay one egg each every day if fed properly. The eggs can be eaten if the class feels like it, but more importantly, every twenty-five eggs collected can be exchanged for one redo attempt of any challenge on the same day they’re used. Right now they have only three eggs, but considering that they’ll (hopefully) be bringing home more chickens in the future, it’s only a matter of time before they get twenty-five.

“I’ll keep them fed,” Taekook, who’s apparently taken quite a liking to the hens (and vice versa), promises.

Next, they move on to Jungkook’s new baseball. He checks the description in the inventory and reads it out loud for everyone: “[SINKER BALL] An extremely heavy and powerful ball that feels light to the user. Automatically returns to user after tossed.” He tosses it upward a few times in his hand. It indeed feels light, no different from your average baseball.

“Try throwing it at something,” Hoseok suggests, motioning everyone to stand back. After making sure there’s no way he can hit anyone, Jungkook tosses the ball at a wall. Not wanting to damage public property, he decides to only use like 5% of his usual strength.

The ball hits the wall with a loud crunch and drops to the ground like it was made of lead, leaving a huge dent in the plaster where it hit.

Jungkook stares, mortified. “Uh, I didn’t mean to…”

Kookie Monster, who is standing the closest to the ball, wanders over to pick it up with his free hand that’s not holding a cookie. He can’t do it. And mind you, he’s a pretty large guy.

He turns to Jungkook, awed. “And you were tossing it into the air like it were a normal baseball!”

“Uh, it does feel like a normal baseball…” Jungkook admits, somehow flustered by all the attention. It’s not his intention to look like some sort of Hercules. But hey… Namjoon is gazing at him and he seems really impressed, so he’ll take what he can get.

After oohing and aahing over Jungkook’s new toy, the class moves on to check out what Jimin and Taehyung have brought back, besides their telepathy channel. Like Seokjin and Jihope previously, they were each allowed to ask for one item, except none of the class even heard what they asked for because they were too busy cheering and celebrating in the lounge when the challenge was cleared.

“I got this.” Taehyung takes out a really cool-looking bandana—or maybe it’s only cool because Taehyung is holding it and even the ugliest accessory would look good on Taehyung. “Here’s the description: [BANDIT’S BANDANA] Point at your target with finger guns while wearing this, and the target must take out all items in his pockets and hand them to you immediately. Can be used once a day.”

“Try me! Try me!” says Kim Fairy Cub. She’s an adorable girl who always keeps all sorts of accessories in her pockets.

“Well, I suppose I won’t need to use it again today anyway, might as well try it now.” Taehyung ties the bandana on his head and points at Fairy Cub with finger guns. The girl reaches into her pocket right away and pulls out a pearl hairclip, two scrunchies, a facemask, a pair of banana earrings, a pack of chewing gum, some receipts, a band-aid, her student ID, eight keychains interlocked together, a packet of tissues and a matcha flavored Kit-Kat.

“Are you Doraemon or something?” Seokjin says in amusement.

“Yoongi’s even worse, he’s got tangerines in his pocket,” Fairy Cub points out.

Meanwhile, Jimin seems slightly embarrassed about the item he asked the system for. “Please don’t think I’m weird or anything, but um… yesterday Yoonjin complained to me that the shop in the interface didn’t sell maxi pads…”

“A serious oversight,” Oh Yoonjin says, nodding solemnly.

“So I thought, well, that’s gonna be a problem, so I asked for a refillable pack of maxi pads.” Jimin pulls out the whole pack and hands it to Yoonjin.

“Ooh, it’s the long kind, that’s good,” Yoonjin says.

“According to the description, these maxi pads can be used by anyone like normal, but if I’m the one holding them, they can also be used on wounds. Like, hold it over a wound and it will stop bleeding immediately,” Jimin explains.

“I guess this means that Jiminie is our official healer now,” Seokjin says, laughing.

Yes, it’s great that they have maxi pads that heal wounds, Jungkook supposes. But the existence of maxi pads that heal wounds implies that people will be getting wounded in the future, and he can’t help getting worried.

The worst thing is, he has no idea when that will be happening. The challenges all seem straightforward so far. When will the, uh, wounding start happening? Also, Jihope has a UNO deck that can be used for attacking. When will the attacking start happening?

He doesn’t know. It could happen in the very last challenge. It could happen tomorrow.

Jungkook shudders.

While the girls start distributing the maxi pads among themselves (the pack is refillable so Jimin will still have enough for healing purposes), Namjoon and Bang Taekook turn to the three mystery boxes they received. Taekook opens his “glasses mystery box” first, which reveals a pair of ordinary-looking glasses.

“[TRACKER GLASSES],” he reads out loud. “Can be used to track a person or an item like a GPS. Hmm, that could be useful. Also looks cooler than my current pair.”

“Do you even need your current pair anymore? I thought you got sight enhancements?” Hoseok asks, curious.

“It seems like it could be turned on and off,” Taekook explains.

“Yeah, same with my hearing. Which is a good thing, it turns out. I didn’t think it through—I imagine I’d have a hard time sleeping if I could hear every little noise,” Namjoon concurs.

Next, everyone watches as Namjoon takes out a recorder from his “music mystery box”. “[RECORDER],” he reads. “Play a peaceful tune with this. All units who hear it will cease attacking for as long as the song lasts. This ability can be used once a day.”

“Looks like you need to learn to play a very long song,” Yoongi says.

“Ghibli stuff, maybe,” Namjoon agrees. “Now, let’s check this ‘personality quiz mystery box’.”

He pulls open the lid to reveal a small booklet. “[PERSONALITY QUIZ BOOK] Has an infinite number of pages. User may compose a personality quiz in this notebook and have a target take it. After doing the quiz, the target will instantly gain the traits described in the result for one minute. Can be used only once in a challenge. Target cannot know about the quiz beforehand.”

“I don’t get it.” Bang Taekook says, leaning over to study the small notebook. “How does it work?”

Namjoon squints. “Well, according to the description here… for example, if I write a personality quiz ‘Which member of the Avengers are you?’ and Seokjin here takes it and his result is Iron Man… he becomes Iron Man for one minute.”

Jungkook’s jaw drops. Namjoon may have just become the most ridiculously overpowered person in the entire room.

Training with Namjoon, Jimin, and Taehyung goes disastrously in the beginning. For the first two hours, neither Jungkook nor Namjoon gets the hang of this tissue-blowing thing. They’re so comically bad at it that Jimin eventually suggests that Jungkook uses his magical baseball that slows down time. They all perk up initially, realizing that they now have some useful tools to rely on now—until Namjoon points out that it would be useless to slow down time for ten seconds in this challenge. Yes, the tissue paper would fall slower, but the ten seconds would also pass slower, which means that they have to keep it afloat for even longer. That’s the exact opposite of what they’re trying to achieve.

“In that case, how about we use Namjoon’s personality quiz book instead? Like, Namjoon can write a personality quiz called ‘How good are you at keeping tissues afloat?’ and every result is good, and Jungkook can take it and become really good at keeping tissues afloat for one minute, and hopefully that’ll tide you both over,” Jimin suggests.

“Unfortunately the description says that the target can’t know about the quiz beforehand, and in this case Jungkook obviously does know about the quiz beforehand,” Namjoon says. Jimin’s face falls.

“In that case, you’ll just have to train harder,” he finally says, patting both of them on the back.

Jungkook and Namjoon do train harder. They spend the remainder of the afternoon running, crouching, rolling on the floor, huffing and puffing, crashing into each other. An unexpected advantage to this completely exhausting routine is that Jungkook completely forgets to be awkward and flustered. Falling into Namjoon’s arms becomes natural. Holding Namjoon by the waist to prevent him from crashing into a wall becomes natural. Coming so close to Namjoon that he can feel his breaths on his face becomes natural.

Like, yeah, if he stops and thinks about it he still blushes, but still. At least he’s so preoccupied with being tired that he’s no longer stammering and acting like an idiot. Also, with all that strenuous physical activity, even if he does blush, it can be attributed to the heavy exercise.

Another three hours fly by, and Jungkook finds himself crumpled over on the ground, right next to Namjoon, their legs touching, their hands touching, both of them too exhausted to even move away from each other. Jungkook feels Namjoon’s warm breaths tickling his skin, and it’s kind of nice.

Oh, who is he kidding, it’s very nice.

Namjoon looks adorable, hair disheveled, face ruddy, eyes shining, panting hard. Jungkook can only hope he looks half as good himself, but he doesn’t really have high hopes.  

“Well… that was…” Namjoon gasps out, not even finishing the sentence due to breathlessness. That was what ? Jungkook wonders. He doesn’t really have a word for it. Tragic? Devastating? Hell? …Fun?

Because it was fun, he’ll admit. And they did improve. Just not enough to be able to keep a tissue paper afloat for two minutes, which is their goal. They aren’t sure how long the challenge will be exactly, but it will probably be more than Jimin and Taehyung’s one minute, so two minutes seem like a safe estimate.

A safe estimate that they can’t reach.

The thing is, Jimin and Taehyung can’t reach it either. And neither can anyone else. Alarmingly, Jungkook and Namjoon have indeed become the best in the class at tissue-blowing now, so they’ll definitely be taking the second challenge tomorrow, unless they want to force a pair of their classmates to do it.

Of course, they can’t do that. Namjoon is too righteous. Jungkook is too nice. They know they’re the class’s best bet. Even if the two-minute goal is still unattainable for them.

Even if they’re likely to fail.

What happens then?

“You can’t keep training,” Jimin says, sorrowfully. “I know you two would probably want to stay up all night practicing, but you need to conserve energy for tomorrow.”

“I know,” Jungkook murmurs in reply. A sudden tightness squeezes around his heart. It’s one thing to be heading into a challenge with your crush. It’s entirely another thing to know that you’re most likely dying with your crush.

He’d prefer that to not happen, thank you very much.

“We’ll be okay… I mean… we can tell the partridge a story, I’m good at telling stories,” Namjoon’s voice comes floating over from where he’s lying next to Jungkook on the ground.

“Turtle doves,” Jungkook replies, “the second challenge doesn’t have partridges.”

“We can tell the turtle doves a story,” Namjoon amends.

What if the consequence of failing the challenge is something else? Something that doesn’t involve telling a story? Jungkook wonders. But he doesn’t have the heart to say it.

“We’ll tell the turtle doves a really long story, so they’ll fall asleep and let us go,” he suggests instead.

Namjoon chuckles. “Yeah. We’ll tell them a really long a story. A story about… I don’t know, maybe a boy who has a scar on his forehead? That’s a really long story. It can last the whole day, and they’ll really have to let us go because otherwise the challenges can’t continue.”

“But what if that counts as plagiarism?” Jungkook wonders.

“We can tell them a story we made up ourselves, then,” Namjoon decides. “A story about… about a group of seven born singers. Who started writing music in a garage. We’ll start from their early years, describe them in detail, every event, every concert, every album, every song…”

“Sounds like a nice story,” Jungkook says, quietly.

“Sounds like a nice story,” Namjoon agrees, voice hushed.

Yes, it sounds like a nice story, Jungkook thinks. But he really hopes it doesn’t come to that. He’d still prefer to clear the challenge without needing to see Mr. and Mrs. Turtle Dove or whoever their challenge masters are.

Because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle it if failing the challenge leads to losing Namjoon.

Chapter Text

Jungkook thinks he should start maintaining a journal. Like Namsook does. He thinks he kind of understands why she does it, at this point—kind of understands why she's writing a story out of what's happening to them right then. 

Honestly, he thinks he should do that too—maintain a journal in story form. He'd probably be able to do it well. It'd be in third person, have absolutely no coherence and at least fifteen dozen author’s notes, as well as heaps of half-finished sentences where he waxes poetic about Namjoon's lips and Namjoon's dimples and just Namjoon's whole being in general.

He's even planned out the start of that evening's entry. It'd go something like:

Jungkook thinks there's nothing quite as risque as attempting to transfer papers from one bowl to another with the mode of transport being mouth to mouth. Or, specifically, from your crush's mouth to your mouth. If Jungkook closes his eyes, he can still remember that one moment, a moment that stands still in time, a moment when Namjoon had turned, Jungkook's lips close to his, and the paper had fluttered to the ground. He can remember the way he'd been unable to stop the movement, the way his lips had met the corner of Namjoon's mouth, his left dimple, the chastest of kisses, and the endeared and adorably embarrassed smile on Namjoon’s face as half the class screamed and hooted —

Actually, now that Jungkook's thinking, he'd be better off writing fanfic as opposed to this, because clearly, more important things had happened that evening, but if he were to put it down in paper, all he'd end up writing about was Namjoon's smile and his dimples, and… wait, he's already said that before, hasn't he? Memory span of a goldfish, really. Oh, and besides, while fanfics can have chapters that start in the middle of nowhere and unfinished snippets which the readers will know are outtakes, Jungkook’s Virgo ass can't allow himself to maintain a journal like that, with no conclusive start or end. Honestly, he thinks, ten years down the line, if he were to pick up his own journal, he probably wouldn't even know the context behind the almost-kiss and why he'd been coerced into passing around papers with Namjoon, mouth to mouth.

So, since Jungkook clearly doesn't have the talent Namsook has in weaving stories, he'll start right off from what he likes to call “the beginning of the end”. Yes, he's being dramatic, but still. It starts that very evening, when they'd played truth or dare.

Now, Jungkook realises that, to someone looking in, this would look like quite the inappropriate time to be doing such a thing. After all, they've had one death so far, and they have to face challenges every day, the difficulty level of which just keeps increasing, so the logical thing any person in such a situation would do is keep practising to get better, or probably sleep to conserve energy.

But also, those are rational, logical things. Jungkook's never claimed to be part of such a rational, logical class, nor does he think that there are actually so many rational, logical people in the world. If there were, he thinks, there wouldn’t be so many people dying in ghost movies, because, really , who walks right into the classroom where the spooky noise is coming from?

Jungkook.

That's who. He would absolutely do it, and he knows for a fact that Taehyung would accompany him, and maybe a couple of his classmates, so yes, clearly, they're not the brightest bunch, but hey, humans aren't logical, okay? 

Anyways, the point being, they play truth or dare. It doesn't start with truth or dare, of course, that'd be a little extreme to be like “hey guys I know we might all be dying in a couple of days but let’s play truth or dare”. It starts with Two-Sock, the class clown, playing the frying pan game near the end of their post-practice second dinner, which is basically another term for late night snacking. They're all sated, dessert in the form of fruits in front of them, and Two-Sock just randomly started the game and forced everyone to join because, to quote him, the mood's too somber. From there, they progress to the intuition game, a game of red ginseng, and then a terrible game of Mafia—terrible because Hoseok can't lie to save his life, Namsook's too timid to be a good Mafia member, and the only reason the Mafia team manage to salvage it is because Jimin, the remaining Mafia member, manages to hold out for another three rounds, armed with only his cherubic smile and aegyo. 

When they move on to the green light, red light game after that, out of the dining hall and into the lounge, a couple of the classmates leave, either to go to bed or to do other stuff, and by the time they go through three rounds of that and one round of blindfolded tag (which devolves into a mix of wrestling and a pillow fight, causing the fastidious Jeon Soap to almost have a mental breakdown), the population's dwindled down to half the class.

It's nice, to be honest, Jungkook thinks, as he lies on his front and watches Seokjin absolutely demolish the rest of them at a game of halli galli, Namjoon coming a close second. 

It's nice, this deep into the night, the fauna outside shining more brightly, an indicator of how late it is. Because for three whole days they've been scared and confused, they've been thinking about challenges, about Scott, about… everything , even relationships, because clearly whoever created this game couldn't decide if they wanted it to be a hallmark movie or a Squid Game ripoff, resulting in this mashed-up version of a rom-com-horror-hallmark flick. So yeah, they’ve had a lot to thinking about, and it had gotten a little tiring. 

And it’s nice like this, as Jungkook lies with his head on Jimin's lap, Jimin's hands in his hair. Amanda suggests a round of truth and dare, something positively sadistic in her eyes, and… it's nice, Jungkook thinks. Because these are his classmates, and if he weren't on the baseball team, maybe he’d be able to hang out with everyone more. He's never gotten to be a part of the class, this way, really, to be one of them, and... it's nice.

Not so nice, of course, when Amanda spins the pen in the middle of their hastily-formed circle, and by some weird twist of fate (or maybe she managed to rig it? Jungkook's not quite sure how you can rig a pen spin, but), it lands on Gavin and Amanda herself.

She exchanges a look with Romy, before winking at Jungkook, and Jungkook has a sudden bad feeling about the whole thing. Call it a premonition, but…

"Truth or dare?" She asks, and Gavin says, all the confidence in the world of a fattened lamb being led to slaughter, "Truth."

Jungkook inhales.

"Who do you think kisses better?" She asks, eyes never leaving Gavin's face, and Jungkook's breath gets caught somewhere between his throat and his stomach. "Me or Romy?"

Gavin pales.

The class collectively exhales.

And Jungkook tries not to go meep , even as a part of him thinks he deserves it, remembering the look on Amanda's face that evening—much earlier, because he might have started the story with truth or dare, but it started much earlier before that, sometime in between practicing for the next day's challenge and dinner, when Jungkook ran into Amanda while cleaning the cubicles near the swimming pool.

He'd been cleaning up quite diligently, humming Seventeen's Darling to himself, when she'd sat down beside the pool, a slightly troubled look on her face. Now, the Jungkook of before would have quietly gone back to his work, maybe given her an awkward smile if their eyes had met, but for the most part, he would have left her alone.

The Jungkook of now, with his three days of Christmas Game confidence, decides to plop down beside her, mop still in hand, and ask, "Are you okay?"

To Amanda's credit, if she finds it weird that Jungkook, who never said anything to her besides the one time he had to borrow a pen, is choosing to play therapist for her, she doesn't show it on her face. Instead, she says, "Just thinking about relationships, and how they should be, you know?"

"Gavin?" Jungkook finds himself asking her, even without prompting, realising how creepy he must sound only after the name's left his mouth, because Amanda and Gavin aren't out as a couple as far as he knows, the same way Romy and Gavin aren't, unless the three of them are in a secret relationship, and wouldn’t it be weird for Jungkook to know about it in that case?

"I'm guessing you caught us making out?" She asks him, completely unfazed, and Jungkook nods, akin to a bobblehead, just quite glad that she doesn't seem very annoyed by it. "Yeah, him," she continues. "He's being a little shady these days, and he doesn't want the whole class knowing we're together, which is just... weird?" 

At this, she looks at Jungkook, like she wants him to confirm it's weird that Gavin doesn't want anyone to know. 

"I guess it depends on the person? Like, if I were in a relationship, I'd want the whole class to know," Jungkook offers. "I'd probably want to yell it in the middle of the cafeteria if not for the fact that that might land my partner in trouble, and I wouldn't want the teachers to be mad at them, so. But other people might want to keep it down low?"

"That's true," she admits, but the slightly cloudy look on her face doesn't leave, and Jungkook finds himself asking, tentatively, "Are you guys exclusive?"

She blinks at him. Once. Twice. Somewhere down the hall Romy laughs, followed by Choi Jinkook going Noooooo a little dramatically. Amanda's lips twitch the slightest. 

"Is this your way of telling me you're interested in me, Jungkook?" She raises am eyebrow at him, a sly smile on her face, and— what? Excuse me??

"I mean, you're hot, I'll give you that," she goes on, either uncaring of, or unconcerned about the mental breakdown Jungkook's going through, because him???? Amanda???? Like??? WHAT??? JK.exe has crashed. Not even malfunctioned. Like he's fucking crashed, can't be revived anymore, his hardware's been smashed to pieces— "And we'd make a good couple, of course, because we both look good and you're the jock and I’m the popular girl, though if you want to ask me out you'd have to try a little harder—"

"I have absolutely no interest in you," Jungkook cuts her off, realising a moment later how terrible his choice of words are, especially as she cocks her head, smile sliding off her lips, and fuck , couldn't he have phrased it better? What the hell, brain, salvage this — "Not like that!" He backtracks, as hurriedly as he can, hands raised in front of him. "Like you're objectively very pretty of course, and you've got lips and two eyes and a nose and — " Seriously?? Do better, Jungkookie, a voice that sound very much like Jimin’s chides him in his head, but how does he even salvage it at this point? Like, he just told her she had two eyes—

"I'm quite aware I have all the features of an average human being, Jungkook," she quips, though she doesn't sound too mad, and yet , how does he salvage this—

"It's just, I've just maybe been in love with Kim Namjoon since forever, so it's nothing on you, it's me," Jungkook finishes, and—

Oops.

He hadn't meant to say that.

He can't believe he said that.

Two years of crushing on Namjoon silently and Jungkook can't believe that he's admitting it to Amanda of all people, right after he admitted it to Namsook. Not like she's a bad person to tell it to, of course, it's just that the only time they ever interacted, as aforementioned, was him borrowing a pen from her, so. 

Sometimes, Jungkook thinks, half the reason why he's never gotten beaten up in school, apart from his classmates being quite the non-violent bunch, is that he's never in class so he's never really had the chance to put his foot in mouth in front of someone. Also, when he is in class, Jimin's always conveniently at hand, and he's got the whole class wrapped around his tiny pinky. All he needs to do is flutter his eyelashes to get Jungkook out of trouble. 

Jungkook’s pretty sure he wouldn't have survived any other way.

"I was hoping you would confirm it yourself," Amanda says, looking extremely smug, like she can't see Jungkook go through all five stages of grief in a span of seconds, and—

" What?" 

"I was messing with you," she admits freely, a mischievous spark in her eye. "I know you're about as straight as ramen, and word around here is that you like Namjoon, but I wasn't sure if that was more of a Jihope-Seokjin kind of situation, or a Jinmin-Jinkook kind of situation, so..." She lets the sentence hang in the air, and Jungkook doesn't understand half of it but he does understand that at least half the class ships him and Namjoon at the moment, that they've apparently been promoted to class-ship level. 

Which... he's not sure if it's good or bad for him, because this means Namjoon most likely knows—

"He does," she confirms, when he asks her, trying not to sound as panicky as he feels, because it's not that he doesn't want Namjoon to know about his crush on him, ideally he’d want him to know of course, but just because half the class ships you doesn't necessarily mean you're actually together, you know? Because there's Lee Jinmin and Choi Jinkook who're shipped for no reason other than that they both have Jin in their name, which makes no sense, especially when Choi Jinkook is clearly gay and is boyfriends with Yoo Namgi, but the class finds it funny so they roll with it, so Namjoon could think that they're just doing that , or—

"He doesn't know you have a crush crush on him, I think," Amanda offers, when he asks her that. "He knows the class ships you guys though, and he's pretty chill with it."

Jungkook feels his heart go pit-a-pat in his chest for no reason. Just because Namjoon's chill with it doesn't necessarily mean he likes Jungkook, but, well, at least he's not outright protesting, which means that he doesn't mind people shipping him with Jungkook. And in Jungkook-land, that's a clear win.

As delulu as he's being. 

"You won't tell anyone?" Jungkook asks.

Amanda smiles at him, this sheer, secretive smile that half the guys in their grade would kill to have directed their way because she sure is objectively the prettiest girl in the year, except Jungkook only has eyes for Namjoon, so. "I won't, promise," she says, sticking out her pinky in a promise, and Jungkook's heart settles a little. "But…"

"But?"

"You can't blame me if the class figures it out on their own. You're not quite subtle with the heart eyes you give him."

Jungkook pouts. 

His heart eyes are probably not that bad, and it's not like he can help it. It's an automatic reaction to being in Namjoon's vicinity. Asking him to stop heart-eying Namjoon is a little like asking him to stop breathing, in Jungkook's honest opinion. 

He tells Amanda as much, and she laughs. Throws her whole body back, the way Hoseok does when he laughs, and Jungkook thinks she's sweet. Thinks, I'm glad I got to talk to her, at least at this moment. Thinks, I need to tell her. 

"Um, let me make sure one more time… are you exclusive?" He asks her again, when she's done laughing, and watches as the smile slides off her lips slowly.

"I'd hope so," she says, the downward curve of her mouth clearly indicating that she understands what Jungkook's trying to imply. "...With whom?" She asks, a couple of seconds later, the silence festering in between them, a little heavy. 

"It's not that I'm defending her," Jungkook starts, because it's not bias, and he needs Amanda to know this before he tells her about Romy, and… he could not tell her, he thinks. He could just tell her it's another girl in their class and not point fingers, it would be for the best, really. He could let her confront Gavin and find out herself, because he's done his part, but also… he could tell her. And it might be better than Gavin potentially lying to her, but at the end of the day, he's not quite sure what prompts him to say: "But I don't think Romy knows you guys are dating either."

Amanda goes quiet at that, this time no longer uncomfortable or oppressive but more on the scale of... quiet. Calculative. 

"He told her to not tell anyone, I guess?" Amanda asks, and Jungkook nods, a little meekly.

"She told me on the first day we got here, and then I saw you guys making out on the second day, and I wasn't sure how to bring it up, but—"

"I have no reason to trust you over my boyfriend, Jungkook," she admits quietly. "For all I know, you could be messing with us. But you don't seem like the type to do that, and this only confirms a lot of things I'd been wondering about, so."

She nods a little to herself, almost decisively, and says, "Thank you for telling me. I'll deal with it myself."

"Romy—"

"I bet she's not at fault," Amanda reassures him. "Don't worry. I get what you're saying. I'll talk to her, and then we'll figure it out. But really," she places her hand above his and squeezes, "thank you so much. That you decided to tell me means a lot."

"It's the right thing to do," Jungkook mumbles, feeling a lot lighter. "I'm sorry, by the way."

"Thank you," Amanda says. "For what it's worth, I'd probably have broken up with him in a couple of months, with how sleazy he's being, but... don't be sorry. He's the asshole, not you."

She offers him a slight smile, this one a little more tired, though still decisive, as she gets up to leave, and Jungkook turns back to his work. But then she calls out to him again, hesitant, this time.

"I…" she starts, wetting her lips, forehead scrunched, "I shouldn't be telling you this, but… but since you were being such a pal…" She steps closer to him, and leans forward so that her lips are near his ear and says, so quietly that not even the wind can overhear, "One of our classmates planned this whole thing. Someone in this ship is behind everything."

She pulls back, leaving Jungkook with more questions than he knows she has answers to, so he says what any logical person would say.

" What." Statement, not even a question, because what even is the point of asking her question?  

"Hopekook was prodding at the code," she replies quietly. "And the items, the challenges, there's a couple of things that apparently need to be coded in real-time, according to the outcomes of challenges, so unless someone is right here in the game, they wouldn't be able to do it instantaneously."

"They'd also have to know about all of us pretty well," Jungkook finds himself echoing Yoongi's thoughts of the previous night. "But coding is hard—"

Amanda shakes her head, lips pursed into a straight line, leaning closer again, her hair framing her face, and also partially Jungkook's, head tilted, and later , much later, Jungkook will think about the genius of it all. Of how, to anyone looking in on them, they would've appeared simply as if they were kissing and nothing more. Much later, he'll think about Amanda’s genius and marvel, because he'd always known she was smart, but for so long, people had only called her pretty, that somewhere along the way he'd forgotten that his classmates were all more than 2D characters, NPCs, in he and Namjoon’s love story.

Now, however, he hears her whisper: No, the basic code is what is complicated and it could have been done outside, but the intricacies are pretty straightforward. Any of us could do it. Hears her whisper: Hopekook’s only told the rest of our clique so far, but there's only so many ways we can snoop without getting caught, and I think you'd do better than us. Hears her whisper, a tad more desperately, Hopekook says that he’s not yet able to tell what challenges are coming in the later days, but there’s a shitton of coding, way, way more than for the previous days, and really complicated too, and thinks... well, fuck.

"I've got to look out for anyone doing anything suspicious then?" He asks her, in lieu of parting, when she makes to turn away from him, and she nods. 

"Anyone who knows a lot about everyone else, anyone who's acting weird."

And that, Jungkook thinks, as he continues mopping, is not a lot of people. The only ones who seem to be friends with just about everyone are Hoseok, Seokjin, Jimin, Jihope and even Amanda herself, off the top of his head, and he can't fathom it being any of them, except maybe Amanda. But could it be her, he thinks, trying to throw him off the track, trying to gain his trust so that his guard would be lowered? But then again, what would be the purpose of it all?

Regardless of who it is, he wonders, why would they even go to such lengths?

Maybe it would be easier if the perpatrator looked like the monster they are, Jungkook thinks. Because he can't find it in himself to be sympathetic towards someone who's fucking with all of them. No matter Scott is actually alive or dead, at least at that one moment, he had died in front of them, and that's not something Jungkook thinks he can get over easily, even if they clear all the challenges that came after that. Not when more deaths is always a possibility. 

Jungkook thinks, and thinks some more, as he continues mopping, wondering who he can even trust anymore in the ship, and why they, of all people, had been chosen to go through this nightmare.

So yes. That's where it had started. Jungkook's paranoia and this whole Amanda-Gavin-Romy mess that Amanda clearly decided to air out like dirty laundry. Something Romy seems to be quite on board with, if the sharp smile on her face is anything to go by.

"Yeah, tell us," Romy says, voice icy in the suffocating silence. "Which of us kisses better, Gavin?" 

The class collectively recognises this isn't a prank and wisely keeps quiet.

Gavin gulps. Usually, Jungkook remembers, he'd try to get away with some sort of sleazy pick-up line. But usually, Gavin is also not stared down by the terrifying combination that's a fully awake Romy and tall, regal Amanda, so all he can say, in an attempt to save his skin, is, "Hey, don’t get it wrong, I was never in a relationship with either of you. It was just kissing, wasn't it?"

And... the statement is not accepted well, of course it isn't, but surprisingly enough all Amanda and Romy do is give him a dirty look, and he flees, so in between one moment and the next, the atmosphere cools down from something stifling into something just slightly awkward, though Amanda doesn’t look the least bothered by it.

"Should we continue?" She asks, like she didn't publicly murder her not-boyfriend's popular cool guy image with just a couple of words in front of half the class, which, in Jungkook's opinion, he completely deserved. He's in awe of her. He also wouldn't want to cross her.

She would be a good candidate for the mastermind behind this, wouldn't she? A tiny voice asks him in his head, and he stomps it down for the moment. He can't make assumptions, not now. Not so soon. First, he needs evidence, and then he'll decide. 

The awkwardness in the atmosphere completely vanishes within a couple of minutes when Yoongi is chosen, picks “truth”, and Choi Jinkook asks him who he'd have in his group if he were part of a boyband in another universe. It somehow evolves into a full-fledged talent show once Yoongi has decided on the basic lineup of himself, Namjoon, Hoseok and surprisingly Jungkook, and then says: "Now, I need to know what the rest of the class is good at."

Of course, he doesn’t make the entire class perform in front of him, Jungkook thinks half the reason Yoongi said that was to force Seokjin to do aegyo, but soon Seokjin, Jimin and Taehyung are added to the final lineup. All members of their room, basically, Jungkook realises, and it's… not too far-fetched, surprisingly. 

Because he’d pick Namjoon as group leader too, bias aside, because he's just so smart and his personality is what they need, beyond the smartness. He's the sort of person who makes you feel seen within the shortest span of time, someone who embodies love, for his love language is figuring out how to love people better and giving them exactly what they need.

But also mostly because Jungkook doesn't think he'd in any universe follow anyone so blindly as he would follow Namjoon, given the chance. 

As for the rest of them, they somehow make sense, Jungkook thinks. Over the course of two nights, he's seen shades of their souls that overlap with his, felt a connection to them he's never quite felt with anyone else, and within one breath and another, they’ve become much closer than they had been initially.

Maybe it's something in the air, Jungkook decides, that's made it so much easier for him to connect with all his classmates, to find people who make him feel complete. 

From there, the dares get a little more chaotic. Vmon is asked to tie Minnie's shoelaces. Vhope proposes to Jihope. Seokjin pretends to chase him around the room with a water bottle, yelling she's my girlfriend. Jimin collapses on Jungkook, laughing. The rest of the class doesn't fare any better.

And perhaps, in revenge, Seokjin orders others to do the sit-up scene from Secret Garden with himself, both Yoongi and Hoseok, because clearly he's a man on a mission. Jungkook thinks the mission is to fluster as many people as possible, given the way Yoongi flushes pink and Hoseok's cheeks go red. Jihope barely seems fazed, though, and Jungkook wonders what it would be like to be in a relationship that secure. Thinks, I would lose my mind if someone else did that with Namjoon. He goes a little breathless when his eyes meet Namjoon's own at the far end of the scene, his dimples kissing his cheeks, and Jungkook thinks, I love him.

Thinks and feels warm , warm, warm, even as a tendril of ice tries to sneak its way past when Jimin is somehow hooked up to a lie detector for his dare and fools it completely. 

Jimin says, calmly and proudly, I'm actually 22 years old and an NIS agent, and the lie detector paints it as the truth. The whole group goes woah . Taehyung says, as expected of our Jimin-ssi, charming even a lie detector! And all Jungkook can think for a split second is but what if he's not lying? and if that's not the most absurd thought ever, because Jungkook's known Jimin since he was a kid, and he knows for a fact that Jimin never did any secret training, unless—

It's absurd, of course, because Jimin can't be a secret agent, and yet, if he can lie convincingly enough that not even a lie detector can pick it up—

Jungkook doesn't want to think about it.

He refuses.

It’s just a stupid thought anyway, he tells himself. They’re playing truth or dare. Nothing is that serious. Lie detectors are stupid and pointless. He’s just suspicious of everyone right now due to what Amanda told him. He should forget it and just have fun.

It’s somewhat easier to forget when the pen spins to a stop in front of Namjoon, and Yoongi shares a terrifying moment of eye-contact with Amanda, before he says, as coolly as he can, like he's not signing Jungkook's death-from-Namjoon warrant, "Namjoon-ah, serenade someone in the circle."

Serenade, they say, and Jungkook wonders if he'll cry if Namjoon decides he might as well use this chance to confess to whoever he’s potentially in love with and sing to them. Jungkook recognises how demented he sounds when he says that, of course, because Namjoon's allowed to be in love with anyone he wants, it's just that… he's not sure if his poor little heart can take it. 

More so when Seokjin yells out, seemingly part of the Make-Jungkook's-Life-Hell plan, "Sing Unconditional, by Park Sang Chul."

Amanda goes woo , the class claps, Sugar Cookie produces a coin noraebang machine out of nowhere.

"Our room pooled our coins and got one the first night because we couldn't sleep," she says, and adds, "We soundproofed the walls." And Jungkook thinks what? But then Namjoon reaches for the mic, Yoongi punches in the song number, the class collectively shouts pick a person to sing to. Someone — Choi Jinkook perhaps, that guy’s a huge gossip — goes Jungkook , a chant that at least half the class picks up, and…

Jungkook doesn't know if this is worse than if Namjoon had picked someone else to sing to, because right now… right now, it's just embarrassing, with Namjoon's eyesmile and his bunched up cheeks and the class going Jungkook Jungkook Jungkook like he scored for his team, except this is just his class being his class, and Namjoon has no choice but to serenade Jungkook now and—

He didn't want it like this, he thinks a little mournfully, as Namjoon gives in to the wishes of the crowd and turns to face Jungkook.

He wanted Namjoon to pick him, the way Jungkook would have picked him, the way Jungkook would always run to him, regardles of the time and place, if Namjoon called, and —

"Jeon Jungkook," Namjoon starts, with the first notes of the song, lips curved into a smile that makes Jungkook forget all his previous thoughts and his heart tap in rhythm with the music, "This one's for you."

Jungkook swoons.

Chapter Text

Someone hollers from the side.

And then Namjoon starts singing, Yoongi accompanying him almost immediately, in the background, supported by Taehyung, and the class goes crazy cheering. Jungkook kind of understands—it's that kind of song after all, it's not one you can listen to sitting down. Not something like Cherry Blossom Ending. No, this is something that has the whole class going ja jara jara jara ja ja ja, and even their classmates who'd left poke their heads out of their rooms to bop along to the music. 

By the third verse, half of them are on their feet, Jungkook included, and somehow, something that had started as a Namjoon-serenading-Jungkook thing turns into a whole-class-living-for-this-vibe thing, with Seokjin headbanging on one side along with Hoseok, Jimin having managed to produce a clown wig out of nowhere and sharing it with Choi Jinkook, and even Jordan, one of the remaining bullies, who more or less looked like he'd eaten a lemon from the start of the game, is singing with such fervour, his eyes never leaving Romy.

Wait, what? There's something there, Jungkook thinks, something to unpack for later. But his classmates' complicated affections can wait. Now… now is him singing to the best of his ability, meeting Namjoon's eyes, because regardless of the chaos the situation has unfolded into, Namjoon has not stopped looking at him. Not even once. Jungkook wonders if it's him just playing along and fulfilling his dare, and hopes, a little, if it's something more. 

That when Namjoon sings Day or Night, If you call me, I'll come running to you, he means it the way Jungkook means it. In his heart. Because they're still in high school and he can't just go running if Namjoon calls if it's in the middle of the night as much as he'd like to, but… you know. It's the thought of it all that counts.

Jungkook wonders, and when Namjoon crosses the room to share his mic with Jungkook, their fingers brushing, he thinks, maybe I have a chance.

Thinks, and settles down in his seat, still riding off that high, as the music comes to an end, and all of them collapse, equally chaotic, half their cushions missing, kicked away in the middle of their impromptu dance party, but it doesn't really look like most of them care, because Hoseok and Yoongi are seated on top of one, Jimin's on Taehyung’s lap as per the norm, and a couple of his other classmates have decided to just forgo sitting upright and are lying down on their stomachs.

It's nice. 

Like home.

Jungkook loves it, especially because during the process everyone’s shuffled places and Namjoon's ended up right next to him. His best friends, Jimin and Taehyung, on one side, Namjoon on the other, their thighs brushing. Yeah no, Jungkook's in heaven. He loves truth or dare. There's never been a better game.

It only gets crazier from then on.

Taehyung and Kim Taejin, leader of the school’s drama club, enact a scene from Wish— Jungkook thinks they make quite good gangsters. Vmon and Vhope provide them with support, and somehow Jungkook gets roped into acting as Taehyung's younger brother who got beat up, which is hilarious because Jungkook's bulkier than Taehyung.

Brad, the other remaining bully besides Jordan, gets dared to write his name in the air with his butt, something that he surprisingly does with little to no complaints. Jordan fake-proposes to Romy. Jihope chooses “truth” and is asked to pick a person she'd like to get closer to and spend five minutes alone in a room with them. She picks Jungkook, and he's a little blindsided by it, of course, because what? But then, he looks again at the rest of the circle and realises that yes, if there were someone the most friendly girl in the class isn't close with, it's probably him, given his track record of not being in class at all due to practice.

He follows Jihope without complaint (the rest of the group decides on round 2 on the noraebang machine while they wait for the five minutes to be up), wondering to himself what they'll even talk about. It's not like they have a lot in common, unless Jihope secretly loves anime, or—

"What do you think about love?" She asks him, almost as soon as the door closes, interrupting all his Naruto thoughts. 

"Uhh, me?" Jungkook asks, quite intelligently, because... he doesn't get it. It feels like a very random topic to bring up out of nowhere, especially considering the parties involved. Like, if it were him asking Jihope, that would make more sense, given that she's the one who's in a successful relationship, while the most Jungkook can boast of is a relationship with baseball, which is sad, but also not, because he's waiting for his One True Love, a.k.a. Namjoon, a.k.a. the person who crossed him and he heard bells ringing (it was one bell actually, the school bell, to be precise, but Jungkook doesn't think there's any point to consider logistics right now, so.)

Jungkook doesn't understand, but Jihope looks at him a little impatiently, like she's convinced he's some sort of Love Guru, which he's not, but…

"Just thought it’d be an interesting topic to talk about. You look like the romantic type and you've got heart eyes for Namjoon," she says, when he umms one more time, and hey, that was uncalled for. He can't believe the whole class is ganging up on him right now.

But also, heart eyes, Namjoon, love.

"Love," he says, thinking about it—thinking about Namjoon, because to him, love is Namjoon. Namjoon is love. "To me, love is... always wanting to see that person. Wanting to be with them, in their presence, wanting to be the recipient of their every smile, to be that person who can coax those smiles out of them when they're sad, who can be the one they smile for when they're sad."

He thinks about Namjoon, about the quiet glances they've shared in passing, of the chocolates Namjoon's casually handed him before matches if they ran into each other, of the quiet encouragements and the pride in his voice that one time they did a group project together, when he'd said Jungkook's the best partner to work with even though Jungkook could swear he barely said a thing throughout the whole process. He thinks of his heart going pit-a-pat every time he sees Namjoon, thinks about the dimples on his cheeks and his endearing laughter and the way he gives his entire attention to every single thing he does, even if it’s just peeling potatoes. Thinks about how seen that potato must have felt at that moment, because every moment Namjoon turns his way, Jungkook feels seen. Seen beyond his label as a jock, beyond the persona he has in school. For some reason, it seems like Namjoon can always see him for who he is, as a whole.

"You were doing well till the potato thing," Jihope tells him, as he finishes his rambling. "The potato ruined the mood."

"The potato enhances it," Jungkook argues, because she doesn't get it. Namjoon loves by reminding you you're loved—every moment. Even if his interactions with Namjoon have been limited, he knows that it’s who Namjoon is. He knows, because he’s seen him sing to the little bonsai Jungkook gifted him, with the pride of a father looking at their child. He play-argues with Yoongi all the time because that's what their relationship is built on, as much as it is on the quiet moments, and the moments he sits down beside Yoongi, simply sharing earbuds, because sometimes that's what the mood calls for.

Namjoon even takes the freshmen on the debate team out for ice cream sometimes, no matter they lose or win, and reminds them that beyond every trophy, it's they as people who matter, that it's about how much better they've gotten, that at the end of the day, he could never be any less proud of them, because they're his team, and to him, they're always the best.

Jungkook and his pals on the baseball team were passing by when that whole speech had gone down, and then they'd bullied their captain for never giving them such moving speeches or for footing their bill.

"I'd say you sound almost like a stalker, if not for the fact that this is all very cute," Jihope tells him, and Jungkook scowls at her. He can't believe she's slandering his love for Namjoon like this.

"I'm not stalking. I just always happen to be where Namjoon is. It's the universe's way of saying we're meant for each other, DNA and all."

Jihope stares at him, deadpan, and he shrugs. 

It's not his fault if she doesn't get it.

And he's being 100% sincere when he says that none of his outside-of-the-classroom encounters had been deliberate. He'd been as shocked by them as any other person.

"Sparknotes version, your idea of love is a cheesy Hallmark movie," she concludes, and he actually glares at her, because??? To reduce it to that? 

"It's love." He stresses the word. He can't believe she doesn't get it. Or maybe she does, but he refuses to let her reduce it to a movie. "Sparknotes version, it's probably different for everyone, because we're not the same so what is love to me might not be love to you. Maybe your idea of love is someone steady, a relationship that's constant, and that consistency gives you security, while my idea of love is just being with that person, wanting to do silly, cliche things with them, and… okay," he concedes, "maybe it's a little bit like something out of a movie. Maybe to me, love is little acts like getting me the food I like, calls on the phone when I'm sad, someone holding my hand and giving me a cheesy excuse for it, or just holding my hand and being smug about it because they're allowed to do it. It's resting my head on their shoulder at the end of the day and thinking, as long as we're together, I'm okay."

It's you're my best friend, the person who gets me, thank you and I love you, and... when he meets Jihope's eyes at the end of his rant, there's something soft in them, though also something equally tired and decisive.

"I think I understand what love is now," she says quietly, as Seokjin opens the door to tell them their time's up. Jungkook watches as they look at each other, as something silent passes between them, and wonders, as he follows them out, why Jihope would ask him when she's already in love. Wonders, as he sits down, and she squeezes his shoulder once, murmuring softly, "I understand, but it was less what you said and more how you said it and how you looked when you explained it to me."

Jungkook wonders how he looked.

Wonders and leans against Jimin, letting himself get pulled back into the game again, feeling warm as Jihope sends him a smile from across the circle.

Another new friend, he thinks. 

For some reason, it's easier to quieten the voice in his head this time around.

It’s getting late, and it’s been a long day of practicing. The class’s energy starts flagging. That much is clear, given how the next couple of people all pick truth. Yoongi gets asked to speak about his first love. Jimin gets asked about his first impression of Taehyung. Taehyung picks dare and is asked to redo his confession to Jimin. 

The class collectively melts when they kiss. Namjoon meets Jungkook's eyes. 

Jungkook's cheeks burn.

It's a pleasant warmth, akin to sitting in front of a hearth in the middle of a freezing winter, with hot chocolate on your lap. The Christmas decorations, for once, help with the coziness.

Romy is dared to sing If You, Choi Jinkook shares an embarrassing memory, Yoongi's asked to take a selca with a person of his choice while doing aegyo—he picks both Seokjin and Hoseok. Namjoon photobombs them. Jungkook thinks he looks the cutest, personally.

"One last spin," Amanda says, when all of them have yawned one too many times, and Jungkook lets himself lean completely on Jimin. At this point, he's not quite sure where he starts and where Jimin ends, and Taehyung's resigned to his fate of being half-buried under the two of them. It's a very cosy cuddle pile. Jungkook thinks that once the last person goes with their truth because frankly, no one has any energy left for a dare, he's not going to get up. He'll probably cash in on that piggyback IOU from Jimin from at least three years ago and have him lug him to their room.

And maybe, if fate is feeling nice to him, Namjoon might see him struggling (or at least perceive him to be struggling given that Jimin is shorter than him, though Jungkook knows that at least, at that moment, Jimin is as strong as he is) and maybe offer to carry Jungkook bridal style the rest of the way and then he'd gently set Jungkook on his bed and tuck him in, because what else can he do if Jungkook's already asleep, right? And—

"Jungkook!" Taehyung yells into his ear, loud enough that he slips off the puppy pile, in a graceless heap on the floor next to Namjoon.

None of that matters, of course, because he notices that the pen's pointing at him, and that the group collectively looks significantly more awake than they had been before. He catches Seokjin exchanging a look with Jihope, who leans down to whisper something to Amanda who hurriedly pulls Yoongi, Hoseok and even Brad into whatever they're planning, and—

Jungkook's got a terrible feeling about this.

And not terrible like we lost the match but more like I stole Jimin's ramen and now I'm going to get smacked by him. Jimin's infinitely scarier, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. He's smol, which is probably what makes him all the more terrifying, Jungkook thinks, except most of the class thinks he's an angel, which is also true, but—

Brad leans in to talk to Jimin, and Jungkook gulps.

He's officially fucked.

"Truth or dare?" Taehyung asks him sweetly. So sweet that his “truth or dare” sounds more like dare or dare.

"Tru—" He starts, because he doesn't mind being a coward if it means he can escape this sudden imminent feeling of doom, but of course, his classmates refuse to give him an out.

"He said dare," Romy speaks over him confidently.

"Our Jungkookie is the bravest," Jimin adds.

Jordan smirks a little, going as far as to say, "No one can be manlier than him," and… yeah, Jungkook's fate is pretty much sealed. He could still back out, of course, but then he accidentally makes eye contact with Namjoon, sees his smile and the way he's nodding like he agrees that Jungkook is manly, and thinks, my love, you would sign this death warrant along with them? Thinks, but anything for you, my love, recognising how over-dramatic he's being even as he says, "Fine, dare."

Jinkook whoops, and Romy and Amanda high-five.

"Your dare is," Jihope starts, to drumrolls courtesy Hoseok and Vhope, "passing paper," not bad, "Mouth to mouth," okay very bad, "With Namjoon."

Jungkook should have just said truth.

"Fifteen pieces of paper in under a minute, and if you guys fail, you keep trying till you pass," Romy adds, and Jungkook wonders if he can make himself faint if he slams his head into the floor. He can't believe this is happening. Refuses to accept it. He's floating in the Nile at the moment, his classmates’ whoops being his not-so-lovely BGM and—

He should have just fucking picked truth.

Passing paper mouth to mouth with Namjoon. With the off chance that if the paper falls they might end up kissing? 

Like, keeping the tissue afloat, that's different. Sure, they'd been standing quite close then too, and Jungkook had felt Namjoon's breath across his lips one too many times, but this—this is something that he's seen in too many idol variety shows, and...  they're for idols!!! He doesn't get why he's being subjected to this, why they're making him put his lips on Namjoon's—indirect kissing, really, just—

"Hey, it’s okay, you can do it mechanically," Vhope calls out kindly from across the circle, even demonstrates with Vmon, and... it looks decent. Vmon looks more like a human vacuum and Vhope barely flinches and they're good, and Jungkook's seen idols do this at top speed, very effectively. But... he's also seen idols who fumble so much, and do it so aggressively that it's just aggressive kissing at one point and—

He's having a mental breakdown, he can't do this.

"We don't have to do this," Namjoon reminds him quietly, his eyes steady as they meet Jungkook's. 

"You..." Jungkook starts, in a feeble attempt to ask what Namjoon thinks, and Namjoon shakes his head. 

"I don't mind. But really, if you're uncomfortable, we can just say so, and the class will stop."

Amanda nods in acquiescence as Seokjin says, "Yeah, we won't push you. It's okay if you don't want to do it."

It's okay, they say, and he knows his class gets it. Knows that for all that they're being obnoxious, they're not really that cruel, and that he can back out, which is probably what spurs him to say, "Okay. We'll do it." And then, turning to face Namjoon, he asks, "You really don't mind?"

"No," Namjoon assures him, getting up, and before he knows it, they're facing each other, with Jimin on one side holding a bunch of post-it-sized papers and Romy on the other holding a tray.

"Fifteen sheets in a minute," Jinmin reminds them, holding up a timer, and Jungkook nods, meeting Namjoon's eyes.

"Let's do this."

They start off pretty well. Jungkook has to give them that. They figure out the logistics of the whole transportation process quite quickly with Jungkook's hand around Namjoon's neck as he tilts his head, and Namjoon's arm around Jungkook's waist. 

It's too easy, even, Jungkook thinks, which is probably when it all goes to hell, because the next time he turns, maybe he doesn't hold it tightly enough because it flutters down exactly as Namjoon reaches up to take it from him, and the only reason their lips don't collide (you can call it a kiss, don't be a coward) is because Namjoon turns his head quickly enough that Jungkook's lips land on the corner of Namjoon's own, resulting in him kissing more of his dimple than anything else, and—

That's honestly enough for his heart to give out, because the number of times he's dreamt of that is too much to count. He just can't help it, he's got some sort of obsession with Namjoon's dimples—especially after he heard the song Dimple and read the lyrics, are they kiss from the angels, and couldn't help but wholeheartedly believe it to be true, at least in Namjoon's case.

They fumble a bit more from there. Around the tenth sheet, Jungkook barely manages to pass it to Namjoon, and they spend quite some time, the class going ooh behind them, and really, he can't believe they're sharing popcorn as they watch it. It's not like this is a kdrama? Can his classmates stop being so chaotic? 

Around the twelfth sheet, twenty seconds left, the light in Namjoon's eyes turns a little mischievous as someone—Brad, Jungkook thinks—wolf-whistles, and Namjoon murmurs, quietly enough that only Jungkook can hear, "Should we make a production out of it, if it's a show they all so badly want?"

And Jungkook can't help but say yes, so completely besotted, the fool he is. Says yes, and suffers through five whole seconds of Namjoon 'attempting' to kiss the paper off his face, so aggressive that he thinks if they'd actually kissed like that in real life, his lips would bruise. 

Namjoon winks at him when they reach the last sheet, and as the timer goes off, in tandem with Namjoon depositing it safely, Jungkook wills his heart to calm down. Sixty seconds, but for some reason, it felt more like sixty years. 

But also like six seconds, he admits to himself, later, much more honestly. As he lies in bed, fingers pressed to his lips, and tries to muffle his screams into his blankets, because okay, maybe he's reaching here, but he doesn't think Namjoon would just do this with anybody, the way he did it with Jungkook.

He thinks, cheeks still flaming every time he thinks about it, about the way his classmates had collectively whooped, that moment of realisation when they'd stepped apart and he'd noticed how much bigger the crowd had gotten and—

He thinks, reminded of the way Namjoon had smiled at him when Romy declared truth or dare closed, Jihope pretending to fan herself when she'd crossed them—

He thinks, remembering Namjoon's That was nice, I think we did well, at the threshold of their room, a hint of teasing in his words, something familiar in them—Jungkook thinks, thinks, thinks, and ends up falling asleep, dreaming of Namjoon and kisses that taste sweeter than honey.

Chapter Text

Jungkook expected to wake up in the morning with a light heart. Because the previous night’s happenings are still fresh in his mind, remnants of the euphoria still clinging to his heart, warm and precious. Never has he been gladder to be himself, to be Jeon Jungkook who kissed Kim Namjoon’s dimple, Jeon Jungkook who Kim Namjoon once serenaded.

Another part of him also expected to wake up in the morning with heavy dread weighing on his chest. Because the day’s going to be a tough one. They’re facing a problem with no solution. He will be participating in a tissue-blowing challenge with Namjoon, a tissue-blowing challenge that neither of them is confident in. And no one will be able to replace them because they’re the best choice out of the entire class. They might die. They could die. In fact, Jungkook is pretty sure that if the challenge turns out to indeed be keeping a sheet of tissue paper from touching the ground for two minutes, they will die.

He certainly doesn’t want to be Jeon Jungkook who kissed Kim Namjoon’s dimple but also dies alongside Kim Namjoon the next day. How tragic.

So yes, part of Jungkook had expected to wake up with a sense of debilitating dread in his heart. But he doesn’t.

Instead, he wakes up to Seokjin moaning.

He squints, trying to see what’s going on. The room is still dark and the only light source is the orange glow coming from the door, which is slightly ajar.

“Why are you moaning?” Taehyung complains groggily from his bunk. Seokjin moans some more.

“This place is huge, if you and Jihope want to make out, did you really have to do it in our room?” Jimin whines. Seokjin continues to moan, dramatically, exaggeratedly, and Jungkook finally sits up, head nearly hitting the ceiling, attempting to figure out what exactly Seokjin is up to.

“Hnnng, not there, Namjoon!” Seokjin moans, breathless.

“Namjoon? Really? Is Jin cheating on Jihope with Namjoon now?” Hoseok murmurs, sounding only half-awake.

Jungkook, on the other hand, is suddenly very widely awake, as he always is when he hears anyone mention Namjoon’s name. He scrambles out of bed to see Seokjin sitting on the ground, waving his arms wildly, swiping and poking at the air in front of him. He’s wearing noise-cancelling headphones, which is probably why he didn’t even acknowledge the complaints. Next to him, Namjoon is doing something very similar, except much more slowly and with way more hesitation.

Jungkook groans.

“You guys are gaming? Did you really have to moan while doing that?”

Namjoon, who is not wearing headphones, smiles sheepishly at Jungkook, who’s suddenly hyper-aware of his own bed hair and rumpled t-shirt. “Jin’s teaching me to play. Thought we’d earn some coins before everyone’s up.”

“Well, now we’re up,” Taehyung grouches. He hates it when people interrupt his sleep. And then he grins, all forgiven immediately. “But did you guys really have to moan?”

“It makes the gaming process more exciting, I promise,” Seokjin replies, removing his headset.

By now, everyone in the room has been awoken by Seokjin’s spectacular wake-up call, save for Yoongi who’s on self-assigned breakfast duty and is already somewhere in the kitchen whipping up omelets. The six of them take turns freshening up, and since there’s only one bathroom they just change in front of each other. Which is totally normal considering they’re all boys, but Jungkook can’t help noticing Namjoon’s physique that he’s been hiding under his baggy fits.

Like, he has no business looking this fine, does he?

If Namjoon catches him staring, he doesn’t mention it. He simply smiles at Jungkook, a nice, soft little good morning smile. And Jungkook would be lying if he said he hadn’t decided that very moment that he wanted to wake up to this same smile every day for the rest of his life. Like, imagine the two of them living together. As husbands. In a little apartment with their cat and dog and plants, sunshine pouring in through the windows.

Man, Jungkook really misses sunshine.

Breakfast is uneventful, and Jungkook finds himself sharing a table with the cute girl trio, Yoon Minnie, Kim Fairy Cub, and Jung Sugar Cookie. It seems to have become a regular occurrence by now—everyone casually sitting with anyone, all lines between cliques blurred. It’s kind of nice. Good for investigating too, Jungkook thinks, remembering what Amanda told him about potential suspects.

Could the three cute girls be suspects? They sure don’t seem like the type, but they always say that, in detective novels, the murderers are the least likely ones, right? Jungkook is civil with all three, though he can’t say he’s ever interacted with them much. He and the cute trio are from entirely different worlds. In fact, at first it took him like a month to even figure out who’s who—they look different, yes, cute in different ways, but he could never match up the nickname to the face.

And, personally, Jungkook doesn’t think he can be blamed. Yoon Minhee, nicknamed Minnie, is the class’s arts officer, so she’s the most artistic one, but the thing is the other two are also avid doodlers. Kim Youngchae, nicknamed Fairy Cub because of her cuteness, is known for always looking mildly distressed. The thing is, the two others are also very easily distressed. Jung Miseo, nicknamed Sugar Cookie because of her sweet personality, is a good listener who gets along with everyone… but the other two are pretty much the same type as well.

The fact is, they’re simply very hard to tell apart, at least to Jungkook. He thinks he remembers that one of them is gay, but he can’t be sure which one. And one of them has a twin? He also has no idea which one. It’s not helping that the three of them have apparently gotten friendship t-shirts from the interface shop, sky blue, baby pink, and duckling yellow, all in the same design.

As Jungkook digs into his mushroom omelet, he notices that the trio are drawing together. If you ask Jungkook, colored pencils do not belong on dining tables, but the three seem very oblivious to lead poisoning hazards. He glances at their handiwork and sees that they’re drawing a pool. Quite a cute kiddie pool too, and they each drew a pool float on it, one blue, one pink, one yellow.

“Wow…” Jungkook can’t help but comment. “How do you make the ripples look like that?” He likes to draw himself and making ripples sparkle is no easy feat.

“With a lot of hard work,” Yoon Minnie tells him, solemnly.

“We’ve been working on this piece for three days now! It kinda helps take our mind off things,” Fairy Cub says.

“We went to the pool and took ripple pics and used them for reference,” Sugar Cookie adds.

“Nipple pics? Do I hear someone talking about nipple pics?” Inseol says, pushing his way into the conversation, and Jungkook decides it’s time he gets out of there and goes get a refill of his morning iced tea. The trio can handle Inseol well enough, and Jungkook isn’t in the mood to deal with the class’s self-proclaimed genius right now, not when he could potentially die today.

But wait… What if he’s the one who designed this game? Could Inseol do this? It’s… possible. He has the escape room experience. He’s smart, at least he says he is. And he sure does seem to hate everyone sometimes, though he never misses a chance to chat up the girls. Jungkook just has a hard time imagining Inseol being behind this, because he… doesn’t seem capable of planning something this big.

He shakes his head, deciding to forget it for now. Focus on surviving the day first… then investigate.

The daily “challenge briefing” in the conference room happens at ten o’clock sharp as usual. The first challenge requirements are the exact same as the previous days’. The third challenge looks just like the previous day’s too, a puzzle-type challenge that lasts for ten minutes and requires three people.

Jungkook can barely bring himself to look at the requirements of the second challenge, though. He's been hoping, hoping desperately all the way through the past day or so, that the challenge duration would be shorter than two minutes—maybe one minute and a half… or even better, one minute and ten seconds. No way he and Namjoon can keep a tissue paper afloat for two minutes. So the only way for them to clear the mission—the only certain way for them to avoid death—is if the duration is shorter than that.

Muttering a prayer, one hand clutching Jimin’s, he finally musters up the courage to look at the projector screen.

DAY 4 CHALLENGE 2

[2 turtle doves]

Get ready for a lovey-dovey challenge.

Challenge Duration: 3 mins

Required Person(s): 2

Challenge Type: 2-person teamwork

Three minutes.

Three minutes.

He’s dead. He’s so dead.

“You don’t have to do this challenge,” Jimin speaks up, voice sharp. “Keeping a tissue paper afloat for three minutes is impossible.”

He’s right. Jungkook doesn’t want to do it either. But… “But who else do we send, then?”

The class returns his terrified gaze, equally lost.

“We can send no one. We forfeit this challenge,” Jimin says, staunchly, hand tightly gripping Jungkook’s.

“We… we can’t. If we forfeit this one, we have to forfeit all the other ‘Challenge twos’ too, since they’ll only get harder,” Namjoon says, and Jungkook hates seeing him so somber. “We can’t afford to not complete this many challenges.”

“We don’t even know if we’re allowed to forfeit,” Jungkook adds, softly.

“But three minutes is impossible. You’ll die!” Jimin blurts out, eyes rimmed with red, clinging to Jungkook’s hand like his life depends on it.

But he won’t volunteer to take Jungkook’s place. Jungkook knows this. His best friend loves him and would risk his life for his in a heartbeat—but if Jimin volunteers, he’d be volunteering his own tissue-blowing partner too, and he would never do that to Taehyung. Likewise, Taehyung cannot volunteer either for the same reason.

“We don’t know that we’ll die for sure yet,” Namjoon says, voice full of feigned brightness. “I already discussed with Jungkook what stories to tell if we fail the challenge. I’m a good storyteller. I can even write a rap song for the turtle doves if that’s what they want.”

Jungkook forces a smile on his face too. Namjoon is right. It’s not like they’re gonna just go and die. Scott was given a chance after he failed his challenge, he just didn’t take it. Jungkook trusts in Namjoon to be smarter than that. They’ll be fine.

Armed with sudden newfound optimism, Jungkook manages to act cheerful and comfort Jimin all the way until the time he and Namjoon will be setting off to their challenge. Jimin seems utterly defeated, and Jungkook almost despises himself for ever thinking the day before that Jimin could’ve been behind this whole thing, just because he managed to cheat a lie detector. What was he thinking? Jimin is his best friend. He’d never do this.

Vhope, who volunteered for the first challenge, finishes it gracefully and comes back beaming, high-fiving Jungkook and claiming that he couldn’t have done it without all the tips and training Jungkook gave him. Jungkook thinks he’s giving him way too much credit—he barely provided any tips except “practice a lot”, and he certainly wasn’t there to watch Vhope train, much—he spent the majority of the previous afternoon chasing a sheet of tissue paper and rolling on the ground with Namjoon.

And then it’s his turn. He and Namjoon’s turn. Most of the class, especially Jimin, still have misgivings and try to talk them out of going, but Jungkook’s heart is set. He and Namjoon are the class’s best shot at completing this challenge. They have the best odds of succeeding, and the best odds of surviving. Better them than anyone else. After one last hug with Jimin and Taehyung and a reassuring squeeze from Yoongi, Jungkook steps onto the raft with Namjoon.

He realizes that they’ve made a really stupid mistake only when they reach the second tunnel, but by then it’s too late.

“Oh shit, we shouldn’t have come. We should have waited,” he exclaims in horror.

“Why?” Namjoon asks.

Yes, Jungkook should’ve thought of this earlier, someone should’ve thought of this earlier—but everyone was too busy panicking to think straight. It’s like as soon as the words three minutes appeared, the whole class collectively lost their ability to use their brains.

“The system did say we can complete the challenges in any order. We should’ve saved this one for the end of the day. If the people we send complete the third and fourth challenges, they’re going to get buffs and items. Maybe some of those buffs and items will make keeping a tissue afloat a breeze.”

Namjoon stares at him, mouth a perfect O. “You’re smart, Jungkookie.”

“I’m not smart!” Jungkook protests. “If I were I’d have thought of this way earlier!”

They’re already in the second tunnel. There’s no turning back. Jungkook wants to ram his head into the rock wall. His stupidity could cost his life. And Namjoon’s life. He doesn’t think he can forgive himself for it.

Except the cave in front of him opens up, and all is forgotten.

They’re standing next to a swimming pool. Not too big, kiddie-sized. On one side of the pool is a bowl. And on the other, a stack of paper.

There’s no tissue paper in sight. This isn’t a tissue-blowing challenge at all.

Jungkook’s shoulders sag in relief. He can feel Namjoon’s do the same next to him (though he’s got to admit he’s a little bit annoyed—all that practice yesterday, all for nothing? It’s true that the challenge description didn’t explicitly mention tissues, but could you really blame them for assuming?).

“Welcome to the second challenge, day three!” The melodic voice drifts in. “Your task is to pass twelve pieces of paper using only your lips from the left side of the pool to the bowl on the right side of the pool within three minutes. You must walk on these pool floats only.”

A paper-passing challenge? For the two of us? Was the system stalking us? Watching us play truth or dare? More evidence pointing to it being one of us!

A thousand thoughts run through Jungkook’s mind. Besides the aforementioned suspicion-related thoughts, there are also quick calculations (twelve pieces in three minutes mean four pieces in one minute, which means one piece of paper every fifteen seconds), rules-related thoughts (is it okay if we accidentally drop paper into the water? Like, it will get wet and become unusable of course, but does that count as a penalty? What if we fall into the water?), and Namjoon thoughts (what if Namjoon falls into the water? What if we accidentally end up kissing? Oh my god what if we accidentally end up kissing?), but mostly Namjoon thoughts.

All those meandering thoughts are pushed to the side when three large pool floats appear on the pool surface. Sky blue, baby pink, duckling yellow.

Chapter Text

Can it get any more obvious that it’s one of us?

Jungkook’s heart is hammering inside his chest. The pool being exactly like the one in the cute artist girl trio’s piece is obviously not a coincidence. But surely the three of them can’t be the culprits behind all this, or they would have at least tried to hide the evidence instead of calmly working on the sketch right in front of Jungkook’s face. They aren’t exactly being secretive with their drawings and anyone could’ve seen and taken inspiration from their work.

Or… or could it be the opposite—it actually is them, and they’re counting on others thinking it can’t be them because it wouldn’t have been that obvious? Like, reverse psychology?

And the challenge being a paper-passing game points to the culprit being present during the truth or dare session. That rules out half the class—but no, that’s also not right. Anyone who’s been in high school knows that gossip spreads like wildfire. There’s probably not a single person in the entire class who doesn’t know about Jungkook and Namjoon’s intimate little game by this morning. It could be anyone.

It could be anyone.

Jungkook suppresses a shudder. Not the time to think about it now, they have only three minutes. He climbs onto a pool float alongside Namjoon and moves towards the side with the stack of paper.

And promptly tumbles off the float into the water.

Oops. Turns out it’s not as easy as it looks.

The pool floats are slippery, wobbly, and it doesn’t help that Namjoon’s body weight is making them unpredictably unstable. As Namjoon falls into the water too, thrown off balance when Jungkook’s weight is removed from the float, Jungkook realizes in both horror and excitement that both of them, not expecting the challenge to involve a pool, are wearing white.

Horror because the entire class is gonna see him and Namjoon’s tiddies. And excitement because, well, tiddies.

But there’s no time to think about tiddies. He hastens to crawl back up onto the float, and this time waits till he gets his balance before helping Namjoon up. They don’t fall this time, but they know they’ll have to step it up. They’ve wasted enough time already just getting on the float.

Good thing they’ve got practice from the previous day. Not much practice, but that’s still more practice than anyone else in the class. Hopefully the others are not screaming about their incompetence in front of the TV right now. Inseol probably is, but that’s Inseol for you.

They manage to reach the papers safely, Jungkook grabs one and Namjoon leans forward, and Jungkook tries his best not to think about the look of urgency on his face, lips drawn tight, so kissable. The dainty slip of paper is caught securely between two sets of lips as they rush across the pool floats. But… too fast. Namjoon is moving too fast, presumably worried about the looming deadline, and Jungkook can’t exactly tell him to slow down because his lips are occupied. He’s going to fall for sure, face-down, and before Jungkook has any idea what he’s doing, he’s already reached out and grabbed Namjoon—by the waist with one hand, by the arm with another, locking them in a shaky stance of a partnered dance. As Namjoon pauses in his step, Jungkook steers the both of them to the bowl, where they successfully deposit the first piece of paper.

On their way back to the other side, now that his lips are finally free, Jungkook quickly says: “don’t go too fast, our paces need to match, or we’ll lose balance and fall.”

“Do what you just did, it seemed to work,” Namjoon replies.

Did Namjoon just ask me to hold him? Jungkook thinks. He decides to leave the exhilaration until later, when there’s more time. Reaching out to grab another piece of paper, he allows his face to meet Namjoon’s, places an arm around his waist, and again steers him towards the opposite side.

It works out, surprisingly. They soon achieve a sort of balanced routine, steps falling in line with each other, eyes fixed on their target, resolutely avoiding each other’s gaze as they tango across the slippery surface to their destination.

They trip and fall only once, but miraculously avoid tumbling into the water, which would have taken up a huge chunk of precious time. Namjoon is the one who pulls Jungkook up, grip strong and certain and full of trust. For a fleeting second, Jungkook allows himself to enjoy the warmth radiating from Namjoon’s palm, and then he throws himself back into the game, not only because it’s crucial for his survival but also because he’s a trained athlete like that. A trained athlete can’t let himself be distracted by Namjoon’s warmth.

And then, all of a sudden, they’re on their last round. Which is a relief because there are less than ten seconds left and they wouldn’t have made it at all if it weren’t their last round. As it is, it’s a close call. They have to practically skate past the floats—and Jungkook is awed by how elegantly Namjoon does it—to finally drop their life-saving piece of paper into the bowl within the final two seconds.

And because of, you know, the gravitational acceleration, their lips crash into each other and they plunge into the water, a messy tangle of limbs.

It’s a kiss. It’s a full-on, direct, mouth-to-mouth kiss. And Jungkook would have very much preferred that it hadn’t happened in the water, because he had never dreamed of his first kiss with Namjoon to be so wet, but a kiss is a kiss and he’ll take what he can get.

It lasts for barely a second, because both of them are still in the intense high-alert mode, unsure if they’re truly safe until the melodic voice declares them successful, wanting nothing more than just to get out of the water and get a better grip on the situation. Jungkook isn’t even sure if it actually counts as a kiss. Like yes, his lips did touch Namjoon’s, but the whole process just tasted like chlorine (did whoever designed the game have to be this realistic?) and it’s not very romantic at all. But hey, it’s a start. And maybe he’ll get to do this properly some other day.

Because they’re alive. Because they made it through. Jungkook’s heart soars as he’s greeted by the melodic voice announcing their win… and next to him is Namjoon in all his breathless, dripping-wet glory, a dumb grin on his face as he looks down, trying in vain to wring the water out of his shirt… and is that a tinge of pink Jungkook detects on his face?

But it’s probably from the exertion, Jungkook supposes. The past three minutes were unexpectedly exhausting—even though all they did was skid around on pool floats! Perhaps their legs and core muscles had been working extra hard to maintain balance.

“We get to… choose… an item each…” Namjoon pants, leaning against Jungkook, which is completely acceptable because he’s tired, but also… the proximity? Jungkook can no longer think straight. He’s imagined multiple times what it would be like to have Namjoon lean on him, the way Jimin and Taehyung often lean on each other. And now it’s happening. And it’s all very natural. Like Namjoon had done this multiple times already, which he hadn’t, this is his first time, and his breaths are tickling his neck and Jungkook is very gay.

“Have you… thought about… what item to… choose?” Namjoon asks, completely unaware of Jungkook’s inner turmoil.

To be honest, Jungkook has not thought that far. He was pretty much expecting to fail the challenge, after all, and had been placing his hopes on the storytelling segment (or something of a similar nature) that comes after the failing. Even on the off chance that they didn’t fail, Jungkook was mostly fixated on the telepathy channel. Like, why think about items when he could think about having a telepathy channel with Namjoon, right?

Namjoon chuckles. “If you’re not ready… I’ll go first… I want some… seeds.”

That does sound like a Namjoon kind of thing to ask for. Jungkook watches in fascination when a small bag of seeds, separated by color, appears in Namjoon’s hand out of nowhere.

“What about you?” Namjoon asks.

Jungkook doesn’t know. It’s very hard to think when Namjoon is leaning against his shoulder, dripping and warm and happy.

“I… I…”

Namjoon is smiling encouragingly at him. Jungkook simply doesn’t know. It’s his first time getting something that’s not a baseball, and he knows he ought to use this opportunity well. Being able to ask for anything is such a privilege. He should use this wish on something that is beneficial to the class, the way Jimin used it to ask for maxi pads for the girls, a necessity that the system really ought to have provided but didn’t.

Wait.

Does this mean that… the culprit is a guy? A girl would have thought of stocking the interface shop with period equipment for sure.

That narrows it down. A lot.

Namjoon pokes Jungkook softly, bringing his wandering mind back to the current situation.

“Uh… I want…”

Something the class needs but doesn’t have yet. What is it? Something that will be helpful for future challenges, maybe? He doesn’t know what any of the future challenges will be about, but… but…

But surely there’s one thing that will be universally useful.

“Money,” Jungkook says. “Please give me a wallet that can produce an infinite amount of in-game currency.”

Namjoon chokes on a laugh next to him. “That’s our Jungkookie, going straight for the big bucks.”

Even the melodious voice seems amused. “I cannot give you this. It is game-breaking. You have to work to earn your money.”

“…Okay,” Jungkook says, reluctantly.

“However,” the voice continues, brightly, “I will give you an item that allows you to ‘work for it’. Here’s a pedometer. Every step you take will be converted into one in-game coin.”

The small gadget appears in Jungkook’s hand. He shakes it three times.

That’s three coins! Not too bad at all!

“Thanks!” He exclaims. And then the pool vanishes and he finds himself back on the raft with Namjoon, who’s still wet in his very see-through shirt. The scene is gone, the wetness remains.

Jungkook wonders for an uncomfortable moment if this means that if someone gets injured in a future challenge, they’ll continue being injured when they come out. He supposes that they’ll find out later.

They’re only a short raft ride away from the class, but there’s a small window of a moment where it’s just the two of them, on the raft, clumsily making their way through the tunnel. And it’s too short, Jungkook thinks, too short! He wants some more alone time with Namjoon. Not to… not to do anything weird like stare at his tiddies. Not that. Just to talk. Because it takes time for Jungkook to warm up, to get into the swing of the conversation, and by the time he’s finally ready, they’ll have reached the class, and then they’ll be surrounded by people and he’ll no longer get any one-on-one time with Namjoon, and then—

[KIM NAMJOON]

Hey.

Jungkook nearly falls off the raft in surprise when the words just pop up in front of him in thin air. He whirls around to stare at Namjoon, who grins.

“Give it a try,” he says, “looks like the telepathy channel’s working.”

Jungkook gives it a try. Turns out that the telepathy channel is not as crazily powerful as he had worried it would be—it would suck to have his every thought being read by Namjoon, after all. It’s simply a virtual chat, one that helpfully converts his thoughts into words and sentences, so that he doesn’t need to type. He must manually decide to press SEND before every message goes out, which is also a relief because he wouldn’t want his cute crush fantasies being seen by Namjoon himself. They may also send videos and pictures, basically scenes they captured with their own eyes.

[JEON JUNGKOOK]

This is so convenient!

Namjoon smiles back at him, and Jungkook can’t help but beam bright as the short raft journey is over and the rest of the class, hooting and waving, come into sight. Now he no longer has to lament over getting no opportunity to chat one-on-one with Namjoon. In their heads, it’s always one-on-one time.

As soon as the raft is securely fastened and Jungkook and Namjoon are pulled up to the pier by Jimin and, surprisingly, Brad (maybe he’s decided to change his bullying ways after losing his friend? Jungkook wonders), Jungkook is greeted by a bunch of people who are eager to give him hugs despite him being all wet—and a very tearful Fairy Cub, the most easily distressed one out of the artsy trio.

“It’s not us… We didn’t… You have to believe me!” she cries, grabbing Jungkook’s hands.

Jungkook tactfully extracts himself from the pile of limbs that he’s buried under and meets her eyes. “Uh, I don’t think it’s you either. You wouldn’t have made it this obvious.”

“What’s going on?” Namjoon asks. “Am I missing something?”

Apparently, while the two were out completing their challenge, the rest of the class was watching in front of the TV, and some of the classmates who had seen the trio’s art immediately spotted the similarities between the scene and their sketch. The class had discussed it for a bit before Jungkook and Namjoon made it back, but did not reach any conclusions.

The situation is explained to Namjoon, who puzzles over it somberly for a moment and finally says, “I think this means that you guys need to not draw any terrifying Cthulhus for the time being.”

This elicits a small giggle from the tearful Fairy Cub, and Jungkook can’t help but admire Namjoon’s tact, except Bang Taekook turns pale immediately. “Uh, about that…”

Jungkook sighs. Taekook does seem like the kind who’d do Cthulhu art. “Whatever you drew, hide them.”

“I will,” Taekook promises.

Jungkook notices that the bullies, who would usually take this opportunity to grumble and leer at Taekook, barely even react.

[KIM NAMJOON]

I hope they don’t have anything sinister planned.

Jungkook stares at the sentence that just popped up in thin air. No one else seems to have noticed it. Wow, he’s really the only one who can see it. He’s the only one who has a telepathy channel with Kim Namjoon.

Jeon Jungkook, how far you’ve come from your good old days of pining!  [SEND? Y/N]

No, bad idea, don’t send that! Jungkook scolds the voice inside his head. He’s gonna have a hard time taming his inner dialogues from now on, he realizes, gotta make sure to not select SEND by accident.

But hey, that’s a problem he’ll worry about later. Right now, he’s alive, Namjoon’s alive, Taekook agreed to hide his Cthulhu art, the bullies seem to have become chill, and everything’s all right… at least for a few hours.

He sets off to lunch happy, earning a coin with every step he takes.

Chapter Text

When all the challenge requirements were displayed earlier in the morning, Jungkook had been too worried about the second challenge and its duration to bother looking at the other challenge descriptions carefully. Luckily he gets a recap at lunch, bowl of rice in one hand and a steaming hot pot of beef radish soup in front of him (the sesame oil smells ravishing), as the class discusses who to send for challenges three and four. Seokjin has taken a picture of the requirements and shows it to Jungkook when he meekly admits that he’s clean forgotten what they said.

DAY 4 CHALLENGE 3

[3 French Hens]

Put your thinking caps on.

Challenge Duration: 10 min

Required Person(s): 3

Challenge Type: Puzzles

DAY 4 CHALLENGE 4

[4 Calling Birds]

Who will you be calling?

Challenge Duration: 10 min

Required Person(s): 4

Challenge Type: Communication

Now, Jungkook already knew the third challenge was about puzzles, Namjoon’s been through one the previous day, and he never forgets anything that involves Namjoon. But the fourth challenge… communication? What kind of challenge involves communication?

“Might be something like debates,” Seokjin muses. “In which case I’d say Jiminie can be a good candidate. He’s so cute that his opponents can’t help but be swayed.”

Jimin laughs. “I’d say you’re a great candidate too, you’re so handsome that your opponents can’t help but be swayed.”

“Opponents? You mean like… we’d be debating against a team of four birds?” Hoseok asks, looking as bewildered as Jungkook feels.

Seokjin shrugs. “It’s just a guess.”

“If it’s really going to be a debate, wouldn’t sending Namjoon be a better idea? He’s literally the leader of the school’s debate club,” points out Kim Taejin, head of the acting club.

Well, he’s not wrong, but… but no. Putting Namjoon at risk for one time today is enough. Jungkook won’t watch it happen a second time. Namjoon’s just changed out of his wet clothes and now they want to send him into a challenge again? Jungkook knows that Namjoon, being the noble soul he is, would not say no if nominated.

Luckily, Taehyung saves Jungkook from having to come out of his comfort zone and speak up by groaning. “Come on, give the guy a break,” he says, while calmly licking a strawberry cheesecake popsicle. Despite acting like a pouty baby most of the time, Taehyung is one of those people who somehow manage to look intimidating while licking a strawberry cheesecake popsicle, so Kim Taejin doesn’t push the subject.

“Yeah, let’s let Namjoonie rest. I don’t mind going,” Seokjin says.

“I’ll go too,” Jimin says. “Anyone else? Who else’s good at debating?”

“I’d go, but… you know…” Jihope gestures vaguely. Everyone else seems to get it, but Jungkook has no idea what she means. He turns to Seokjin, who enlarges the picture he’s taken of the challenge descriptions to show Jungkook the small addendum written under the details of the fourth challenge.

*Please note: As this is a communication challenge and having a telepathy channel will be unfair, only one at most of each pair with a telepathy channel may enter this challenge at one time.

Oh. Now Jungkook sees why Seokjin and Jimin seem so eager to volunteer themselves. This way they can ensure that Jihope and Taehyung can’t go—their own subtle way of protecting their partners.

He understands. He’d have done the same to protect Namjoon, except it’s quite obvious that he’s not much of the debating type and everyone’s already decided that Namjoon’s exempt from this challenge anyway.

Soon, the class settles on filling up the two other slots of the fourth challenge with Jang Two-Sock, the class clown, and Go Taegi, a girl who’s known for being a huge idol fan and always carrying around idol merch. Two-Sock is funny and they figure that that’s the kind of person who’ll come in useful in a debate, and Go Taegi is persuasive from all the online fanwars she’s been in.

As for the puzzle challenge, they decide in the end to send in three people who are levelheaded, quick thinkers, and have not yet been in any challenges: Yoongi, Hoseok, and a guy called Yoo Namgi. Yoongi is eloquent, Hoseok is methodical, and Yoo Namgi is the kind of guy who always wins in mafia games so they figure that all three of them are probably smart enough to handle a puzzle challenge.

They all seem very excited and eager to get started, but the class collective decides to wait till two p.m. to tackle the two remaining challenges. Lunch was delicious and very filling and just in case either of these challenges involves physical exertion—even though it doesn’t seem like they do—it’d be better to not have the participants do them on full stomachs.

It’s a sensible decision, but as someone who’s very experienced in challenges by now, Jungkook knows that the wait must be excruciating. So he seeks out Hoseok after the dishes are done, and finds him understandably freaking out in their shared room.

“No, I mean, I want to go, I definitely want to go, I’ll have to sooner or later anyway, and it’s not that I think we’ll fail, Yoongi and Namgi are super smart, but I—”

“You’re smart too,” Jungkook says, watching as Hoseok paces around the room in frustration. He gets it. Pre-challenge jitters are no fun, and it doesn’t ever seem to get better. Actually, Jungkook feels like the more experienced he gets, the more nervous he becomes for the next challenge. Unlike the rest of the class who’s just watching, he knows how hard the challenges are, how lucky he is to have not failed any yet so far. And he’s constantly worried that the luck will run out. It’s about time it runs out, he thinks every time. It’s about time.

It’s not a very comforting thought.

“Thanks.” Hoseok grins wanly. “I know I’m not stupid, but am I… smart enough? Enough to clear the challenge?”

“I hope you are,” Jungkook says, sincerely.

“It’s just… yesterday, when Namjoonie, Namsook and Taekook were in that room, dealing with the boxes… I had no idea what they were even doing, how they even cleared the challenges. No idea. Zero.”

“Neither did I,” Jungkook admits. “But it’s probably partly because we weren’t seeing the boxes and their descriptions in person. It’s very hard to deduce anything, everything looks so tiny on the screen.”

“I know. It’s just…” Hoseok heaves a dragged-out sigh. “I wish we could’ve at least prepared for this. I’d have felt better if I were prepared.”

“Me too,” Jungkook agrees. He and Hoseok are the same. The practice-makes-perfect type. They’re hard workers. Hard work is what gives them security, and they need security now more than ever.

“You know what,” Hoseok mutters with a nervous laugh, “you should let me use your pedometer. I mean, if I’m gonna pace around anyway I might as well make some money from it.”

Jungkook laughs too. “I don’t think it counts if it’s not me using it—at least that’s how it seems judging from the other items we received. But I’ll walk with you.”

He gets to his feet and starts pacing around the room next to Hoseok, imitating his hunched posture, clasped hands, and quick steps. Hoseok bursts out laughing, this time somewhat less nervous, somewhat more genuine. He doesn’t stop pacing, so Jungkook doesn’t either. Together, they pace away the remaining minutes before two o’clock.

“Thanks,” Hoseok tells Jungkook, as they head towards the pier to meet the others. “I… I hope the puzzles are easy.”

“No,” Jungkook rebuts. “I hope the puzzles are hard, but they just happen to be easy for you, so you look extra cool.”

Hoseok chuckles softly and pats him on the shoulder as they approach the waiting crowd. Yoongi is already standing on the raft, next to Yoo Namgi, who’s meditating sitting down. Everything okay? He mouths to Jungkook and Hoseok as they come closer. Hoseok nods, a round of hugs and fist bumps happen, and then the three of them row away.

Jungkook is right, it turns out. The challenge is hard, but not for Hoseok. Jungkook watches in awe as the three appear on the lounge TV screen, stepping into a—believe it or not—space shuttle. At least that’s what it looks like. It’s a very sci-fi-ish location, all whitewashed walls and complex-looking equipment, and the floor is composed of grids of neon light. From the only window, a pitch-black expanse. At the far end on the wall are three boxes. According to the melodic voice, that’s where the hens are this time. Poor hens. Jungkook wonders how they’re enjoying being in space (probably not very much).

The puzzle is simple in principle: the three challengers must move towards the boxes, but the grids on the ground can only be stepped on when they’re lit up. It sounds very straightforward, but the lights are incredibly tricky. There’s no warning when each grid will light up, and whenever someone’s caught on a grid that’s not lit, all three get sent right back to where they’ve started. Very soon, they realize that they have to go one by one, since there is sometimes only one grid lit up and they can’t all fit in one grid.

As complicated as the whole thing looks, however, Hoseok soon picks up a pattern—not with his eyes, he claims that the lights give him a headache—but with his feet. After one minute of trial and error, he figures out a path and practically dances his way across the room to free the first hen.

Now that Hoseok has a hen, he’s no longer allowed on what the audience has immediately dubbed the disco floor. But as Yoongi takes his turn with the tiles, Hoseok watches and dances at the starting point, where there are no grids. Very soon, he memorizes the new pattern again and shouts out directions to Yoongi, counting the beats as he goes. Yoongi grumbles and grouches in his usual good-natured way and manages to come back with a hen as well.

By now, only six minutes have elapsed, and they’re making good time. Yoo Namgi is not much of a dancer like Hoseok and Yoongi, but he’s a fast learner and also a guitar player so he’s no stranger to counting beats. Hoseok guides him forward, and it all seems to be going quite well—

Until the first piece of space debris slams into the shuttle.

The resulting tremor sends all three sprawling onto the ground, and Yoongi and Hoseok crash into each other. Yoo Namgi loses his balance and touches an unlit grid, and is teleported back to the starting point. He clambers up only to be sent tumbling down again when another piece of debris makes contact with the vehicle… and another. Then another. More.

They’re caught in a storm.

“Is this fair? Pretty sure this is unfair,” Seokjin says.

“Is this science? Pretty sure this is not science,” Hopekook, class resident geek, says in disdain.

Jungkook has no idea whether this design is scientifically realistic—he knows very little about outer space. He assumes that Hopekook knows what he’s talking about, and that if Hopekook were the one who designed this game, he would have made it more scientifically sound.

Or is this a red herring that Hopekook planned in order to throw everybody off?

Jungkook shakes his head. Not the time to start suspecting people all over again. His classmates are in trouble!

The three guys in the space shuttle are being tossed left and right, thrown against the walls by the turbulence and the continuous impact. Yoo Namgi, very much aware of the time limit, keeps getting up again and again to attempt to reach the final hen, leaving Yoongi and Hoseok to grab at each other and fall down in each other’s arms over and over. It would have been kind of comical, Jungkook even sees Yoongi chuckling once, but the situation is too tense for comedy right now.

They have only one minute left.

And yet, even when tumbling around like a stuffed bear in a washing machine, Hoseok hasn’t stopped trying to find a way. As the entire spacecraft flips on its side, he yells at Namgi, who’s still getting his bearings: “Now! Forget the grids, just run!”

This is the perfect chance. Since the spacecraft is on its side, no matter how many times Namgi falls down, he won’t touch any grids he shouldn’t, because the floor is now the wall and the wall is now the floor.

He runs, and easily reaches the box within a few seconds, releasing a very confused and very ruffled hen, just ten seconds before the deadline.

Yoongi and Hoseok crumple dramatically into each other’s arms as the melodious voice announces the clearing of the challenge. Yoongi has one hand on the back of Hoseok’s head, and Hoseok has one arm slung protectively around Yoongi’s shoulders.

“They look cute together, don’t you think?” Seokjin whispers to Jungkook, who’s still trying to calm down his crazily racing heart.

“Well… yeah… I…” Jungkook replies, a bit dizzy from the scene he’s just watched. He now knows what his mom meant when she said she gets carsick from watching movies.

He wonders why Seokjin thinks Yoongi and Hoseok are cute together. He’s never really thought about it before, the two of them seem to be very good friends, but he’s very good friends with Jimin and no one’s ever said they’re “cute together”. Is he missing something? He probably is, Jimin always jokes about him being oblivious, too busy with baseball practice to be all caught up with the latest gossip.

They do look cute, Yoongi and Hoseok, as they return to the mansion on their raft, each holding a plump chicken and looking exhausted. Yoo Namgi, on the other hand, looks as unaffected as always—must be the meditating, Jungkook thinks. He should try meditating too.

Yes, Yoongi and Hoseok do look cute, but cute together? Hmm. Interesting.

There’s no time to ask Seokjin about what gossip he’s heard, though, because Seokjin is going next into the fourth challenge. Not before he’s talked to Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namgi about the items they’ve received, though—just to make sure if they’ve gotten anything that could come in useful in a communication-oriented challenge. It doesn’t seem like it, though, as all three have received an identical sci-fi-themed box that contains a drone each. They don’t seem to hold any special powers, but drones are cool enough in themselves.

As drones don’t seem like they’d be handy in a communication challenge, the class decide to follow the original plan and send Seokjin, Jimin, Two-Sock, and Go Taegi in. The class is reasonably nervous before they set off, even if they did have a very nice winning streak going on, even if “communication” doesn’t sound too difficult—at least not as difficult as, say, aim.

Because now it’s apparent that while the type of the challenge is set, the location is not. A puzzle challenge can happen in an ordinary bedroom… but it can also happen in outer space. A communication challenge can happen in a zoo… or it can happen in an active volcano or something. They’ll never know until they enter the challenge.

Jungkook moves to Taehyung’s side as the four set off. Seokjin, Jimin and Two-Sock, all of them optimistic people, are looking quite cheerful as they wave everyone goodbye, and even Go Taegi, who’s usually on the quiet side, has hyped herself up by staring at a photocard of her idol, Cha Eunwoo, for one minute. They’re acting like they’re not worried at all—but Jungkook knows it’s simply because they’re considerate, because they don’t want the class to be too concerned.

Jungkook is still concerned. And he knows that Taehyung is too, so he wraps his arm around Taehyung’s shoulder and slowly steers him back into the lounge, in front of the TV, not wanting him to keep standing there and staring at the cave which Jimin just disappeared into.

The class has saved them a spot in the front where the view is best, knowing that they’re the ones closest to Jimin. Also sharing the front row are Seokjin’s girlfriend Jihope and Go Taegi’s best friend, Kim Minjoo. Everyone seems to like Two-Sock equally so no one gets special treatment for his sake.

The screen flashes on, showing the four arriving at their destination. Jungkook is glad to see that it’s not an active volcano or anything. Just a room, judging from the fluorescent lighting. Taehyung slumps against Jungkook with a relieved sigh.

And then the rest of the room is revealed, and Jungkook slaps his forehead with his palm.

He knows what this is now.

Chapter Text

“Scream in Silence”, Jungkook’s come to realise, is the sort of a game that only certain people are good at. Namely people who’re able to pronounce things well, people who don’t get easily distracted, people who can read lips well, and Kim Seokjin.

People who are not good at it: Park Jimin.

Because honestly , Jungkook can swear that, in all the variety shows where he’s seen idols play the game, he’s never seen anyone as bad at it as Jimin. Because how does Diet even become Dynamite ? Like, they don’t even have the same number of syllables.

It’s a source of frustration for the class too. The class had initially seen the four pairs of headphones, the words displayed at one end, and the four of them standing in a line, and mistakenly assumed that the fourth challenge would be a relatively easy one.

Of course, clearly, they hadn’t accounted for Park Jimin and his pitiful Lachimolala in the place of Carbonara , clearly passed on by Go Taegi and Two-Sock, both of them not as brilliant as Seokjin but also not as terrible as Jimin. The most they got wrong was probably one syllable while Jimin completely invented new words.

Jungkook doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry as Jimin keeps repeating Lachimolala to a very confused Seokjin, tears of frustration in his eyes.

Most of the class is equally frustrated. Yoon Minnie has covered her face with her hands and is peeking out from between her fingers like she’s watching a horror movie as opposed to a variety show game being played badly by her fellow classmates.

“If Seokjin doesn’t get this one, they’ll have to get all four words after this correctly,” someone comments from the back, and Jungkook sags into Taehyung’s side, already resigned to spending the remaining three minutes on the edge of his seat because Lachimolala ? Jungkook’s flabbergasted.

Except… Seokjin figures it out somehow. Seokjin, their lovely ace, yells Carbonara confidently, and it’s almost as if the whole class are puppets cut off from their strings with the way they either collapse in their seats or, in Oh Yoonjin’s case, starfish onto the floor.

“I have no idea how he did that,” Amanda says, “But I’m building a shrine for him the moment they win.”

Jungkook agrees privately in his mind. Especially when Jimin gets the next clue wrong too and it once more looks like it rests on Seokjin’s shoulders to save them all. It’s especially nerve-wracking because suddenly Scott comes to the forefront of their minds and sure, all four of the people out there are eloquent speakers and good storytellers and should they meet Mrs. Partridge or some other bird they’d probably be able to spin a story, hell, Taegi would probably just make up a never ending fanfic about her TXT boys, but…

But there’s this what if in all their minds. What if there’s no Mrs. Partridge? What if there’s someone else who asks for something that’s not a story, and they fail horribly at it? What if Mrs. Partridge doesn’t like their story? What if? What if? What if? And all Jungkook can feel is a slight nausea, Taehyung’s hand clammy in his own, and he has no idea when he even started holding hands with him and Jihope, who seems to have swapped places with Minjoo to sit with him, but… with the situation being what it is, it makes sense to seek comfort from whoever is the closest.

Even if in all of their hearts, they’re manifesting the four of them clearing the challenge. Even if in all their hearts, they’re cheering for Seokjin, their ultimate saviour, as he guesses ‘007 Bang’ with Jimin just mouthing it towards him (because he didn’t even manage to figure out what the word Taegi passed him was). By the time they reach the last two words, with only one more that needs to be guessed correctly, an option lights up on the board in the far end to change the order in which they’re standing. Jimin is sent to the start, finally, but there’s still a sort of nervous anticipation in everyone’s faces.

“One more! One more! One more!” someone half chants and half prays in the back as Jungkook feels Jihope squeeze his hand tighter.

Anti-romantic, Jimin mouths on screen, and they watch with bated breath as Taegi understands the word immediately, her eyes lighting up as her feet slightly move to do the footwork of the TXT song, and she passes it on to Two-Sock who struggles a little and finally gets it and in turn passes it on to Seokjin, who looks at Two-Sock’s lips only once before he turns to the front and says, as loudly and confidently as ever, “Anti-Romantic,” and the whole class lets out a collective breath as they cheer, toss cushions in the air, and hug each other like they’ve just won at the Olympics.

Jungkook lets Taehyung and Amanda pull him into half-hugs and celebrates with the rest of the class, too excited to even check what buffs the four people on screen got. When the cheers die down a little and the screen goes blank, Amanda says, “Well, at least we know who we’re not sending again for this challenge.”

Nobody disagrees, least of all Jimin himself, who appears in the doorway, the most rueful smile on his face, and an apology on his lips.

It’s pretty easy to decide who’ll take part in the challenges in the fifth day, after that. Oh Yoonjin offers to do the first challenge, and considering she’s sporty enough, everybody’s okay with it, moreso when Vhope offers to practice with her.

The class unanimously agrees that Vhope and Vmon are the best people to challenge the mouth-to-mouth paper one, considering how they’ve grown up together and are both athletic, and that it would be useful to have another pair with telepathic connections.

The Three French Hens challenge proves to be a little tricky to pick for, and Jungkook sort of gets it because it’s been the least predictable so far. It’s something that you can’t really practice for, and deals with brains as much as brawn. The difficulty will likely keep increasing as well, it seems, judging from the pattern over the past few days. But then Inseol volunteers because, to quote him, you won’t find anyone smarter than me in this class, and Hopekook’s name gets brought up somehow because everyone knows he’s actually smart, and then Britknee offers to be the last person simply because she’s got no buff so far and she doesn’t like being one of the peasants —well, she doesn’t quite say that but it’s sort of clear that’s why she’s going for it, and…

It's a combination that leaves Jungkook a little uneasy, because Hopekook feels like the only trustworthy person in the trio. There’s something about them that just doesn’t sit right, maybe considering how he’s never seen the three of them really interact before, and while that doesn’t really mean much for the challenge, it’s just…

[NAMJOON]

That combination is just weird

Jungkook resists the urge to exhale out loud. He meets Namjoon’s eyes across the room, grateful that he’s not the only one feeling that way, even though he understands that the third challenge is just a toss-up at this point and there’s no one in particular who could be confidently named a pro at it.

[JUNGKOOK]

I’m worried, but I suppose there’s nothing we can do but hope for the best

Namjoon offers him a wry smile before turning back to the proceedings, and Jungkook refocuses only to realise that the class has already picked people for the fourth challenge while he was busy staring at Namjoon’s dimples during their telepathic chat.

Seokjin writes down Two-Sock’s name alongside Karen, Jihope and Cookie Monster, and that’s yet another weird combination but, really, at this point, Jungkook supposes that, as the number of people required for each challenge increases, they’re going to end up with even weirder combinations either way. He could be sent into a challenge alongside bully Jordan, class secretary Kang Namsook and class neat freak Jeon Soap any day now, and people aren’t going to bat an eyelash.

“We’ll decide who’s going for the fifth challenge once we see what type of task it is, yeah?” Jihope asks in lieu of wrapping up, and when most of the class acquiesces, she gets up, clapping her hands. “Okay, so, uh, now that we’ve got that part over with, Seokjin and I have an announcement.”

Jungkook blinks.

Announcement?  

Seokjin gets up, brushing imaginary lint off his shirt. “We thought of doing this quietly but then realized most of the class would know within like half an hour,” he says, jokingly, and well, Jungkook has to agree about that—their class, he’s come to realise, is notorious for not keeping anything to themselves, especially if they’re things that are potentially juicy, as terrible as it sounds. And yet— what could the two want to announce that they’re so certain will become prime gossip material?

A horrible thought enters his mind.

Please, not that , he thinks, as Jihope meets his eyes across the table and he’s filled with a horrible sense of foreboding.

“We’ve broken up,” she says, eyes not leaving Jungkook’s, and…

He’d hoped it wouldn’t be that.

To the class’s credit, there isn’t a major uproar, though Jungkook’s not particularly sure if it’s because people are still waiting for either of them to yell haha April fools! (it’s not even April), or if they’re simply caught by surprise, or if it’s because neither Seokjin nor Jihope looks particularly heartbroken, but Jungkook can say for sure that his own silence is because there’s a little voice in his head promising that this has happened because of him.

[NAMJOON]

I didn’t see that coming, though in hindsight it does make sense

Jungkook breaks eye contact with Jihope to stare at Namjoon. Like, actually stare, because what ?

[NAMJOON]

Of course, it’s not like I was anticipating it or anything but… they didn’t really seem like they were in love, did they?

And that… Jungkook’s not quite sure how to answer. Because he doesn’t really know. What he knows about Ji-Jin (the class’s official ship name for the two) is that they’re cute, they’re the class’s power couple, the pair every couple dreams to be like, because they’re just perfect together. Of course, they don’t do skinship in public as much as Jimin and Taehyung, but theirs is a level of affection and easy trust that’s quite hard to reach.

It’s like, they’re ideal , so for them to break up and for Namjoon to say that they never really seemed like they were in love… Jungkook doesn’t really understand it.

All he can think at that moment is—

[JUNGKOOK]

So you don’t think they broke up because of me?

He winces the moment he presses send in his mind, because maybe that wasn’t the best question to ask Namjoon, and really, who even decided it would be a good thing to give Jungkook a telepathic channel with Namjoon of all people? But Namjoon, to his credit, only looks the slightest bit confused before Jungkook sees the next message pop up above his head—

[NAMJOON]

I can 100% guarantee that you’re not the reason they broke up, even though I’m not sure why you think so unless you maybe propositioned either of them

And Jungkook thinks—

[JUNGKOOK]

Only as a joke. Lol. But thank you!

Because he doesn’t quite know what else to say that wouldn’t really end up in him incriminating himself. Lord only knows what he’ll end up blabbering if he brings up his conversation about love with Jihope, and Namjoon asks him if he’s in love with someone. Because in that case Jungkook would rather say no or just straight up confess than say yes and leave it at that and potentially ruin his own love life the way he’s seen countless misunderstandings start in kdramas.

No thank you sir, Jungkook’s quite definitely not doing that.

And if Namjoon seems confused by Jungkook’s reply, it doesn’t show on his face, because all there is is the sweetest curve of his lips in the form of a smile as he meets Jungkook’s eyes, before he turns back to the front where Jihope’s promising the class that it was a mutual thing and that there are no hard feelings between them and that they’d like it if nobody brought it up again.

Nobody says anything much after that and when Seokjin claps his hands once to signify the end of the discussion, most of the class disperses to their own groups, already talking amongst themselves, and Jihope is dragged away by Amanda. Jungkook already knows that while the class will give Ji-Jin—or maybe he shouldn’t use their ship name anymore—Jihope and Seokjin their space, they will definitely be talking about it, and—

He gets it, of sorts.

Because their relationship was just that public, with both of them being so popular, and it would be futile to expect anything to the contrary, though it does fill him with a slight amount of annoyance because why do people have to talk about things that don’t concern them, even if the people involved don’t really care about what people are talking about?

It’s like, he knows Jihope and Seokjin know that they’ll be the talk of the day—he can see it in the slight resignation in both their eyes, even if they don’t seem entirely too bothered about it, and he thinks that it might be because everything they’ve done so far has been so public, regardless of whether or not they chose to speak about it, and they’re probably desensitized to the whole thing, but…

It just feels so unfair ! For some reason! Because what if they’d genuinely been in love and they’re hurting and the class sees this as a source of gossip? Just—

“You’re pissed,” Seokjin comments, walking up to him, and Jungkook scrunches his nose at him, not quite sure how to reply. “Do you hate the idea of us breaking up so much or something?”

“ No ,” Jungkook blurts out, because never that , because that’s their own decision and Jungkook has no say in it. And then, “How do you know I’m pissed?”

“You’re doing that nose scrunch thing that you always do either when you’re angry, or—”

“When you’ve got really good food in front of you,” Jimin completes from Jungkook’s other side, Taehyung clinging onto his back like a koala.

Jungkook blinks. He hadn’t been aware that was a thing.

“Anyways, why are you mad then?” Seokjin asks, and Jungkook looks around at the empty hall, save for the four of them, and says, a little indignantly,

“They’re all gossiping about you guys already! It’s none of their business!”

And Seokjin… he laughs. Not head-thrown-back-happy-laughter, just something that’s mirthless but a little fond, and says, “You’re so cute.” He sounds endeared as he boops Jungkook’s nose, making him go cross-eyed as he instinctively follows Seokjin’s finger, which has Seokjin chuckling again before he says: “It’s none of their business, but it was also inevitable, which was why we did the whole thing publicly as opposed to letting them find out eventually on their own, which would create a bigger fuss. At least this way we control the narrative.”

“That makes sense,” Taehyung agrees, hooking his chin over Jimin’s shoulder. “I mean, if people had caught wind of it in some other way, there would be at least a dozen theories as to why one of you dumped the other, ranging from cheating accusations to one of you falling out of love.”

And…

Jungkook understands that it’s better this way, but still! It fills him with so much rage, because it’s so unfair, because they’re in fucking virtual reality fighting for their fucking lives and people still find the energy to gossip. Even after the two of them made the announcement in public, people are still going to come up with theories, if not a dozen then maybe one or two, and…

It shouldn’t matter to people so much.

Honestly, he thinks, with no little amount of petulance, if the class had spent all the time they devoted to gossiping on either practicing or trying to figure out who’s behind the whole thing, they would probably have found a way to escape by now.

He says as much, and Jimin laughs at him, fond fond fond .

“You’re precious, and all of this sucks, but this is how people are, and no one can do anything about it.”

“It’s okay though,” Seokjin chips in. “Like not okay in an I’m okay with all this way, because it’s definitely not okay, but more like… I’m used to this and it’s not the worst thing ever and it’s not going to be the end of the world, and it’ll definitely die down in a bunch of days, especially depending on how the next few tasks go, so…” He shrugs. “I’m just glad it’s all over, like, don’t get me wrong, Jihope is lovely but… it felt more like we were doing stuff for the sake of doing stuff by the end of it, and…” He trails off, shrugging again, and—

Jungkook thinks he’s missing too much backstory to understand what’s going on, but what he does see is the relieved sag of Seokjin’s shoulders, and he thinks, love shouldn’t ever make someone feel so burdened that the breakup leaves them feeling so relieved.

I suppose it’s for the best , he thinks, even if he does feel the tiniest bit guilty when Seokjin pats him on the shoulder and thanks him on the way out, for what he’d told Jihope. “It really made us sit down and think,” he says. “And we talked… about what we are to each other and what we feel and how it doesn’t make sense anymore, and… It was a long time coming but, talking to you helped. Thanks, JK.”

“I’m not quite sure how I helped,” Jungkook mumbles belatedly, a few seconds after Seokjin leaves. “And I don’t really know how to feel about being thanked for being the cause of a couple breaking up, even if they’ve assured me it’s for the best.”

“You probably helped just by being yourself,” Jimin tells him, slinging an arm over his shoulder, “and by being cute.” He pinches Jungkook’s cheek, looking a little too proud, for some reason, as Taehyung disentangles himself from Jimin to throw his arm around Jungkook’s other shoulder, and say. “And if you don’t know how to react, you can just roll with their gratitude. Now let’s go clean the pool so that we get done before dinner. Yoongi’s promised to make lamb skewers.”

And Jungkook forgets about the whole thing… at least for a little while.

He thinks about it later, of course, much much later, after the pool is sparkling clean, and after dinner, after he escapes from the table where half the class is gathering to play games again. He thinks about it after he gets dragged by Jordan into the washroom in the hallway, and wonders for all of two seconds what exactly is going on before Jordan asks him, all earnest and uncomfortable, will Romy ever like me? But I’m a bully? And Jungkook tells him, you can always stop being a bully, and if you have to choose between being liked by her and being a bully, I think it’s an easy decision to make, isn’t it?

He thinks about Jihope and Seokjin and love and the way people think and behave and the reasons for it after Jordan, red-faced, pulls him into an awkward hug, as if he can’t believe Jungkook had actually given him advice. He thinks, and finds himself wandering up a staircase into a room he’s never been into before, and…

His conclusion is that people are complicated but also simple. Sometimes they’re difficult to figure out, take whoever is behind this whole situation for example, but sometimes they’re also simple, because no matter the situation, people tend to react like they would on any normal day, and…

It has him wondering if the only reason protagonists in movies or novels react the way they do is because they know what trope they’re in, but then he thinks about his classmates and how it’s been four too many days to not be self-aware, about how people still find the time to gossip and how it takes so little to distract them from the dangers of their situation, and… well, he’s aware that they probably haven’t actually forgotten that they’re stuck in a death game. But it’s easy to push the thought to the back of your mind, and maybe it’s a coping mechanism of sorts, to pretend everything’s okay and act like everything’s okay because reality otherwise is just scary, and… he gets it, sort of.

The simple part, not the complicated part, and that makes sense because if he understood the complicated part it wouldn’t be complicated anymore but rather simple, and if it were that simple they would have already figured out the culprit by now and Jungkook wouldn’t have to spend half his time suspecting people he would rather just be friends with.

He hates it—hates that he’s gotten used to being suspicious, hates that one of his classmates out there is pretending to be nice while doing something so terrible, hates beyond everything that he doesn’t know why they’re doing this to the whole class, because why? Why would anyone do that?

Jungkook understands that the culprit may have been annoyed at the class. Understands, because he’s annoyed himself—at the way they’ve been acting, especially right after Jihope and Seokjin announced they’d broken up. He’s annoyed, but that doesn’t mean he’ll do anything more than being annoyed because he knows that, at the end of the day, they’re all just being human, even if that doesn’t really excuse anything.

He certainly wouldn’t create a virtual reality to torment them. He doesn’t think he even has it in him to think up something so convoluted, something straight out of what could either be a horror flick or survival show. And he’s not quite sure which of his classmates would have it in them to do so and what would even prompt them to do something so horrifying, to create a virtual reality where everyone can watch their own classmates die.

It's a sobering thought, that as much as Scott wasn’t the most beloved, that he could have died in-game, without ever knowing what’s happening in their reality. It’s even more sobering that someone inside the class—someone who he could have possibly eaten with, who he could have laughed with—is the mastermind behind all of it.

And… worse, what if it’s Jimin? Jungkook knows it’s stupid to think so, but he can’t help it, not when Jimin had so blatantly botched the fourth challenge. Jimin is smart. Jungkook has always thought Jimin had heaps of brains. Could someone as smart as Jimin really fail the game (which the class had henceforth jokingly dubbed the “lachimolala game”) as spectacularly as he did?

Still, Jungkook has a hard time figuring out what motive Jimin would have. Because this is just not in Jimin’s nature. Of course, he could probably say the same about most of the class, but Jimin—the Jimin he’s known for most of his life, the Jimin who’s loved him like his own brother, who’s always celebrated his wins more than Jungkook himself did and taken his losses to heart more than Jungkook himself did, the Jimin who’s always been in his corner—

It just fills Jungkook with shame that he’d even think of Jimin that way, but he also doesn’t know what else to think as Jimin’s confused Lachimolala keeps ringing in his head. He doesn’t know what to think, and…

It’s the single most terrible thing in the world. Because knowing Jimin, if it were actually him who did it, he would definitely have a very valid and justifiable reason, and it would mean that Jungkook had failed as a friend for not noticing that he’s been harboring such a grievance for the longest time. But how? Jungkook simply doesn’t understand.

He leans against the blue wall, dropping his head into his hands, thinking about life, and why Amanda had chosen to tell him of all people about how her group believes that someone in the class is behind all this. Couldn’t her group have just kept it to themselves and spared him this misery? Because he would have been happier, or at least at peace, like the other blissfully unaware classmates, worrying about only the challenges and how to clear them and how to stay alive, because this… if this isn’t torture, he's not quite sure what is.

He shakes his head, forcing himself to think about something other than that, except then he ends up thinking about Seokjin and Jihope and love and how two people who seemed perfect for each other ended up breaking up. And he thinks about his own involvement in the whole thing, and if he really can’t be blamed for it, even if it were a good thing, and…

“It’s not your fault,” Namjoon says, and for a second Jungkook wonders if it’s Namjoon replying to him in his head because Jungkook accidentally sent him a telepathic message, except it’s Namjoon’s actual voice and it’s close, and Namjoon’s feet enter his line of vision on the floor and he lifts his head up to see Namjoon standing in front of him, dressed in a cosy hoodie and warm sweatpants, hair tousled and eyes sleepy but warm and inviting, and…

For a second, Jungkook feels all his thoughts vanish. Like Jungkook’s superpower is too many thoughts and Namjoon’s is the ability to nullify any superpower. And, as silly as it sounds, all Jungkook feels in the moment is peace .

Chapter Text

Namjoon chuckles a little at Jungkook’s wide-eyed expression before taking a step back to lean against the couch in the middle of the room, and Jungkook takes a moment to look around—so lost in his thoughts he’d been when he’d entered that he’d somehow managed to miss the purple two-seater couch in the centre and the paintings on the walls—the deep blue sea, and a fishing boat in the middle, scenic mountains done in pointillism, a hope-personified heart in shades of black and white and a sunrise in hues of pinks and reds and purples, reflected majestically across the surface of the sea. They’re lovely paintings and he can swear he’s never seen them on the houseboat before—or even in the shop for that matter—so he wonders how they ended up there, especially considering he could’ve sworn the room itself wasn’t here before.

And then he realizes that—

“Wait, where’s the door?”

Namjoon follows Jungkook’s line of sight, previous conversation thread on temporary hold for a moment, and sighs resignedly.

“I figured something like this would happen the moment I entered the room considering it’s not part of the actual layout.”

“What?” Jungkook asks flatly.

“They’re glitches,” Namjoon says in lieu of explanation. “A couple of people have ended up in rooms previously not part of the layout when they took the stairs, and a few even ended up on different floors than the ones they were meant to be on.” He shrugs. “The door will appear in a bit, don’t worry. At least that’s what the guys who’ve experienced this said.”

Jungkook stares at him. “It sounds very Harry Potter-ish.” And then, “You mean to say this has happened to other people before?” Where was I when people were discussing this? He almost asks, wondering exactly why he’s still so out of the loop even though, for the first time in so many years, he’s finally with the class instead of constantly stuck in baseball practice.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing,” Namjoon reassures him, like he can almost read Jungkook’s thoughts, telepathic link or not. “The only reason I know is that Yoongi was complaining about walking up the stairs for at least fifteen minutes only to end up outside on the pier instead of the second floor, and then we asked around about it and a couple of other people mentioned other things that happened to them. None of them have brought up this room so far, though.”

Jungkook pushes himself off the wall to walk towards the couch and settle down on it, because there’s suddenly too many thoughts for his head to handle the weight of them all, and he’d rather be sitting for the next time Namjoon tells him something that apparently most of the class knows but he doesn’t.

“I feel so stupid,” Jungkook grumbles, as Namjoon takes a seat beside him, their thighs touching. “It’s like I’m always out of the loop.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though,” Namjoon says, patting Jungkook’s thigh, and it takes all of Jungkook’s will power to not short-circuit at that and focus on Namjoon’s nice words. It takes him a lot of effort. It’s sort of amazing how Jungkook can still get flustered by a single touch when he’s almost kissed Namjoon multiple times thanks to the challenges and also hugged him way too many times to count.

He wonders if someone could make a research paper out of this very strange phenomenon.

Derailed thoughts aside, he focuses on Namjoon, who’s saying: “It’s nice because it shows that you’re not really involved in the whole gossip network of the class, and that’s just really rare plus a really good thing. Because I feel like everyone’s too invested in each other’s business, and it’s nice seeing someone who’s just interested in their own business and is okay letting everything else go over their head because it’s not related to them.”

“I mean,” Jungkook says, “I get what you’re saying, and I’m happy to be that way except then I also end up missing important things like this, which just…” He scrunches his nose. “Aaah, it’s so annoying. I wonder why Jimin didn’t tell me, though. He usually does tell me things like these.”

“I don’t think he knows either,” Namjoon says. “Like I said, the people who know are mostly people who experienced it and the people really close to them, so it would make sense that Jimin doesn’t know. You’re not the only one.”

And, well, Jungkook has to admit that that does make him feel a little bit better. Especially considering the really sweet words Namjoon had said, even more so when he thinks about all the previous frustration he’d felt at the whole class about the whole Seokjin-Jihope thing and the way he’d felt so alienated. Like he was glad to be different, but he didn’t like thinking about why he’s so different. And…

As aforementioned, Namjoon being around seems to make all the thoughts in his head go a little quieter.

It’s like an honest-to-god superpower.

Which would make sense, because Jungkook can think of no one worthier of being a superhero than Namjoon.

But also… he’s losing the thread again. Shaking his head to sort his thoughts into order, he remembers the first thing Namjoon said when he entered the room.

“You say it’s not my fault they broke up?”

Namjoon pats Jungkook’s thigh once. “I mean, if it were your fault it would be equally mine… or, well…” he tilts his head in consideration, “at least 90% mine, you’d take only 10% of the share, since your chat with Jihope was only the final push.”

“I don’t understand,” Jungkook says, meeting Namjoon’s eyes. “Also 10% is just as bad, especially if it’s the final push—”

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon cuts him off, softly, “I promise you, this was a long time coming anyways. If you want me to be honest, the only reason they even lasted this long was more out of a sense of familiarity than anything else.”

You mean to say they didn’t love each other? Jungkook wants to ask, except he realizes that this would place him in the same category as the rest of his classmates and… he doesn’t really want that. It shouldn’t matter to him if they loved each other or not, it shouldn’t—

“I’ll tell you just this,” Namjoon says, like he can read his thoughts, and Jungkook wonders briefly if the telepathy channel has upgrade options that only Namjoon seems to be privy to or if Jungkook’s just that transparent. “I think they did like each other initially but they got together mostly because it made sense to the class and to people in general and they were fond of each other, but to call it love, especially after their first year together… I’m not quite so sure about that. And besides,” he goes on, “It’s not like I’ve not spoken to Seokjin about this multiple times before, but I suppose it is easier to cling onto something you’re used to as opposed to doing something different, so I’m just glad that they’ve reached this point at least now and I’m glad it’s because of what you told Jihope.”

“Seokjin knows about it?” Jungkook asks, as he mulls over what Namjoon’s told him. 

“Oh, Seokjin just told me that Jihope said she and you spoke about love, and that your definition of love showed her very clearly that what they had wasn’t that.”

And Jungkook… he wonders what to say to that. Wonders if he even needs to reply to it, because how does he explain to Namjoon his own opinion on love without mentioning what Namjoon means to him? How does he do it without Namjoon figuring out what his feelings for him are, laid bare? It’d be almost akin to handing Namjoon a tiger lily and saying please love me .

He wonders, and wonders, and decides to go for a safer option, as cowardly as it might seem, and comments instead: “If that’s the case, I’m glad I could have been of help. I just hope it’s what’s best for them.”

“I think it is,” Namjoon says, with a sort of conviction that has Jungkook feeling more at ease. And then he says, eyes a little mischievous, “I heard you’ve become some sort of love guru, huh? I mean, first Amanda and Romy, then Jihope… and the latest in your list, I’m assuming, is Jordan?”

Jungkook blinks at him, because how ? How does Namjoon know, especially about Jordan? Also, love guru? Him? As if?

“How do you know about Jordan?”

“Ah, so I guessed right,” Namjoon grins, dimples peeking out. “He was waxing poetry about you to Brad in the middle of the hall, like whoa Jeon is the man! So wise, what a bro, so I assumed you must have told him something quite impressive and looking at your recent trends it seemed fitting that you might have given him love advice.”

And that—how does Jungkook even reply to that, when he wasn’t even sure what he was doing each time someone came to him to talk?

“I swear I’m not as great as they seem to be making me out to be,” Jungkook tells Namjoon, in the end, because he has no idea what else to say. Because that’s the truth.

“Well, maybe that’s true for you, but whatever you did, it meant a lot to them.” Namjoon smiles at him.

“I wish I knew what I was doing, though,” Jungkook mumbles, half shy, half serious. “I mean, if I could apply that smartness to myself…” He trails off, thinking about Jimin again, and it’s sort of sad how his thoughts end up a mess again when they were talking about such lovely things, but talking about how he’s helped people and how much people like him reminds him of how much people like Jimin and how much Jimin likes him and just… Jimin. And everything that’s been happening, and… it’s like he finds a way to link everything back to Jimin.

Which would be fine on any ordinary day considering he’s his best friend, but not now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Namjoon asks him tentatively. “It’s okay even if you don’t. We can just keep talking about your love guru title or try to interpret these paintings till the door appears. I’m particularly partial to the one with the sea and the crudely-drawn fishing boats. They look like some sort of fishing charm.”

And maybe it’s that—the offer to talk about something else—that cinches the deal for Jungkook, that makes him think maybe I can tell Namjoon about my suspicions . That, and the knowledge that, out of everyone in the class, the culprit is least likely to be Namjoon because he remembers Taehyung telling him once, a faint memory, that Namjoon, like Jungkook, was very rarely in class due to his debate club duties.

This means that Namjoon, like Jungkook, is not very close to their classmates, besides his best friends, Yoongi and Hoseok and Seokjin, which in turn means that he’s very unlikely to be the mastermind behind all this, since he’s probably just about as out of the loop as Jungkook is.

And, well, Jungkook’s also observed Namjoon over the past four days and seen him approach people, seeking new tentative friendships, not unlike the way Jungkook himself has been acting. Yes, Jungkook’s seen enough to know that it can’t be Namjoon, and also, maybe it’s silly, but it feels like if Namjoon were to be the mastermind behind the whole thing, it wouldn’t be as crude as this but more… sophisticated?

It's a silly thought, one that would probably get him laughed at, but Namjoon gives him classy Mafia Boss vibes, if he’s going to pick tropes from all the fanfic Taehyung enjoys reading. And even though the codes used in this “game” are complex, the entire setup doesn’t seem very classy. It’s ambiguous at best, like whoever is behind this isn’t sure as to what their end goal is, as evidenced by the Squid Game theme mishmashed with a sort of Hallmark vibe… along with every other rom-com trope you could think of.

Come to think of it, it’s also a good argument against Jimin being the culprit, because Jungkook knows Jimin, and Jimin knows himself well. He would never make a game that’s so confusing, almost as if the dev had intense mood swings between two extremes, and…

“Jungkookie?” Namjoon prompts, and Jungkook realizes he’s zoned out too long, thinking about fanfic and Jimin and Namjoon.

He shakes his head, and says, “Slightly hypothetical, but what would you do if you think your best friend might be the culprit behind this whole thing?”

Jungkook doesn’t name names, doesn’t name himself or Jimin, but he can tell that Namjoon understands the moment the word friend leaves Jungkook’s lips who he’s talking about, and it fills Jungkook with a sense of dread, because… if Namjoon immediately finds this relatable, then isn’t that just further proof that Jimin’s been suspicious? Because Jungkook is also best friends with Taehyung, right? So how can Namjoon tell that he’s agonizing over Jimin and not Taehyung, unless Namjoon has been harboring suspicions after the epic Lachimolala performance himself?

It fills him with dread, but what helps is how Namjoon doesn’t mention Jimin’s name even after that. What helps is how Namjoon says, not calling out Jungkook in the least, “In that situation, I think I would talk to him about it.”

“But what if I end up hurting his feelings because I’m being suspicious of him, when I shouldn’t because he’s my best friend—”

“I think if he’s your best friend, he’ll understand,” Namjoon cuts him off, patting his arm. His eyes are warm when they meet Jungkook’s, comforting as they are understanding, and they offer Jungkook the courage to keep talking.

To admit, “I’m scared.” And then, “I hate this so much. I keep thinking it can’t be him but the signs point towards him, and I just… hate it so much.”

“I think if it troubles you so much, and you would rather not confront him, which I wouldn’t blame you for not doing,” Namjoon says thoughtfully, “I suggest you just ignore all of it. Half the class is investigating anyways, so you can just go with the flow and not overthink everything. Continue believing in your friend, and,” he pauses again, “If it helps, he’s my friend too and I don’t think it’s him either, even if the evidence seems to point towards him, so just take each day as it goes, and stop worrying about this. No one’s going to point fingers at you for not contributing when you do so much in the challenges anyways.”

And his suggestion… it’s tempting in an odd sort of a way. It’s also relieving, because to just stop looking at everyone with suspicion… it’s tempting. Of course, Jungkook knows that he’ll still end up thinking about it because how do you not think about the person who created the situation you’re in when you’re in the situation? But if he ignores it…

“If you can’t stand keeping quiet, just talk to him, seriously,” Namjoon says, when the silence stretches a little too long. “I mean, I understand the hesitance, but seriously, talk to him. I think, one way or the other, you’ll feel infinitely better. I mean,” Namjoon catches his bottom lip in between his teeth for a moment, “I’ll be honest with you, I suspected Seokjin for a minute there. He’s clever, knows a lot about everyone, and is definitely well-connected enough to hire a hacker.  I think what ate at me was why he would ever do something like this and what I would do if it were actually him, and my only answer to it was that… the Seokjin I know wouldn’t do anything like this without a proper reason. There has to be some sort of rationality behind it, and I… spoke to him about it, and—”

Namjoon pauses here again.

“You could say that, of course, talking to him doesn’t actually achieve anything, because what if Seokjin lies to me ? But I think, at that point, it’s only a matter of how much you trust that person and how much you trust your bond with them. I think, when I asked him about it, I did it with the belief that, in the event that he were lying to me, he would have a reason for it too, and that at the end of the day, I choose to believe him above everything and everyone else, and…” he takes a deep breath, his eyes deep and dark and understanding as they meet Jungkook’s own, “Maybe it’s foolish but I think I’d rather be a fool in this situation than anything else. Of course,” he concludes, eyes trained on the sunset painting, “What you choose to do is up to you, and no one will think anything lesser of you for any of it. This is just me and who I am and what I chose.”

And… they’re good words. Jungkook can’t say he knows exactly what to do now or that he feels any less confused, but… it’s like he was once lost in a stormy sea, and now he’s still lost, but at least he can see the faintest beam of a lighthouse in the distance. He’s still got to traverse choppy waters, but at least he has a sort of a light to guide him, a light that has him feeling less like he’s floundering all alone, and more like he can figure this out, and that no matter what his choice is, it’s still okay.

“Thank you,” Jungkook says, gathering enough courage to place his hand upon Namjoon’s, where it’s resting on his thigh, and squeezing it. “Seriously. Also, I don’t know why people come to me when they could go to you for advice, because you’re seriously the coolest.”

And Jungkook’s graced with the vision of Namjoon blushing a pretty pink, eyes scrunching into little smiles and dimples deepening on his cheeks. The loveliest vision, even as the door to the room appears, and it’s a smile that he carries with him for a bit, as they leave the room and he gets swept into Taehyung and Jimin’s worried arms, and Namjoon slips away, but not before mouthing, You’re okay , and Jungkook thinks, at least at that moment, as he lets his best friends fuss over him, that he’s okay.

For now, he’s okay.

Sure, he’ll eventually have to figure out what to do about the whole situation with Jimin, and tomorrow there’ll be a fresh set of challenges and no one will know what’ll happen— he might have to take part in the fifth challenge, or Jimin or Namjoon or Taehyung might do it and he’ll have to watch them go and it’s just as bad—a thousand things could happen, but at that moment, everything’s okay.

Chapter Text

Jungkook dreams about Jimin that night. It’s not a good dream.

Must be the guilt gnawing at him, he thinks. The guilt from even daring to suspect his best friend, who has been nothing but supportive and loyal. Yes, Jimin’s great at mafia games, but tons of people are good at mafia games. And yes, Jimin failed spectacularly at what the class has fondly dubbed the lachimolala game, but surely there are tons of people who are bad at that too? It doesn’t mean anything.

“I don’t understand,” the Jimin in Jungkook’s dream says to him, gaze laced with so much hurt and disappointment. “I would never for one second think you’d be some evil criminal mastermind, because you’re my best friend. Yet you suspect me? How could you?”

Jungkook sits there, in his dream, in the coffee shop booth they’re both inexplicably seated in, holding a cup of hot cocoa each. Jimin stares at him, eyes wide and soft and red-rimmed, and Jungkook fumbles for a response, but finds nothing.

And as he is jolted awake by some classmate singing loudly outside the door, he realizes that, indeed, there’s no way he can justify his suspicions, because in the end it isn’t even about Jimin. It’s more about himself, about how he can’t stop assuming the worst, as if that would protect him from eventual disappointment in a way— the worst-case scenario won’t hurt me that much, because I already knew it would happen! And the worst-case scenario, in this situation, is the person he trusts the most being the culprit. It would be devastating if it were Jimin. It would be even more devastating than if Namjoon were the culprit. That’s how devastating it would be.

But that’s silly, Jungkook tells himself. Just because his ego is trying to protect him by attempting to convince him that the worst-case scenario is true, it doesn’t mean that he has to give in and allow it to ruin his mood… and his relationship with his best friend.

He heads to breakfast with his roommates, trying to shake the lingering remnants of melancholy out of his head. He doesn’t have much luck, however, for right as he’s ready to bite into what looks like the fluffiest and toastiest loaf of bread, Jang Two-Sock plops himself down next to him and asks, good-naturedly: “Hey, how was your little chat with Namjoon in the secret room last night?”

Jungkook’s first reaction is ugh, again? More useless gossip? Can’t a growing boy enjoy his bread in peace? And it’s Jang Two-Sock the class clown out of all people. If the class clown knows about it, he could only assume that most of the class does too. His little chat with Namjoon last night was an intimate one. Not intimate in the, you know, kiss-kiss-fall-in-love kind of way, but they spoke about feelings and feelings were intimate things.

But wait. Jungkook’s brain, still foggy from the unsatisfying sleep he had, suddenly snaps awake.

He puts down his bread and leans in to grab Two-Sock by the shirt. “Who did you hear about that from?”

Because no one’s supposed to know about the secret art gallery room. Jungkook didn’t know about it himself until he was in it. He didn’t tell anyone about the room afterwards, and he assumed that Namjoon didn’t either. By the time they got back to their room last night it was very late and most of their roommates were sound asleep.

And therefore, it was most likely that whoever knew about the two of them being in the secret room last night was someone who had access to the back end of this whole thing. Someone who could monitor everyone’s movements discreetly.

The culprit.

Now, Jungkook understands that the culprit probably isn’t stupid enough to go about broadcasting the fact that they have insider knowledge, but who else could’ve known, besides the culprit?

“Who told you?” He demands, barely noticing that he’s got poor Two-Sock in a chokehold.

“Uh, um, chill, okay? I overheard someone talking, that’s all… no idea who,” Two-Sock stammers, face flushed. “Calm your tits. I didn’t know Namjoon was such a big deal to you, I’ll stop joke-shipping you guys if you don’t like—”

Jungkook could’ve faceplanted on the dining table in frustration. “This isn’t about Namjoon!” Like, of course Namjoon is a big deal to him, but it’s not the point here. “You do realize that we’re stuck in this stupid death game and whoever knows about secret rooms very possibly has insider knowledge? I’m trying to catch a criminal here, not tracing the origin of a rumor!”

Two-Sock pales, as Jungkook releases him from the collar and slumps back into his seat. “Oh. Oh… sorry, I didn’t think about it that way—”

Jungkook sighs, feeling more tired than ever before. “Scott got his head bitten off by a partridge in a corset, Two-Sock. There are more important things to worry about than gossip.”

Two-Sock chews on his lip, eyes downcast. “I know…” he whispers. “I… I know that. I’m sorry.”

Jungkook screws his eyes shut, frustrated. He didn’t mean to be harsh, and he knows that everyone processes traumatic events in different ways. Two-Sock probably does it by attempting to laugh it all away. It’s his way of coping, and Jungkook knows that he’s probably just trying to cheer everyone up with frivolous shipping jokes, in the way he knows best.

At least they hadn’t caused a scene in the dining room, Jungkook thinks to himself in relief. They’re seated at a table in the corner, the class is loud, and the exchange had been mostly quiet, even if Jungkook did have Two-Sock in a chokehold at one point.

“Sorry for reacting like that,” he tells Two-Sock, voice much gentler. “Just… if you know anything about who exactly started this rumor about Namjoon and me being in a secret room last night, you need to tell me now.”

Jungkook feels like a detective in a novel. If this were a murder mystery, he thinks, Two-Sock would probably end up being killed later, so that he wouldn’t be able to speak what he knew. Luckily this is not a murder mystery… and it seems to him that Two-Sock really doesn’t know anything, which would make killing him pointless.

“I really have no clue, I just overheard when I was passing by the conference room around twenty minutes ago. The person was whispering so I couldn’t even tell if it was a guy or girl.”

“…Okay.” Jungkook flashes Two-Sock an uncertain smile. He’s got a time and a location, at least, which means that he’d be able to gather alibis if he puts his mind to it. “Let me know if you think of anything.”

Two-Sock promises solemnly that he’ll let Jungkook know, and the two of them finish their breakfast in peace, amicably discussing their favorite types of jams.

After breakfast is cleaned up, the class congregates in the conference room to receive their challenges for the day. The once cold, bare space has become gradually cozier over the past few days, the artsy kids have doodled smiley faces and animals (NO birds) all over the whiteboard, some have carried cushions over from the other rooms and claimed their own swivel chairs, and Cookie Monster has made sure that there are boxes of snacks on every table.

It’s funny, Jungkook thinks, how it doesn’t take that long for people to fall into a routine. It’s only been the fifth day and the class is acting like they’ve been doing this forever.

This is evidenced by how remarkably calm everyone is as the details of the first few challenges are revealed. They’re all used to it now. One one-person aiming challenge—they’re sending Oh Yoonjin, that’s already been decided. One two-person challenge—they’re sending Vhope and Vmon, that’s already been decided too. One four-person lachimolala challenge—they’ve settled on sending Jihope, Karen, Cookie Monster, and Two-Sock during their discussion on the previous day. These are all fine.

But the details to the third challenge, the one with the three hens… it’s certainly different from what they’ve all gotten accustomed to.

DAY 5 CHALLENGE 3

[3 French Hens]

Put your thinking caps on.

Challenge Duration: 2hrs

Required Person(s): 3

Challenge Type: Stealth

“Two hours?” Jungkook says, right as Taehyung, sitting next to him, says “Stealth?”

“It used to be ‘puzzles’, I think, the challenge type,” Taehyung says.

“And the challenges have always been under ten minutes. Two hours is a long time.” Jungkook grimaces, attempting to imagine the three classmates they’ve decided to send—Hopekook, Inseol, and Britknee—moving together, trying to be stealthy, for two hours straight.

It sounds like a disaster in the making. Hopekook is normally quiet, too busy reading or coding or fiddling with his gadgets to talk. Inseol and Britknee, however, are the type who really enjoy the sound of their own voices.

As if reading his mind, Seokjin turns to the three. “You guys originally volunteered because we thought this was going to be a puzzle challenge. Now that the challenge type is no longer puzzles, you’re free to pull out, we won’t fault you for that. It’s completely understandable.”

He’s being gracious, of course, offering them a non-embarrassing way out, but Inseol immediately takes offense.

“I know what you’re thinking, loser. You’ve been seeking an opportunity to sabotage me and now you’ve found your chance, huh? No way I’m stepping aside for you to hog the spotlight. Whatever the challenge type, I’m still going and getting my perks, thank you very much, clown emoji, crying-laughing emoji.”

“Did he really say ‘clown emoji, crying-laughing emoji’ out loud?” Sugar Cookie whispers in awe. Jungkook snorts into the cupcake Lee Jinmin had handed him.

“I already said I’m gonna do the challenge, so I’m gonna do the challenge. It’s my big moment, I’m not gonna back out,” Britknee declares. “If Karen’s doing a challenge, I must do one too. I don’t want to be one-upped.” She locks eyes with Karen and the two start a very intense glaring match. Jungkook has never been quite sure how exactly Britknee and Karen view each other. They’re into the same things, same hair, same designer bags, same press-on nails, but they seem more like nemeses most of the time instead of good-natured rivals.

“Well…” Hopekook opens his mouth and closes it again. Jungkook understands his hesitation. If he were in Hopekook’s position, he would certainly want to get as far away as possible from this trainwreck of a situation. But, the thing is, if he taps out, someone will have to replace him, and considering their selfless nature, most likely that someone would end up being one of Jungkook’s friends. As much as Jungkook would hate being stuck in a stealth challenge with Inseol and Britknee, he doesn’t think it fair to pass on such a responsibility to someone he cares about.

Hopekook takes a deep breath and finally mutters, with the air of a martyr: “It’s okay, I’ll still do it.”

“Why does it look like it pains you so much to be in a team with me? You ought to be flattered, I’m way out of your league, nerd,” Britknee complains.

“Oh, no, it’s not that, I’m just pained because I like puzzles, but it turned out to be a stealth challenge instead of a puzzle challenge,” Hopekook quickly explains. Britknee turns away with a curt nod, seemingly satisfied.

“I wonder what they’ll be doing in the stealth challenge,” Taehyung comments to Jungkook. “Like, if they’re holding chickens, it’ll be hard to keep silent. They can’t exactly shut the chickens up, they tend to cluck whenever they want to. That’s what chickens do.”

“Maybe they’ll be, uh, infiltrating an alien base to find the chickens in the boxes, and once they get the boxes they’ll be teleported back here? So the clucking won’t be an issue,” Jungkook suggests, taking a stab in the dark.

“Maybe the boxes will be soundproofed,” Jimin adds. Jungkook smiles at him, trying to push all thoughts of dream Jimin and his wounded expression out of his head, but not quite succeeding. Jimin, perceptive as he is, notices that something is off right away.

“Jungkookie? Is everything all right?” He asks, in a gentle whisper, always the considerate one. Jungkook feels instantly ashamed of himself. He wishes he could talk to Jimin right now, admit to his own paranoid suspicions and apologize, but this is a conversation that’ll have to wait till later, for the details of the fifth challenge have just appeared on the screen.

DAY 5 CHALLENGE 5

[5 Golden Rings]

Love is a maze damn but you is amaze.

Challenge Duration: 3hrs

Required Person(s): 5

Challenge Type: Maze

“Oh wow, a three-hour challenge? And a maze? This looks fun,” Seokjin comments, and the class launches into a lengthy discussion, which Jimin happily joins, but not before squeezing Jungkook’s hand discreetly and saying “you can tell me what’s troubling you after this, okay?”

Jungkook doesn’t think he deserves Jimin.

After much deliberation, the class comes to the consensus that they’ll deal with the three shorter challenges before lunch and leave the two-hour and three-hour ones for the afternoon. No one can really tell what “maze” entails, but it makes sense that in a maze the five participants may have to split up to cover more ground, so it’ll be better to send people who have a telepathic channel, namely Jimin and Taehyung, and Jungkook and Namjoon. Seokjin and Jihope have a telepathic channel as well, but considering that they’ve just broken up, no one has the heart to bring up their connection. Besides, Jihope is already participating in the lachimolala challenge.

“I don’t mind going as the fifth person of this little group, though,” Seokjin says. “I’m friends with all four and we’ll work well together.”

Jungkook can’t help feeling warm inside at the comment—that Seokjin, cool, popular Seokjin, considers him a friend.

And he’ll be going into a challenge with Namjoon again! His heart leaps. This time it’s different from the previous day’s challenge because, well, first, back when they had headed into the two-person challenge together yesterday, both of them were under the impression that they’d be dying. Not saying that they’ll survive for sure this time, but at least it’s not a 99.9% mortality rate. Second, this time Jungkook will have his best friends and wingmen by his side providing moral support. And third, let’s be honest here—as intimidating as a three-hour maze challenge seems, he’s gotta admit that sounds fun. Exciting. Stimulating. And to get to do it with Namjoon on his side? Dream come true.

He can’t wait.

But first, they have to sit through the other challenges. The class chatters animatedly over all the newest developments, speculating on potential maze designs, as they head to the lounge and claim their spots in front of the TV. For a few moments, Jungkook actually feels excited about the day’s events. It’s a good thing, he thinks, not having to be consumed by dread like in the last few days. Today, he doesn’t have to worry about his inability to keep tissue papers afloat in the air, or what will happen after he fails. Today, he doesn’t have to worry about watching his best friends or Namjoon going through a challenge, because he’ll be right there in the challenge with them.

Like, him being right there in the challenge with them doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be safe, of course, but at least he’ll be able to do something if he sees his favorite people in danger instead of sitting there, helpless, in front of the TV.

Jungkook feels so comforted by this knowledge that he spontaneously takes a handful of popcorn from Lee Jinmin, official class popcorn distributor.

The first challenge goes as well as the class expected. Oh Yoonjin, a tall, athletic girl, is tasked to hit twelve partridges with balls, just like in the previous aim challenges. Unlike in the previous challenges, however, she must hit the balls with a racket. This is significantly harder than throwing, at least in Jungkook’s opinion, but Yoonjin happens to have been playing tennis since she was two. The challenge is a walk in a park for her.

Vhope and Vmon manage to pass the second challenge with flying colors as well, as do the ragtag four-person group in charge of the lachimolala challenge. The class discusses their prizes over lunch. Oh Yoonjin has received a tennis racket that produces electricity—kind of like those mosquito zappers, but much more powerful. Vhope and Vmon, besides their shiny new telepathy channel, each ask for a pair of sneakers. Vhope’s allow him to run at twice his usual speed for thirty minutes straight without tiring out, and Vmon’s allow him to walk on all kinds of surfaces, including walls and ceilings.

The class is quick to notice that, for the lachimolala challenge, the prizes have greatly diminished in usefulness, which is kind of disappointing. For both the four who went today and the four who went on the previous day, each participant only received a small candy that’s supposed to make whoever pops it in their mouth extra attractive, effective till it melts entirely. Two-sock, who went both times, has two candies, though considering the candies’ limited functions he doesn’t see it as anything to write home about.

“Can’t be helped, I suppose,” Cookie Monster says, grinning, as he sprinkles sugar lavishly over his large tray of freshly-baked cookies. “It’s not a very difficult challenge, so I suppose the rewards can’t be too spectacular.”

Jimin pouts. “It was very difficult for me !”

Everyone laughs. This time Jungkook laughs too, which he supposes is an improvement. He still feels guilty for ever thinking the worst of Jimin, but it’s his silly ego trying to protect him, he tells himself. Haha, poor little ego, I know you’re doing your best to prepare me for the worst! He repeats in his head. But there’s no need. I trust Jimin. He’s my best friend.

The jovial mood lasts all the way into the afternoon, as the class sends Inseol, Britknee, and Hopekook on their stealth journey, cheering and shouting encouragements as their raft disappears into the third tunnel.

And then everyone falls sullen. Because even though nobody wants to be judgmental towards their own classmates and their chances of success, this trio is honestly… worrying. Amanda’s group, which Hopekook is part of, looks especially anxious. They’re huddled by themselves in a corner, talking in hurried, subdued bursts, as if they can’t quite believe themselves for allowing their friend to do this. Jungkook understands, though, why they didn’t speak up. As students, they’ve always been taught to be kind, to give people the benefit of the doubt, and openly claiming that sending Inseol and Britknee is not a good idea would be really rude, and who wants to be rude, right?

Maybe we should’ve been rude, Jungkook thinks, when the three appear onscreen and the first thing Britknee does, in a stealth challenge, is to exclaim loudly “oh wow! Look at all the pretty lights!”

“Be quiet, idiot,” Inseol snaps, equally loudly.

“Who are you calling an idiot now?” Britknee shrieks. It would have been funny, Jungkook thinks, to see Yoongi sag dramatically against the wall in frustration and Son Namjin, usually a chill guy, spin in circles around the room before crashing into a wall, if it were under normal circumstances. But this is not normal circumstances.

Luckily for everyone involved, the challenge hasn’t actually started yet. Right on cue, the melodic voice speaks: “Welcome, participants, to the third challenge of the fifth day. This is a stealth challenge. As you can see, you are currently standing in a plaza in a small village. Your task is to find three hens within two hours and return to this same plaza with them. The two hours start… now! Good luck!”

The plaza is, as Britknee had so aptly observed, adorned with the loveliest colorful lights, red, yellow, blue, green, purple. As it is night, these lamps of all shapes and sizes are the only source of illumination. For a second, Jungkook allows himself to imagine standing under these lights with Namjoon, watching the warm glow brighten up his ruddy cheeks.

Namjoon, who’s standing next to Jungkook—funny how this has become so natural now, the two of them standing next to each other in a crowd—is apparently thinking about something completely different. “This plaza is too… bare-bones. Not a lot of places to hide,” he says, dismayed.

He’s right. From an aesthetic perspective, the plaza is gorgeous. Stealth-wise, though, it’s not very ideal. The colorful lamps are hung in the air, extending from street post to street post. There are no pillars, no trashcans or potted plants lining the walls. There are a few cottages, quaint wooden ones, but they are bare-bones as well and the doors are all closed. It certainly doesn’t seem very wise to attempt to open them when they’re trying to keep a low profile.

To sum up, if someone comes into this plaza this very moment, the three will be busted.

On the screen, Hopekook pulls his two fellow classmates close and whispers: “I get lost very easily but you seem to be good at directions, Inseol, so can you lead the way? And Britknee, Amanda told me once that you’re very good at noticing things, so I hope we can rely on you to find the chickens for us.”

As out-of-character as it is for Hopekook, he seems to have made the right decision by stepping down and pretending to be useless. At least Inseol and Britknee seem to be gratified and agreeably set off down the first road they see without further ado. Inseol even pats Hopekook on the back and says “hey, it’s fine to be bad at directions, Zoro from One Piece sucks at it too, bro”, which is the nicest comment Jungkook’s ever heard Inseol make.

“Smart move. If Hopekook had tried to take charge, the two others would most likely never shut up about it,” Namjoon comments.

In the corner, Amanda shakes her head. “Can’t believe he’s got to find the chickens and babysit two idiots at the same time.”

Jungkook almost expects Inseol and Britknee’s friends to get indignant and defend them, but then he remembers that neither of them seems to have close friends. They’re generally able to insert themselves into groups, but they’re not anyone’s first pick. He feels kind of sad for them—at least he knows that Jimin and Taehyung always have his back.

And then the trio turns a corner and Jungkook clean forgets to be sad. Because running over in their direction are three men, each holding one plump, yellow hen.

And they’re being chased by a group of very angry uniform-clad officers, holding guns.

“Out of the way! Out of the way!” The officers shout, barely sparing the trio a second glance. “Stop right there, hen thieves!”

The three hen thieves are fast runners, but it doesn’t help their situation much because more police officers have appeared from the opposite direction, also holding weapons. They’re soon cornered, and one of them attempts to crawl behind the three very confused students, as if that would keep him out of sight. Britknee lets out a small, terrified squeal, but the officers pay her no mind at all. “Students, hm? Get out of the way, we don’t want to hurt any civilians.”

Hopekook and Inseol each grab Britknee by one hand and they drag her away from the scene, just around the corner, far enough to not get caught in the crossfires and close enough so that they can continue to watch and see what happens.

“That’s a relief,” Hoseok comments. “Looks like the police don’t see them as intruders. As long as they’re not holding any hens, the officers won’t come after them.”

“Yeah. But what happens if the officers spot them holding hens?” Lee Jinmin wonders, popping another popcorn in her mouth.

Hoseok gestures at the screen. “Well, we’re about to find out.”

They find out. A police officer raises his gun and shoots one of the hen thieves right through the head.

“Shit,” someone says. Jungkook can’t tell who it is, but he wholeheartedly agrees with the sentiment.

“Geez, it’s just a hen! Did you really have to do that?” Inseol exclaims, while Hopekook and Britknee hasten to slap on their best I don’t know this guy face.

The policeman standing the closest to them frowns. “Hens are royal birds,” he says. “Hen thievery is of course punishable by death.”

“But—” Inseol begins, always up for a good argument over ethics. He doesn’t get any further, fortunately, because a deafening wailing sound suddenly blares, lasting all of ten seconds before fading out.

“More hen thieves? Goodness gracious!” exclaims one of the police officers.

“Hurry, we must catch them!” cries another officer. A third officer raises her gun and calmly executes the two remaining hen thieves, who had been attempting to sneak away, and the entire squad rushes off, taking the three stolen hens with them.

“Aw, I was hoping that they’d leave the hens and our guys could just take those for an easy victory,” Seokjin laments.

Jungkook was secretly hoping the same, that the officers would leave the hens and his classmates could just grab them from the corpses and call it a day. Because the alternative doesn’t sound very promising.

When they find hens, a siren will sound. And when the siren sounds, the police officers will come. And when the police officers come, they shoot.

The village may be pretty, but this challenge is deadly to the core.

Chapter Text

How would he tackle such a challenge, Jungkook wonders, if he were in the place of Hopekook, Inseol and Britknee? What would he do? What would Namjoon do?

“They’ll be okay,” Namjoon says, as if sensing Jungkook’s nervousness. “No one will come after them as long as they’re not holding hens, so they can use most of the two hours to figure out the quickest route from the hens to the plaza, and also look for hiding spots along the way. They don’t even need to be quiet.”

“Yeah, they’ll be okay, they gotta be,” Amanda agrees from her spot in the corner, staunchly refusing to think about the alternative. “Hopekook games all the time, and this is basically a game, right? One of those games where he has to lead his squad from one spot to another while hiding from aliens… XCOM7, I think, that’s the one he’s playing on his tablet. Pretty much the same thing.”

It’s not quite the same thing, Jungkook thinks. XCOM is turn-based, and the challenge is not. The police officers are not going to wait for the challengers to take their turns before firing their guns. And in XCOM, the enemies can miss—here, it seems, the officers have had a 100% hit rate so far.

But he’s got to be optimistic here, Jungkook supposes. Even if his hand, currently rested on the back of the couch, is trembling slightly. But maybe it’s because of the air conditioning. Yes, must be the air conditioning. It’s too cold. He’ll need to adjust the temperature later, once they get a commercial break—

Oh wait, there’s no commercial break. This is not a TV drama. Jungkook wants to whack himself on the head for being silly, but then he feels a warm hand cover his own—Namjoon’s. He turns, to meet his long-time crush’s warm gaze.

“It’ll be okay,” Namjoon whispers. And it gives Jungkook the courage to keep watching, at least for just a little longer.

The trio on the TV screen are exploring the village now, still moving as a unit. The village is not too big, which is good, and the civilians don’t seem to mind them being loud, which is also good, because Inseol and Britknee are yelling at each other nonstop as they go. Hopekook calmly opts to ignore them both and focuses on studying the surroundings instead. Being strategic, he does not tell the other two about his discoveries and instead, well, asks them about it, so that it wouldn’t seem like he’s trying to take charge.

“What do you think those are?” He wonders, pretending to be confused. “Look. Those big wooden thingies standing in front of the houses. Not all of the houses have them, though.”

“Looks like wardrobes, judging from how they have doors,” Britknee says. “They’re big, but not half as big as mine at home.”

“Clothes, clothes, that’s all you ever think about!” Inseol rolls his eyes. “Girls. What do you expect? Also, you’re not as smart as they say, Hopekook. They’re clearly coffins, standing upright.”

“No way they’re coffins. They look like they can hold at least two people,” Britknee refutes.

“Well, maybe they like burying two people together at once here. You know, different customs for different cultures. Not like you’d know anything about different cultures—too busy taking selfies for Insta while traveling to appreciate the local traditions, I bet.”

He would have gone further with his tirade, except a friendly elderly passer-by butts in: “Ah, young man, those are not coffins, no! They’re trash boxes. We put our trash boxes out when they’re full and the trash collectors will come and empty them! You must not be from around here. How nice! It’s rare for us to get visitors.”

Hopekook takes the initiative to chat with the old man, not wanting the other two to scare him off. “Yes, we’re just visiting. By the way, we heard that hens are a royal animal in your village. That’s very interesting! We don’t have any hens where we come from!”

“What? We certainly do—” Britknee begins, but Inseol steps on her foot and they start arguing once more.

“Yeah, no hens where we come from,” Hopekook continues, determined to not be sidetracked. “So we’re very curious about them! Where can we see some hens?”

The old man chuckles. “Ah, that’s understandable. Not many villages are blessed with such amazing creatures as hens! Lucky you, I happen to have some hens at home. Come, come, let me show you!”

The class collectively lets out a small ahh . Good thing the system isn’t as cruel as it seems.

“This is so stressful to watch,” Taehyung mumbles and sways to the side in a dramatic display of exhaustion, leaning entirely into Jimin, who happily supports him with an adoring giggle. Jungkook wonders what it would feel like, to do that with Namjoon. He can be either the leaner or the supporter, he doesn’t mind.

The three classmates on screen trot obediently behind the old man, who doesn’t stop talking about his little grandson and how proud he is of him. “Seven years old, always gets top scores in his class!” he raves. “When we say, boy, go buy us some soy sauce, he’d hop on his little bike and pedal all the way to the store and be right back with what we wanted. Oh, my pride and joy!”

Inseol, being the way he is, makes several comments about how there are children starving in this world and buying soy sauce is nothing to boast about, while Britknee launches into an excited speech about how she, as a five-year-old, would shop for the entire family with her pocket money. The old man doesn’t seem to have even heard them, though, much to everyone’s relief. Hopekook, meanwhile, is focused on mapping out an escape route, which they’ll need as soon as they get their hands on the hens.

They reach a small cottage in no time—small cottage, yes, but huge backyard. There are a great number of chickens, all of them plump and well-fed and running about making chicken noises. The old man graciously leads the three into the enclosure. Jungkook can already imagine Hopekook calculating the quickest course of escape. He’s doing the same himself—the fence is jumpable, he thinks, though Britknee may have some trouble with it, she’s never been very athletic. They could also get out from the enclosure gate, but that will take approximately ten more seconds than jumping. Hmm…

“I’ve never touched a chicken before. They look so soft!” Hopekook says, feigning utter delight. “May I hold one?”

“Oh, sure, go ahead,” the old man says before immediately continuing with his narrative of his grandson’s first school trip to the waterfalls and how all the parents who went said his grandson was the best-behaved.

Hopekook picks up a chicken and motions for the two others to do the same. The old man, blissfully unaware of their intentions, shows them how to hold them. “My grandson, you know, the chickens are so fond of him, they’d let him hold ‘em and stroke ‘em while he does his homework. They’re doing a lot of writing exercises at his school, you know, his teachers always say his handwriting is impeccable. You hear that? Impeccable! Ah, you should come on inside and have some tea and meet my precious boy. He can show you all his art. He’s good at that, the boy, kid always had an eye for colors—”

And that’s when the three, now each with a chicken in hand, simply stop listening and just make a break for it.

The siren sounds immediately.

“They can still make it,” Hoseok says, not taking his eyes off the screen, “it’s not too far, as long as Hopekook has the route memorized—”

He does. With Hopekook leading the way, the three breeze through barely lit alleys big and small, down the stairs, up the stairs, over a bridge, under a bridge, around a corner. The plaza is in sight now—but so are the cops, who are catching up at an alarming speed.

Hopekook is the first to step onto the plaza, panting hard as he holds his chicken high, as if there were a chicken committee up there in the sky he wants to impress. Inseol staggers onto the scene next, a very ruffled Britknee right behind him, miraculously managing to keep up despite wearing sandals.

They all hold up their chickens. The audience holds their breath… and then the melodic voice speaks.

“You have only brought two chickens.”

“What? These are clearly three chickens!” Inseol yells, no longer bothering to keep his voice down now that the police know where they are anyway.

“Those are clearly three chickens!” Jimin shouts in agreement, chin nestled on Taehyung’s shoulder.

“In this village, chickens are yellow. One of you is holding a green bird, which is known to the villagers as a goose. You would have known this if you had gone inside for tea and talked to the grandson, who loves colors.”

“Too late for that now,” Inseol grumbles. “What the heck do you expect us to do? Just stand here and wait for the cops to shoot us?”

“All participants must have a chicken. Should you manage to elude the police, you may still go back and steal another chicken as long as you make it back before your two hours are up. Alternatively, if one of the participants is eliminated, you will also be able to return to your ship as the two remaining persons will be in possession of one chicken each.”

No, wait, what?

Jimin gasps. “They’re making them kill each other.”

“They don’t have to, they can still find a way to shake off the police officers and steal another hen,” Taehyung whispers, resolutely trying to avoid looking at the screen.

“You’re not wrong, but this is Inseol we’re talking about,” Romy comments, darkly.

Inseol, who’s the unlucky one holding the green bird, lets go of his “goose” and launches himself onto Britknee, seeing the smaller girl as a much easier target than tall, wiry Hopekook. Britknee refuses to go down without a fight and stabs Inseol with her press-on nails—would have poked him straight in the eye if he hadn’t been wearing glasses. The two begin to roll on the ground in a literal brawl to the death, though Britknee has a clear disadvantage, having only one free hand (she’s clutching her poor yellow chicken tight with her other one).

“I’m not going to watch this,” Jungkook hears Jihope declare as she walks out of the room. Several others murmur their agreement, though they’re all peeking through their fingers. Relatable, Jungkook thinks. He doesn’t want to watch either, but… but he needs to know what happens next. Needs to know.

On the screen, Hopekook jumps in to try to break the fight, not an easy feat as he’s holding a bawk-bawking chicken, a yellow one, and he certainly isn’t going to let go of the life-saving animal.

“Guys, don’t fight! The police are coming!”

His admonishing falls upon deaf ears, and for good reason, considering that Inseol and Britknee are in an either-you-die-or-I-die situation and barely have the capacity to register anything else besides their opponent.

“Guys!” Hopekook whisper-shouts. “Guys, we can hide, wait for the police to leave, and go back and get another chicken. No one has to die!”

The two continue to ignore him, so Hopekook marches right over to a trash box standing on the plaza and yanks the door open. The inhabitants of a nearby cottage must have placed it there earlier for the garbage collectors and have not yet brought it back into the house. It’s smelly but the perfect hiding place.

“Hurry! Over here!” He gestures, and Inseol and Britknee finally take notice. Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, the two half-crawl-half-stumble their way to Hopekook, the fight suddenly forgotten.

“Thank goodness,” someone in the class remarks. Jungkook finally lets out the breath he was holding. Yes, the challenge wouldn’t have been so cruel after all. It’s offered the participants multiple ways out and keeps not-so-subtly nudging them in the right direction. It sent them the old man and his grandson in the form of an important hint, and also placed the trash box on the previously empty plaza so that the students would have a hiding place, which would allow them a second chance. It’s quite generous, really—

“But that thing can only hold two people,” Namjoon says, next to Jungkook’s ear.

Oh shit.

“Hey, this can only hold two people!” Britknee exclaims, even though she’s already standing inside the box, clearly planning to be one of the two. She’s still holding tightly onto her chicken, gotta give her kudos for that.

Judging from the shouts, the officers will be rounding the corner soon. And to everyone’s shock and utter awe, Hopekook simply shoves Inseol inside the trash box, whispers “don’t make a sound!” and closes the door on his two classmates.

“What’s he doing? Oh my god, is he sacrificing himself?” Karen screams from across the lounge.

“He’s holding a chicken. The officers gon’ shoot him for sure,” Cookie Monster says, clutching his cookie so tight that it’s crumbling in his hand. He doesn’t notice.

“He’ll be fine, he’s got something up his sleeve, I know it, Kookhwi is smarter than that,” Jeon Sope claims, reverting to Hopekook’s actual name in the moment of tension.

Hopekook is, indeed, smarter than that. He sprints to another corner of the plaza, a small distance away, just as the police show up, breathless and harried from all the chicken thefts they’ve been stopping. They see Hopekook almost immediately, standing there with his chicken, under the colorful lights.

To be specific, under a string of blue lights.

His yellow chicken now looks green.

“Oh hey, student holding a goose!” one of the officers greets him. “Have you seen any chicken thieves around? Witnesses say that they’ve come around here.”

Hopekook points in a random direction. “They went that way, I think.”

The officer gives him a friendly pat on the back. “Thanks, young student! Take good care of your nice goose. Let’s go, friends!”

Jungkook is about to heave a sigh of relief as the officers set off to the random alley Hopekook pointed at… when someone sneezes from inside the trash box. Can’t really blame them, it must be stinky in there, but still. Jungkook can’t tell who it was, but it doesn’t matter anymore, he supposes.

“Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck…” he chants under his breath, as the police officers all whirl around at once and have the trash box surrounded. Hopekook pales under the blue lights.

“I thought you said they went this way?” The officer taking the lead asks him.

“My vision is really bad,” Hopekook quickly explains, pointing at his thick glasses.

The officer nods. “Understandable! It’s them spectacles, I tell you. My gran always says we shan’t wear them.”

“Come on out, chicken thief!” Another police officer shouts, rapping his knuckles on the trash box door. “Those hen-stealers love hiding in trash boxes, happens all the time in our humble village,” he kindly explains to Hopekook, who turns even paler.

“Come on out, or we’ll shoot through the door!” A third police officer hollers.

Jungkook can’t help moving closer to the nearest person, which is Namjoon, for emotional support. Because this… this… he can’t watch this. And yet he must watch. Because even if Inseol and Britknee are far from being his friends, they are his classmates, they are people who have shared the same space with him for years, people who saw the same sights, heard the same jokes, walked the same paths. And… and it seems a bit unfair to just stop watching them when things get hard. They deserve to be seen, to be known.

And then the door opens a fraction and Britknee falls out. Was shoved out, to be exact. It was quite obvious she didn’t do it voluntarily.

Inseol had pushed her.

A thousand thoughts run through Jungkook’s mind in that very brief second, when everything seems to move in slow-mo. He thinks about Inseol, trembling in the dark, stinking trash box, committing a desperate yet unforgivable act to save his own skin. He thinks about Namjoon, who has one arm around his shoulder now, pulling him close, whispering words that he cannot distinguish. He thinks about Britknee, whom he’s always been a little intimidated by, because she’s always so confident and demanding and larger-than-life. She’d grow up into a bridezilla one day, he remembers one of the teachers saying. She always knows exactly what she wants and she doesn’t hesitate to tell the others to give it to her! She’s so cocksure, not always likable but definitely memorable. She lived life in her own colorful way, she lived and lived and lived —

Face half-hidden in Namjoon’s chest, Jungkook doesn’t see Britknee’s brains being blown out by the police, but he hears the shot.

And when Namjoon tells him it’s safe to look, seconds later, the screen has already turned black. Both remaining participants, Hopekook and Inseol, have a chicken (Inseol, Jungkook assumes, has managed to grab Britknee’s before the police can take it away), and the challenge is over. The rewards they get aren’t even shown. Jungkook doesn’t think anyone’s interested in rewards right now anyway.

The lounge is silent except for quiet sobbing from all corners. Lots of people are crying, Jungkook realizes, girls and boys and people who never talked to Britknee before and never will again, not in this virtual world at least. Maybe he’s crying too, he’s not too sure. But Namjoon has him in a gentle embrace, warm and safe like he’s been doing it for his entire life, like inside Namjoon’s arms is where he’s always belonged, and even though it doesn’t make him feel better, at least no one will see his tears.

The silence is interrupted when Hopekook and Inseol appear in the doorway, holding their yellow hens. Hopekook steps in sheepishly, unused to all the attention, and is immediately surrounded by his clique, Amanda’s group, all of them talking at once. And Inseol… well, Jungkook has never seen Inseol look like this. It’s like his soul has left him. He’s just standing there, chicken in hand, eyes blank.

And then Karen launches herself on him. Funny how Karen has always claimed to hate Britknee. Funny how Britknee had always claimed to hate Karen.

“You killed her! You killed her! You killed her!” Karen shrieks, pummeling Inseol with her fists. Jungkook notices that Inseol’s cheek is still bleeding from where Britknee had scratched him with her nails. So injuries do carry over out of challenges. Not a very reassuring thought.

Jimin takes out a tampon from his replenishable pack and applies it to the wound, stopping the bleeding instantly. Inseol doesn’t thank him, he doesn’t say anything. He just stands there and lets Karen scream at him.

Jungkook doesn’t think he can stand being there, listening to the screaming and the sobbing, for much longer. He wants out. And, well, lucky for him, he has to start the fifth challenge soon either way, alongside Seokjin, Namjoon, Jimin and Taehyung, since it takes three hours and it’s already three p.m. If they don’t start now they won’t be back in time for dinner. Ha, dinner. What a strange thought.

Britknee will not be having any dinner for a while. Or, depending on what happens to people who “die” in the game, ever again.

Right now, the last thing the class wants is to send someone else on a challenge, especially not when one of them is Seokjin, the class president, the one who’s been contributing the most to keeping morale high. They can’t lose Seokjin, not now.

“I’ll swap with you, any one of you. I’ll go in your place,” Vhope says, voice tinged with urgent despair. “If they had my shoes, Britknee could have lived. My shoes allow me to run twice my normal speed. They’d be so helpful in a maze! Please… let me do it.” Let me do something for everyone, he means. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.

“All of us five have special items too, and you already did a challenge today. You get some rest, okay?” Seokjin says, patting Vhope on the head as if he, despite being 180 cm tall, were a small, wet puppy. And he’s right, they do all have special items. The other classmates who had wanted to volunteer alongside Vhope slowly slink away, knowing that the current five they’ve decided on are indeed their best choice.

“So… let’s go, then, I guess?” Jimin says, pointing at the raft waiting at the pier. It seems to have grown in size compared to the first day, Jungkook notices. It makes sense, since it has to carry five people now, unlike on day one. The number of oars has grown as well, there are now five pairs.

“We’d better get used to it, eh?” Namjoon says, with a forced smile. “I mean, tomorrow we’ll have six challenges. And we’ll have seven the day after. It’s got to be one challenge after another, no time to rest.”

No time to rest, yes, Jungkook thinks. More importantly, no time to think. To process what just happened. To process the fact that they’ve just lost yet another classmate. That they came so close, they could’ve survived together, all three of them, Hopekook did so well in figuring out the underlying logic behind the challenge-specific rules and almost beat the system… and then this .

They have no time to process this , and Jungkook almost feels lucky in a way, that he no longer has to be in that stifling lounge and instead has an excuse to be out here, on a raft with his class president and best friends and crush. For the next three hours, he’ll have to focus on tackling whatever the challenge throws at them, which gives him a perfectly legitimate reason to not think about what happened just minutes ago.

He can think about it later, he supposes, when all this is over and done with. Probably tonight, if he makes it out of the maze, that is.

He’s not looking forward to it.

“What do you guys think the maze will be like?” Seokjin asks, in an attempt to redirect everyone’s attention.

“Maybe one of those corn mazes,” Taehyung says. He likes to paint corn fields.

“Or like that maze in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter,” Namjoon suggests.

“I’m thinking one of those old TV shows… the Crystal Maze? Was that what it’s called?” Seokjin says.

Jungkook wonders which it will be as they row their way into the tunnel labeled number five. He’s never been in this tunnel before, but he’s been in other ones, multiple times. They were all the same. Row for a bit, get to the other side, and appear in a completely different world.

But this time they pop out on the other side to find themselves still on the raft. Still on dark waters. Ahead of them are three tunnels, one leading to the left, one to the right, one going straight ahead.

“Is there a mistake somewhere?” Jimin whispers.

Namjoon shakes his head. “I think this is it. This is the maze.”

Chapter Text

Jungkook thinks that whoever designed this challenge, and every other challenge for that matter, must have a very twisted sense of imagination. Why else would the rules of the maze include no talking unless you want Mr. Anaconda to become a part of your conversation ?

And Jungkook had thought, initially, as the timer started, that the “rule” was a joke. A terrible one, but a joke nonetheless. After all, their task for this challenge, as the melodious voice has declared, is to find five golden rings hidden in different corners of the maze. And how are they supposed to do that without talking? How are they even supposed to row the damn boat properly without talking? It must be a joke, right?

Except as soon as he'd said as much to Jimin, something long and black swam past them under the water, and, well... he hadn't opened his mouth again after that.

Of course, if that had been the only issue, it wouldn't have been too terrible, because sure, the silence might have been oppressive and pairing it with the dark tunnels and the glow-in-the-dark fungi that cast shades of red across the walls and their faces, painting the whole scene rather grotesquely, would have been, well, not the loveliest of situations, but it would have been bearable. Anything would have been bearable compared to the Christmas jingles that are constantly playing in the background. For some reason, the cheeriness of the jingles just makes the whole thing worse.

Jungkook had no idea jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock could sound so eerie until now. And judging from the faces of the others, or at least what he can see given the dim light and how he can’t move much, not wanting to accidentally send everyone toppling into the water (and who knows what horrors lie in there besides Mr.Anaconda?), most of them seem to be of the same opinion. 

Of course, he can't see Jimin's face, considering that Jimin is sitting right behind him, and all Jungkook can feel is his presence and his smol hands buried inside Jungkook's jacket pockets, but he can imagine Jimin's expression of distaste in vivid clarity. The fact that Jimin's got his back, both figuratively and literally, makes him feel so secure in a way that he’s almost ashamed, because how could he suspect someone who he’s hanging onto as a lifesaver in the middle of all of these horrors? 

It's a feeling that only intensifies when Jimin hugs Jungkook tighter, almost like he can hear the thoughts in Jungkook's head and wants to chase them away. Almost like he's saying you've got me, even when Jungkook knows that Jimin is probably even more terrified than he is, given his history with anything horror-related and how haunted houses always leave Jungkook bored and Jimin on the verge of tears. 

It's such a noble, selfless, loving gesture that Jungkook feels like a massive asshole, and all he can do is squeeze Jimin's hands in reply, both as a thank you and a sorry. Jimin probably won't know why he’s sorry, but... 

He meets Namjoon's eyes across the raft, warm and steadying, eyes that seem to say it'll be okay once you can talk to each other . Of course, Jungkook knows he can't talk now, rules not withstanding, not with the whole class watching, but once the challenge is over and they get out of there — because they definitely will, Jungkook will be damned if they lose yet another person, another friend — he'll talk to Jimin, and then everything will be right in the world. 

And that's all he has time to think about it because the tunnel widens, almost abruptly, as the song switches from Jingle Bell Rock to Feliz Navidad, slow, in a crooning sort of way, and the raft bumps against land, against what Jungkook thinks is a dead end for all but a second before he sees something shimmering in the far end, something large and circular and —

[NAMJOON]

Is that a ring?

Namjoon's voice pops up in his head, his eyes curious as they meet Jungkook's. 

[JUNGKOOK]

That's a fucking hula hoop, not a ring

But also, maybe?

If that's not a ring and they need to find literal finger-sized rings, Jungkook thinks they're going to have a problem, mostly because it's pitch dark and time's ticking and he really doesn't fancy sticking his fingers into the soil of the flower field where the hula hoop is, because knowing his luck he'll end up getting bitten by some mutant earthworm. 

So.

Do we all get off the raft? Seokjin gestures.

Maybe just three of us? Namjoon suggests, pointing at himself, Seokjin and Taehyung. 

[NAMJOON]

Jungkook, you can guard the raft with Jimin. 

"Can't we just speak?" Seokjin grumbles, as Taehyung and Jimin also silently communicate between themselves, and Jungkook feels a little bad for a second because Seokjin's the only one left in the dark, figuratively, for Jihope is back at base and communication via telepathic channel is not possible if one of them is in a challenge and one is not.

(Back during the first lachimolala challenge, they had tried to get Taehyung to tell Jimin the answer to Carbonara, but whoever designed the challenges was smart enough to foresee that and had blocked the connection.) 

"I mean," Seokjin goes on, voice no more than a whisper, regardless, "it's not like Mr. Anaconda can follow us onto land, right?"

And Jungkook wants to tell him that, in the Anaconda movies, the anaconda most definitely has the capability of moving on land, but also that's as far as his knowledge of anacondas goes, and s urely the creator doesn't expect them to do the whole thing in silence, right? That's just too sadistic, like what if something was creeping up on them from behind and they can’t tell each other about it —

"Looks like it can follow us onto land," Taehyung says, snapping Jungkook out of his thoughts, sounding a little too creepily cheerful for someone who's standing right in front of Mr. Anaconda himself.

Someone screams.

Jungkook thinks it could have been him. Or it could have been Jimin. Or maybe they all screamed, because what else do you do when you're face to face with an Anaconda? More so when it’s smiling at you creepily, showing gleaming rows of piranha-like teeth. 

Clearly, Mr. Anaconda is some sort of hybrid and Jungkook thinks that's more than enough information about Mr. Anaconda that he needs. 

He hates it.

Absolutely.

So there's a lot of screaming and hasty scrambling onto the shore. Jimin still clings onto the raft, though, because what if the snake drags away the raft, Jungkook-ah? We'll end up stranded here, and Jungkook wants to say that the Anaconda can still drag away the raft with Jimin on it, considering how massive it is, which would be even worse, so can you please get off the raft now? Except maybe some higher power really is looking out for them because Mr. Anaconda simply flashes another creepy smile before slinking off into the waters, waving his tail in a sort of eerie see you later. 

Jungkook collapses to his knees. 

Beside him, Seokjin's already starfished on the ground, muttering indistinguishable words to himself, while Jimin lets out a tiny screech of relief before sprawling onto the raft.

"So it won't attack us while we're on land?" Taehyung asks, voice a little hoarse, face extremely pale even under the red shimmering lights, and Jungkook nods.

"I think so?"

He turns to Namjoon for backup assurance, except Namjoon exchanges a look with Jimin, face extremely troubled, and says, "Or there's something on land that not even the Anaconda wants to disturb."

And right on cue, almost as if someone's listening in on their conversation, or like they've jinxed it, a steady mist fills the air, something cloyingly sweet and heady in it, and all Jungkook can think is oh fuck.

It's okay for all of five minutes. Seokjin manages to whip out five handkerchiefs from somewhere (all of them have Jin & Jihope embroidered on them and Jungkook thinks it's a little sad), and Namjoon is either reckless enough or calculated enough to decide that he can dip his handkerchief (along with his hand) into the water without inviting Mr. Anaconda's ire. Mr. Anaconda doesn't show up, but a couple of lizard-like creatures with piranha teeth do come nipping at the place where his hand was, and Jungkook has a feeling that they're infinitely more scary than Mr. Anaconda.

They wrap the kerchiefs around their noses in the form of a makeshift mask, and Taehyung takes the lead, sprinting towards the field, while Seokjin and Namjoon follow him at a slightly sedate pace, leaving behind Jimin and Jungkook to man the raft and watch their backs.

Or at least that's what Jungkook assumes.

Except… they disappear. All three of them. Into the mist, and the flower field remains but none of them are there, and all Jungkook can think is what? 

He turns to look at Jimin in alarm, because where could they’ve gone? Should we go after them ?

"They're dead," Jimin tells him, almost emotionlessly, his face twisted into something cruel as he takes out a knife from his pocket. Jungkook has no idea where he got the knife, has no idea what's happening anymore because Jimin? 

"You were right to suspect me," Jimin goes on, smiling, a familiar smile, eyes crinkling into crescents, except there's nothing else familiar about it, not a hint of the warmth that is ever-present when he smiles. "You were right. I’m the one behind all this.  You really should have been more vigilant... I won't kill you, though."

I won't kill you , he says, but the knife in his hand says otherwise, and the way he prowls towards Jungkook says otherwise, and Jungkook instinctively scrambles back, still seated. It's his deep rooted instinct to survive, to escape, to flee, the lizard part of his brain taking over, even as the rational part of his brain tries to tell him this can't be real, don't flinch, you're stronger than him anyway, you could overpower him, this can't be real. 

This can't be real . The mantra loops in his head, in the background of the part that is shouting for him to flee, and he tries to hold his ground as he looks Jimin in the eye, looks at this person who looks like Jimin and smiles like Jimin but isn't Jimin, he's sure of that, and yet there had only been two of them on the raft, and surely he would have known if someone had replaced Jimin, right?

Surely he would have known. But…

"You can't be Jimin," he says, willing his voice to not shake. "You can't be Jimin, because the Jimin I know would kill himself before even thinking of hurting Taehyung. You can't be Jimin because the Jimin I know is incapable of hurting a single person, at least not without a reason. Jimin loves me and would never do this." 

You're not Jimin, he says, and as he says the words he believes them, with every fibre of his being. Believes, and it soothes a little of his worries because it's true, because if Jimin were indeed the mastermind behind all this, he has to have a damn good reason for it, and even in such a situation, Jungkook can say with certainty that Jimin will never hurt him. Not the Jimin he knows. That's just not Jimin.

So, he says, this time, with conviction in his voice—

"You're not Jimin." 

And Jimin smiles, except this time it's even clearer that it's not him, evident from the way his eyes turn into bottomless pits, the way his smile stretches grotesquely. It's not Jimin, and the thing wearing Jimin's face smiles some more as it advances towards him, knife out, and says, voice still Jimin's, but much more grating, "Too bad. It would have been better if you believed I was Jimin, because now I have no choice but to kill you."

The last thing Jungkook sees, as he scrambles back a little further only to realise he's at the very edge of the raft, about to tip over into the murky waters, is the thing's evil smile. Isn’t it sad? He thinks, that things are going to end like this? That the last thing he will see in his life is fake Jimin's face? And—

The water swallows him whole. Countless tiny lizard things swarm upon him. Mr. Anaconda is nowhere to be seen, but it doesn't matter because the tiny lizard things seem to have gotten a little bigger and their teeth are sharp where they nip at Jungkook, at his clothes, at his skin, and it feels like they'll rip him to pieces, like there won't even be anything left for Mr. Anaconda to feast on—

A hand tugs at the back of his hoodie, and he sees someone swatting at the lizard-piranha hybrids with a pack of maxi pads out of all things, and before he knows it he's dragged out of water, towards land, by Jimin —his Jimin, and if it weren't for how dire the situation were, Jungkook would be hugging him already.

As it is, just seeing Jimin's face as he pulls Jungkook along has Jungkook propelling himself through the water with renewed energy, and when they manage to drag themselves onto land, where he sees the mist and the flower field and Seokjin and Taehyung making their way back, supporting a slightly out-of-it Namjoon between them, Jungkook throws himself at Jimin, even though they're both sopping wet and the wet clothes just make everything heavier and he's probably crushing Jimin because Jimin's always been tinier than Jungkook, but still.

He throws himself at Jimin, making himself as small as possible, as Jimin's hands come around his waist to hug him, to hold him close, no protest in his voice, no questions asked about Jungkook's weird behaviour, no admonishing how Jungkook had been stupid enough to fall for a hallucination and almost get them killed— nothing . Just acceptance, and an easy I've got you, as he holds Jungkook tight, like he knows Jungkook needs to know that this is real, that they're okay, that nothing bad has happened. 

Just comfort, the way Jimin's arms have always felt, this steady sense of balance being restored in the world, and… Jungkook thinks, with the now familiar sense of guilt in the backdrop, like a wallpaper that won’t go away, this bleeding, itching guilt—thinks, I'll talk to Jimin and everything will be okay, and no matter what he says, I'll stand by his side. 

Thinks, and says, I love you , the most spontaneous of confessions, but Jimin just takes it in stride as he presses faint kisses against Jungkook's cheek and replies, "I don't know what this is about but I love you too, Jungkookie."

I love you too, he says, and Jungkook feels warm, even as his clothes stick to his body uncomfortably, and the water feels icy cold against his skin. Feels warm, and guilty, as he sees the state of Jimin's clothes, rips and tears everywhere, open wounds where the lizards got to him, bleeding the most human of red. And yet he still smiles at Jungkook as they get off the ground and brush themselves off, and Jungkook is reminded of Inseol and Britknee and how in spite of the situation being resolvable in other ways it went down in the worst possible way. If it were Inseol here with him instead of Jimin, he would certainly not have jumped into the water to save Jungkook, and—

It's not a malicious thought, it's just a human one, Jungkook thinks, that while everyone can claim to be a hero, not everyone acts like one when they're put in the situation, not to mention that some people just don’t know how to swim and couldn’t have saved him had they wanted to.

He thinks about how the whole thing could have ended way differently because he hadn't been able to snap out of the hallucination, not even after he'd ended up in icy cold water. All he felt was a sense of defeat, of acceptance, and if not for Jimin, who hadn't hesitated to jump in… Jungkook shudders to think of what might have become of him.

"Thank you," he says, quietly, still feeling a little guilty towards Jimin, towards the whole situation, and Jimin simply flicks his forehead softly.

"Stop thanking me, silly goose. It's not like I did anything extraordinary."

And with the thought that Jimin would consider jumping into monster-infested waters something normal , the shame intensifies for a split second, because this is who Jimin is, and to think of Jimin being capable of masterminding the whole situation they're in is just...

"I'm just lucky I was able to snap out of the hallucination quickly enough," Jimin says, unaware of Jungkook's thoughts. "You were already at the edge of the raft when I came back to my senses."

"What did you see?" Jungkook finds himself asking, even though he knows that if Jimin asks him the same question he wouldn’t know what to say.

"Taehyung, motionless, in the middle of the flower field, and Mr. Anaconda telling us that if we wanted to make it out alive, we would have to leave him behind as sacrifice so we were putting it to vote."

"And?" Jungkook asks, because it sounds horrifying, but also it sounds improbable because there's no way in hell they were going to leave anyone behind.

"And it was evidently made up because you were the one who suggested voting," Jimin scoffs, "And that was the most ridiculous thing ever. The Jungkook I know would never stand for it, so I knew it was fake, and the moment I realised it, I was able to snap out of it."

The Jungkook I know would never stand for it, Jimin says, and his words keep ringing in Jungkook's head long after they've all gotten on the raft again, the hula hoop having shrunk to the size of an actual ring and now safely on Taehyung's finger. The shame intensifies because Jimin hadn't doubted Jungkook even for a second, and yet—

[NAMJOON]

Stop beating yourself up for whatever you saw

Or for the thoughts you had

You're human too

Jungkook stares at Namjoon in a little bit of surprise.

[JUNGKOOK]

How did you know?

But also, I'm a terrible person

Namjoon's face twitches like he disagrees with the statement, but he also doesn't say anything aloud, not wanting to try Mr. Anaconda's patience now that they're back in the middle of the river. A little tunnel opened up when Taehyung stepped on the raft with the ring on his finger, and they traveled down through it. Soon, again, there's no more land in sight. 

[NAMJOON]

I'm not going to try to refute that statement because you'll know it's not true when you speak to Jimin

But if you claim to be a terrible person then I'm equally terrible too

"No, you're not," Jungkook complains loudly, forgetting himself for a second, remembering that they shouldn’t be talking only when Mr. Anaconda pops up right alongside their raft and Jimin jerks back with a start into Taehyung.

He smiles at them, that eerie cheshire cat smile, showing off his sparkly, pointy teeth once more, and hisses, that's the second warning, only one more left, his rumbly voice echoing throughout the cavern, and by the time they're over the shock that Mr. Anaconda can speak and the fact that they’re apparently allowed only three warnings, he's disappeared back into the water.

Jungkook offers everyone a sheepish, apologetic smile, but they just shrug it off, and Jungkook settles back into his seat, wincing a little.

[JUNGKOOK]

Stop getting me in trouble by calling yourself terrible

Namjoon makes a face at him.

[NAMJOON]

I'm the only one who couldn't snap myself out of the damn hallucination

Jin and Taehyung had to help me back

It sucks

I'm supposed to be smart but I can't even differentiate between reality and hallucinations

I feel so dumb

Jungkook has to bite on his tongue to not shout in indignation again, because what?

[JUNGKOOK]

I didn't snap out of my hallucination either

Also, your hallucination didn't hurt anyone while I almost got myself and Jimin killed

And okay, maybe Jungkook's sounding a little angry, and maybe he can tone down the aggressiveness, but he's not going to sit there and just let Namjoon berate himself for something that's out of his control.

Namjoon looks like he wants to argue harder, so Jungkook just steamrolls over him.

[JUNGKOOK]

What did you even see, by the way?

[NAMJOON]

I would rather not talk about it, if it's okay?

And, Jungkook's not nosy, but hmm… something Namjoon doesn't want to talk about? He wonders what it is that rattled him so much that he believed it to be true, and that he doesn't want to speak about it. But also, he respects Namjoon's privacy, so he just offers him a smile that he hopes says that's okay , and he sinks back into Jimin, resigning himself to listening to Jingle Bells on repeat as they float down towards what Jungkook hopes will be the next ring's location.

Chapter Text

They procure the next two rings a little easier. Or, at least, it doesn't take as much effort as the first ring and no one nearly dies, so. Ring 2, for example, was embedded deeply in the midst of some sentient vines on a tunnel wall (can they actually be called sentient when they're already alive to begin with? Jungkook's not quite sure), but Seokjin manages to make the vines drop the ring by making them laugh with his terrible de vine puns. 

Jungkook wonders if the game maker is having an aneurysm while watching this happen. He's at least 99.99% sure they were supposed to hack through the vines to get to the ring, but if it works, it works, and Jungkook's not going to complain. Even if Mr. Anaconda does surface and shoot them dirty looks after hearing the puns and even hisses I should make that strike 3, but ... before slithering away with a pensive look at Namjoon. 

Ring number 3 is found high up a rock wall, and is in essence a rock-climbing challenge if not for the thorns lining the wall, making it impossible for anyone to get the ring without tearing their hands. Of course, whoever designed the challenge hadn't taken into account Jimin's maxi pads (which is a very weird term now that Jungkook's thinking about it). They make makeshift gloves out of the maxi pads and Jimin manages to reach the ring with minimum damage. Now they have an hour left to spare, with just two rings to go.

The problems start with the fourth ring. Mostly because a) they have pretty much explored the entire maze by now and every tunnel seems to lead them right back to their starting point, b) they’ve spotted the fourth ring deep down under the water, very close to where they have started, glinting a tempting shade of gold and swarmed by average-sized lizard-piranha hybrids, and c) the fifth ring is still nowhere in sight. 

Jungkook wonders for a moment if this is to make up for how easily they obtained the other two rings. 

Someone has to dive in. It’s a statement clearly reflected across everyone's faces, and almost simultaneously they all reach to shrug off their clothes because, clearly, this group happens to be a bunch of self-sacrificing idiots. 

Seokjin stares at each of them in turn before getting off the raft and onto a large rock, hands on his hips, and says: "Okay, so at least two people need to go in. One to get the ring and one to try to keep the lizards away."

Try, Seokjin says, because Jungkook knows that it's going to be pretty futile. 

"Two people can distract them on the raft," Namjoon says, clambering off the raft to join Seokjin on the rock, believing it safe to speak as long as he’s not on the raft. They're basically flouting the single loophole, which Jungkook thinks is less of a loophole and more Mr. Anaconda being surprisingly less murderous than expected, but either way they're not going to look a gift anaconda in the mouth.

"You mean distract them with, uh, blood?" Taehyung asks, the third to end up on the rock. He exchanges a glance with Jimin. "We volunteer, then."

We volunteer, they say, and Jungkook already knows they're going to do something stupid to keep the lizards distracted like maybe throwing themselves into the water, fresh blood dripping from their palms. 

And the thing is, as much as Jungkook hates that, he also understands… because isn't that what he'd do too?

"I'll defend whoever is getting the ring then," Jungkook offers, lowering himself onto the rock as well. "I've got buffs too so they'll be useful."

He takes out the sinker ball and tosses it into the water as a sort of trial and watches as it hits a couple of piranha-lizards. For a moment it seems like it's going to work, except they turn around and bite into it, cleaving the material clean in half.

The rest of Jungkook's words die in his throat. Good thing it automatically returns to his inventory, but looks like it’s not going to come in helpful at all.

Clearly, none of them would be distracting any lizard hybrids in any way. Their best bet, it seems, is to all go into the water to sort of split the damage taken and hope that they’ll all make it out alive, but also — would the game designer really make them do such a horrible thing? The previous challenges may have been hard, but they all offered a way out. 

Was the challenge really designed in such a terrible way? 

"Or did we miss this ring when we started out because we were too busy looking at the tunnels?" Namjoon asks, as if he's read Jungkook's mind. "Because remember? The lizard hybrids were tinier then, and the most they did was nip at you, so going in and getting the ring would have been an easy task. But now..."

He trails off, and Jungkook wonders about the futility of it all. Wonders if this is how it all ends, and thinks about how unfair it is, suddenly, because he's so young, they're all so young. And he’s never hurt anyone, nor can he imagine someone as lovely as Namjoon or Seokjin or Jimin or Taehyung doing anything to hurt anyone. How do they deserve this? 

"So the way it is right now, if we want to get the ring, we can pretty much all die?" Jimin finally voices what all of them are thinking. 

Seokjin nods, a defeated expression on his face.

"We could sit it out," Jungkook suggests, as stupid as the suggestion is. "We don’t need to clear every challenge. We can tell Mr. Anaconda a story or something, we'll — "

"Jungkookie, we have to — " Jimin starts, expression resigned, but before he can say anything else, Namjoon interrupts him, an oddly determined expression on his face. 

"Do I have permission to do something incredibly risky and stupid?"

Taehyung shrugs. 

"Not like we have a lot of options, so go for it."

Namjoon nods, resolute, and takes a deep breath. "Oh, also, we should figure out where the fifth ring is before getting into the water. That way if someone survives they’ll be able to get it faster."

He says that, with such matter-of-factness, as if voluntarily stepping into piranha-infested waters is something people do every day. And Jungkook hates it so much, more than anything else, and…

He glares at the walls, at the fungi, at the ring under the water that's the cause of all their problems, and, for the first time since they ended up in the VR world, curses the person who started the whole thing. 

Curses them with the passion of a desperate person, a person who’s just so so furious because nothing is fair, even as he prays to every god he's never prayed to in years that whatever Namjoon is planning works.

Prays, except when Namjoon steps off the pier and onto the raft and dips his fingers into the water, calling out, "Mr. Anaconda, I'd like to talk to you," Jungkook stops praying for their survival and for Namjoon's sanity because what?

At least, he thinks, momentarily shocked from his despair as he meets the eyes of the others, everyone's equally confused, because why would Namjoon decide to bring the anaconda into the equation, as if they didn't already have enough problems to deal with?

And Jungkook would ask him that, except Mr. Anaconda decides to resurface at that exact moment, tongue gleaming in the dark as he looks at Namjoon, head cocked.

You realise that this is the third strike, right? He hisses, and Namjoon settles on his haunches, completely unbothered for someone who’s being threatened by a snake at least five times his size, with teeth that look sharper than diamond.

"I'm aware," he says coolly, never breaking eye contact with the snake. "And the rules say that you'll end up joining our conversation if we talk… which is what I want. I want to converse with you."

Mr. Anaconda stares at Namjoon. This disbelieving stare that seems to ask are you sure you're okay in the head? This disbelieving stare that he turns Jungkook's way, as if asking are you sure he's okay in the head? And Jungkook wants to say, listen, I have no idea what's going on but please spare him, except he doesn't really get to do that because Namjoon tuts, like he's a little annoyed with the anaconda’s silence. If they somehow all manage to make it out alive, Jungkook swears to spend a night speculating over if the person he's in love with is actually aware of the consequences of the things he does, or if it's the fear that's making him reckless. 

"Listen, just because you’ll be ‘joining the conversation’ doesn't mean that you have to hurt us. I mean, honestly," Namjoon says, spreading his hands the way he always does when he's in the middle of debating and trying to explain an extremely simple point to the opposition. "Conversation means talking, in whatever sense you take it. There's literally no reason for you to kill us, at least not by the rules."

Okay? Mr. Anaconda hisses like he doesn't quite understand what Namjoon's getting at. And?

"And I invited you up here to ask you to help us."

Jungkook blinks.

Seokjin covers his face with his hands.

Jimin buries himself into Taehyung.

Jungkook thinks that if Mr. Anaconda had eyelids or hands he would have also probably done one of the above. 

As it stands, he tilts his head to the side and looks at Namjoon before saying, And why would I want to do that? 

"Not for free, of course," Namjoon replies. "I'll give you something in return, anything you ask for, as long as it's not any of my friends’ lives and as long as they leave this challenge unscathed."

Mr. Anaconda watches Namjoon thoughtfully, something like a pleased smile spreading across his face, and Jungkook feels a sinking sense of dread in the bottom of his stomach.

And if I ask for your life? He hisses, and Jungkook blurts out No , even if Namjoon's Sure is louder, noble and hotheaded high school boy that he is, and Jungkook's scrambling onto the raft the next second to grab onto Namjoon, to make sure he won't step off the raft, to make sure he won't do anything stupid, and —

Mr. Anaconda laughs.

This terrifying, creepy, hissing thing, but it's not entirely mirthless, Jungkook thinks. More like genuine amusement. Not like that makes it any better, but... 

You're amusing. So no, you don't have to give your life .

"We wouldn't have let you take it," Jimin snaps loyally from the pier. 

Yes yes, I get it. All I ask for is a kiss, and I'll escort one of you to get the ring. The snake looks at each of them in turn, a cheshire cat smile on its face. I'll even throw in the location of the fifth ring. All for one kiss from you , he says, turning back to face Namjoon, and...

Jungkook almost says No again, except he finds his mouth being covered by Jimin. 

"It's his choice," Jimin hisses. "If he says no, we won't force it, but if he says yes... it's just a kiss, Jungkookie, we can all kiss the damn snake if it means leaving with our lives."

And okay, maybe Jimin has a point, but also? That's the man Jungkook’s in love with? 

"Would you be okay if it were Tae?" Jungkook whispers back and Jimin shoots him a look. 

"I literally wouldn't care if the snake asked him to pole dance, provided that he consented to it."

And, well... 

Jungkook sees the logic behind it, but that doesn't mean he needs to like it. Even if he's aware that Namjoon's literally allowed to kiss anyone he wants, after all, it's not like they're in a relationship, right?

It's something he cries about internally when Namjoon sits down on the raft like he can't quite believe it.

"All you want... is a kiss?"

If Mr. Anaconda had shoulders he would have probably shrugged. Yep, one kiss from you, and you get rings 4 and 5.

And, the thing is, taking the fact that Jungkook would absolutely hate for Namjoon to kiss the snake — because it's Namjoon , and because of his absolutely massive crush on Namjoon — out of the equation, he can see that it's too good of a deal.

The Anaconda's offering them a damn get out of hell ticket when barely minutes ago they'd been thinking about which of them would be making it out alive, and frankly, Jungkook doesn't want to believe it because it's too good to be true, and also it doesn't seem like something that creator of the game would have done. Why set up five rings in different locations only to give away one of them for free?

Except, as Namjoon nods, determination evident in his eyes, Jungkook realises that if this is actually true, and the anaconda keeps his promise, they'll all be out of the maze in less than minutes. Not to mention that if the snake had wanted to eat them, it could have done so right at the start instead of engaging in conversation and asking for a kiss. 

So he sags into Jimin's hold, and watches as Namjoon looks each of them in turn, a resolute look on his face, before turning to Mr. Anaconda. "I'll give you a kiss, and you'll keep your end of the promise?"

Yesssss , Mr. Anaconda hisses, leaning forward, as Namjoon settles on the edge of the raft on his haunches.

"Just pretend he's kissing his pet dog," Seokjin tells Jungkook helpfully, as Namjoon leans forward, and Jungkook wants to glare at him, because clearly that's no pet dog, but also he can't find it in himself to tear his gaze away from the scene, and he wonders what that makes him —

And then Namjoon's kissing the snake. This tiny peck before he pulls away, and Mr. Anaconda shakes his head, bursting into a shower of blinding gold sparks that has all of them covering their eyes.

When Jungkook opens his eyes, there's no more Mr. Anaconda. Instead, there’s this insanely hot merman leaning against the raft, a smirk on his face as he looks at Namjoon, his long inky black tail waving lazily in the waters underneath, the lizards all giving him a wide berth.

"Mr. Anaconda?" Seokjin asks slowly, blinking, and Mr. Anaconda — hot merman, Jungkook's brain corrects (furiously) — smiles, forked tongue peeking out. "Not anymore. You can call me Choi Wonyoung." And then he turns to look at Namjoon, his hair sweeping into his eyes. " You can call me jagiya, though."

Jungkook almost punches the damn merman, if not for Jimin restraining him and murmuring a steady litany of he's an NPC, we need his help, he's an NPC, you can't punch him.

Jungkook still thinks he should be allowed to punch him, especially when Namjoon's cheeks turn a flaming red, and his dimples peek out awkwardly. How dare the damn snake? 

"Uhh, Wonyoung-ssi, the rings?" Namjoon murmurs, cheeks still pink, and Wonyoung winks at him.

"Of course, my prince, now if you'll get into the water…" he moves away from the raft, curling his hand into a fist, and a trident appears in it in a flash of silver, something that has the lizards scattering further and Jungkook wonders what the fuck exactly is even going on anymore.

"Can't I do it?" He still volunteers, because there's no way in hell he's letting Namjoon get in, even if the merman's assured them he'll keep them safe. 

"Nope," Wonyoung replies, smirk on his face. "My protection only extends to my lovely Prince Charming. Now if you'll stop wasting time…" he cocks his head at the clock floating in one corner that's ticked down to minutes, and Jungkook steps back, gritting his teeth.

But it's mostly the lovely smile that Namjoon shoots his way that has him stand back, before he jumps into the water, the merman sticking close to him, and as they watch, the two of them dive into the water, towards the ring. 

Namjoon brings up the ring in a matter of minutes. Three minutes and forty seconds to be precise, and Jungkook knows that the damn merman kissed Namjoon underwater too, under the pretext of giving him oxygen —

"You know that's what he was actually doing, right?" Taehyung asks him drily, "And that sometimes people don't always have ulterior motives?" 

And Jungkook wants to say you don't get it, Namjoon is literally a fairy tale prince and in fairy tales when the princess kisses the frog and the frog turns into a prince they get married and live happily ever after except a) he knows how that would go over and b) he does understand that at the end of the day the merman is but an NPC ( is he though? Jungkook wonders), so he keeps his thoughts to himself.

He's still allowed to seethe, though.

"Technically, you don't have the right to be mad because Namjoon's not your boyfriend yet," Jimin tells Jungkook, hooking his chin over his shoulder, and…

Jungkook doesn't have a reply to that. Because yes , he's aware that he's acting like all those terrible toxic k-drama male leads, but…

But he’s jealous , dammit. He wonders if he’ll stop feeling jealous if he bangs his face repeatedly against the rock and knock some sense into himself. Especially when Wonyoung tells them the last ring was taped right under their raft all along and they would’ve had found it already if someone had thought of going down and checking. 

It's almost like the universe is telling him you're absolutely stupid. Ha! 

"It's okay," Seokjin tells Jungkook, patting his shoulder, as Wonyoung escorts Namjoon back down to pick up the fifth ring. "All this means is that you should confess to Namjoon so that the next time a hot NPC decides he should kiss him you're allowed to throw a little temper tantrum, even if the ultimate decision lies on him and he'll end up doing it anyway to save all our lives."

And the worst thing is, Jungkook can see that happening. He absolutely can see it. Because Namjoon is basically Disney princess vibes, what with his lovely dimples and his hair falling into his eyes and the lovely smile his lips curl into and his gentle voice and even gentler heart and —

That's what made Jungkook fall for him in the first place, so yes , he can totally see more NPCs falling for Namjoon in the future, but also… he doesn't want to accept it. The Nile is no longer just a river in Egypt, it now runs unbridled in his head.

Before he knows it, Namjoon is climbing out of the water, back onto the raft. Wonyoung leans against it, waving away the lizards with his tail. 

"Fifth ring. Jungkookie, here," Namjoon announces, the ring glinting in his outstretched palm.

Jungkook blinks. "Me?" 

"Yeah, you're the only one without a ring," Namjoon says, and well , it's not like he’s asking for Jungkook’s hand in marriage, he’s just being logical, but also, now that Namjoon’s offering Jungkook a ring, Jungkook will damn well imagine a whole proposal in his head. Yes, he's become delulu, but can you blame him? The whole challenge has got such strange vibes. It almost seems a little caffeine-and-fever-induced.  

Jungkook beams at Namjoon as he takes the ring, and when he accidentally locks eyes with Wonyoung, the merman smirks, like he can absolutely see what's going on in Jungkook's head, and…

If even a random NPC can see right through Jungkook, he can’t help but wonder if it would be better for him to just confess to Namjoon here and now, instead of allowing his feelings to keep growing and eventually explode messily.

The second Jungkook puts on the ring, the timer stops at 28 minutes, and a tunnel opens up at the far end — a tunnel that Jungkook knows will take them back to the class, and he freezes for a moment because he'd completely forgotten that they were being watched. Not like it would matter, but somehow, within the past three hours, even though he'd been aware it was a challenge, he'd sort of forgotten about everything else except staying alive. He hadn't thought about Britknee even once, or about how many days they had left. Too much was going on at once, after all. There were the hallucinations, the rowing, the dangers, the need to constantly remind himself to not speak. And the NPC.

Fuck the NPC, he thinks, as Wonyoung reaches for Namjoon's hand and places a chaste kiss on it before disappearing into the waters, as they start rowing into the tunnel and back to their class. 

And maybe it's his imagination, but he hears Wonyoung whisper I'll see you later, my lovely prince, a sort of farewell, as the pier comes into view, along with Yoongi and Hoseok's worried faces. 

Jungkook very much hopes that they won't have to, as he forces himself to snap out of his thoughts and greet his classmates.

Chapter Text

It’s almost surreal, Jungkook thinks, as he steps out of the dark, water-infested tunnels and back into the familiar, festive warmth of their home base, all cozy yellow lights and lingering gingerbread smell. It feels almost like sneaking out for a toilet break halfway through a thriller movie in the theaters.

During the past two hours, Jungkook had been completely removed from reality. He had forgotten about Christmas. He had forgotten about the floating mansion. To be frank, he had clean forgotten that the rest of the class even existed.

It wasn’t his fault, of course, and he knows the class wouldn’t blame him. He needed to be fully focused on the challenge itself in order to clear it, to survive. He’s not worried about that part. What he’s suddenly very worried about is the fact that his entire class saw what happened with Namjoon and the stupidly attractive anaconda man. They probably saw Jungkook’s seething face too in 4K high definition. He wonders if they could tell how jealous he was. Jimin used to tell him that he had the expressive kind of face, and it was easy to read his mood.

It would be utterly embarrassing if the whole class could tell how jealous he was. They’d gossip about it, probably, like it were funny . They’d make jokes about it, maybe tell the jokes to Namjoon too. You should’ve seen Jungook’s face , they’d say. The guy’s soooo possessive over you! Are you guys dating yet? What base are you on? Namjoon and Jungkook kissing in a T-R-E-E—

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the class does nothing of the sort. The mood in the lounge is somber. For a second, Jungkook wonders why. They had completed another mission, lit up another star, just in time for dinner. Shouldn’t it be an occasion to celebrate?

And then he remembers. Oh. Right. Britknee.

Shit.

No wonder the class is so quiet. Hoseok does envelop Jungkook in a quick hug and Yoongi does come over and clap Jungkook awkwardly on the shoulder, but that’s about as much congratulating as he gets.

The overall solemn mood hangs over the class like a storm cloud as they have dinner. It’s a good, hearty dinner, steaming hot dumplings and steaming hot soup with assorted vegetables, but Jungkook barely registers how it tastes. He doesn’t think anyone else does either. Everyone gives Inseol a wide berth, even Karen, who had been intent on personally fighting Inseol herself the last time Jungkook saw her. Her anger had fizzled out over the past few hours, apparently, after she screamed herself hoarse. She’s sulking quietly in a corner of the dining room now, staunchly refusing to take a bite of her food, despite Oh Yoonjin’s gentle coaxing.

Jungkook isn’t quite sure how to face Inseol himself. One part of him wishes he could say he understands—that what Inseol did to Britknee was an instinctive act of self-preservation, that if he were put in Inseol’s position, he might have done the same. But the other part of him knows that it’s not instinctive and he would not have done the same. Ducking down, running for the exit, shutting a door in a zombie’s face or something—that he might do. But kicking a classmate out of her hiding place is not instinct. It’s cold-blooded murder.

Inseol sits alone in his corner, face sullen, impassive, eyes staring forward into nothingness. It’s rare to see Inseol so quiet. He always has something to say. Yoo Namgi was talking about a fire in his building when he was three once, said it totally traumatized him, Jungkook remembers, and boom there was Inseol, declaring that Namgi was too young to have PTSD and he probably didn’t remember a thing and was just saying it for attention. And there was one time another classmate—Jungkook can’t remember who—brought some candy to share with the class, said it was her late grandma’s favorite and always brought fond memories. Inseol took a bite and immediately said it tasted like chemicals and artificial flavors. When called out, he simply said that he was a very honest person and had the right to freedom of speech.

He's quiet now. And Jungkook had never thought he would have been so unnerved seeing Inseol quiet.

“Hey, let’s not be so down,” Two-Sock, the class clown, says, in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. “This is all virtual. Didn’t we all agree since the beginning that this is just a game? Britknee is fine. She’s probably back at school now, hanging out with Scott. Now that there are two of them, they can even play chess!”

This elicits a few uncertain chuckles from the people sitting near him. Jungkook tries his best to force a small smile onto his face. It’s hard to imagine Britknee and Scott playing chess together. The scene can be kind of comical, he supposes.

Emboldened by the positive reaction, Two-Sock continues: “Yeah, they’re probably playing chess and enjoying each other’s company now, so let’s not worry too much! Once they get more pals they can even play volleyball!”

That, of course, is an incredibly stupid thing to say, because they need at least twelve people for two volleyball teams and that’s like one-third of the class and the mere notion of one-third of the class “dying” in the game is enough to make Jungkook nauseous.

Next to him, Sugar Cookie begins to sniffle softly before suddenly launching into full-blown wailing. “I don’t want to di-e-e-e!”

“You’re not going to die, we’re not going to die,” Two-Sock reassures her, but before he knows it he’s started sniffling too.

Sniffling is contagious. Within a minute, over half of the class are sobbing into their soup, guys and girls alike. Jungkook feels tears prickle his eyes too and leans into Jimin and Taehyung for comfort. They cry, they all cry, because yes, they’re sad about what happened to Scott, they all are. And they’re upset about what happened to Britknee. But mainly they’re just all fucking terrified.

Amidst the cacophony of sobbing and nose-blowing, Jungkook hears Namjoon’s voice. Warm and steady, like a beam of sunshine coming through the sea of gray clouds.

“We’re not going to lose anyone else,” he says. “I promise. We’ll all go home together, alive and well.”

But that’s impossible, Jungkook thinks. The challenges are too hard. There are still seven days to go and they’ve barely even started.

“But that’s impossible,” someone else says, echoing Jungkook’s thoughts. He thinks it might be Jeon Soap, but he’s not sure.

“It’s possible, and we will make it possible,” Namjoon states. “So far, the challenges have always offered us a way out, and the more challenges we go through, the more perks and items we obtain. If we remain level-headed, we can beat this. After dinner and dish duty, I think we should all train. In a few days pretty much everyone in the class will have to be in at least one challenge, and we want to be in our best shape.”

“Even my best shape is not a very good shape,” Kang Namsook, class secretary, murmurs forlornly. She’s one of those girls who prefers to spend PE classes sitting under a tree.

“We need you for the brainy challenges, Namsook.” Namjoon smiles at her kindly. “I’m not that athletic either. But we should still train. Remember the lyrics of the song? Ten lords a-leaping… Nine ladies dancing… We don’t know what the challenges will be about exactly, but I figure it won’t hurt to prepare in advance and perhaps learn to dance a little and hone our high jump skills. Hoseok, can you give everyone a dance lesson?”

Hoseok jolts, surprised to hear his name out of nowhere. “Oh, s-sure.”

Namjoon turns to Jungkook. “And will you help oversee high-jump training, Jungkook?”

Jungkook gulps. He didn’t expect to hear his name either. “Uh, yeah.”

“Good.” Namjoon turns back to the table, voice deep and unwavering. “From now on, we train whenever we can. And look out for each other. If you see someone who needs help, don’t hesitate to ask them what you can do for them. If you need help, don’t hesitate to tell someone. Teamwork makes the dream work. We can do this. We’re all going home together. I promise.”

Jungkook likes it when Namjoon gets passionate in his speeches, the way his eyes shine, the way his chin juts out resolutely, the way he gestures expressively with his hands, the way he puts so much loving care into every word, which in turn carries the warmth and determination and wonder from Namjoon’s heart into those of his audience.

The motivational speech isn’t even that impressive. A bit cheesy, even. But Jungkook is no longer on the verge of tears. There’s a certain feeling of giddy hope in his chest, radiating in ripples through his body. He can tell that the rest of the class is affected, too, mostly just happy to have a plan laid out—not much of a plan, really, but at this point anything is better than nothing. A plan allows them to be productive, to feel like they’re at least doing something instead of wallowing in self-pity. They cling to the plan like a lifeline, and get right to work as soon as dinner is finished.

The class splits up into several groups. There are the people who continue to practice their aim, the people who practice working in pairs, the people working on their swimming technique in the pool, the people who get into four-person teams to hone their lachimolala skills. Yoongi starts an impromptu lesson on music theory (after all, parts of the lyrics go twelve drummers drumming and eleven pipers piping ), Hoseok opens a dance class, and Jungkook finds himself in the recreation room, building a makeshift high-jump training corner with a few mats and a pole.

Most of the classmates who decide to train with him are tall ones. There’s Kim Taejin, for example, the tallest guy in the class and the captain of the school’s drama club, with legs that go on for years. And there’s Go Taegi, the tallest girl in the class and an avid fangirl who talks to her Yeonjun photocards before going to bed every night. Both are naturals at high jumps and soon begin helping Jungkook coach some of the less experienced classmates, which he’s very grateful for.

Halfway through the training session, Jungkook moves to the side of the room to gulp down some water. Go Taegi joins him, mutters something about her back aching, and it takes a few moments of small talk and awkward eye contact for Jungkook to realize that, oh, here’s another person who wants to confide in him, Jeon Jungkook, the class’s official love guru.

Except Taegi isn’t here to talk about love, it turns out. The only reason she’s acting so embarrassed while trying to speak (despite being an outspoken person in general) is because, well, the subject she’s bringing up is not something you’d usually talk to your class jock about.

She finally manages to get it out. “So, see, I read fanfic. Lots of fanfic.”

Jungkook nods, not quite knowing what she’s getting at.

Taegi squeezes her eyes shut and opens them again, as if she can’t believe she’s here talking to Jungkook about this . “So yeah, fanfic. I read a lot of fanfic and um, you can judge me all you want—”

“I won’t judge you, promise,” Jungkook assures her quickly. Jimin reads fanfic too and Jungkook’s never found anything wrong with that.

Taegi looks grateful for a second. “Well, that’s great. Anyway, this is awkward but… this has been bugging me since the last challenge and I figured you could help me brainstorm, you know?”

Jungkook tries his best to look encouraging. Everyone else seems focused on their training, so he doesn’t think they’re in danger of being eavesdropped on.

“So, when that anaconda thing happened… when that anaconda demanded a kiss… not gonna lie, it reminded me of a fanfic I read. Don’t judge.”

Jungkook promises, again, that he’s not gonna judge, though naturally he’s like what the fuck inside because who reads fanfiction where people kiss anacondas? Not Jungkook, that’s for sure.

Taegi goes on. “So um, don’t judge but humans kissing anacondas and anacondas turning into handsome princes are far from the strangest things I’ve ever seen in the fanfic world, but I imagine that, like, from the perspective of you people, you know, people who don’t read fanfics, it’s not something that just occurs to you off the top of your head. So I was just thinking, like, from the perspective of whoever designed this. We’re thinking it might be a teacher, right? Or an angry civilian who has beef with the school…”

Oh right, Jungkook remembers. Taegi doesn’t suspect someone in the class yet. She’s one of the mass majority who’s blissfully unaware that there is likely a traitor in their midst.

“So yeah, I think we could narrow it down this way?” Taegi continues. “Like, we can eliminate people who are unlikely to read fanfics. Most of the teachers, probably. Can you imagine chemistry teacher Mr. Nam creating a game and putting a hot, kissable mer-anaconda in it? I can’t.”

Jungkook can’t either. Even if self-proclaimed righteous family man sixty-two-year-old Mr. Nam actually did read fanfic in secret, Jungkook cannot picture hot, kissable mer-anaconda being part of his, well, head-canon in any situation. Taegi has a point here. This eliminates a lot of suspects, except while Taegi is thinking about the teachers, Jungkook is thinking about his class.

Hoseok, for example. Jungkook can immediately eliminate Hoseok. He doesn’t like snakes, he doesn’t like thinking about snakes, if he had to make a game he would not put in any big snakes, simple as that. And he thinks he can safely eliminate Karen, because mer-anaconda is simply not the kind of thing that would ever cross her mind, even briefly. In fact he’s almost tempted to rule out pretty much half of the class based on his impression of them, but who knows, they can be secretly fanfic readers under their very-non-fic-reader facades. Hm.

“Do you know who else reads fanfic?” Jungkook asks Taegi, who stares at him.

“You mean in our class? Are you suspecting someone in our class? I mean, it does seem increasingly likely with each day that it’s one of us, but I don’t want to say it and turn everyone against each other, you know…”

“Yeah, same, I do kind of suspect it’s one of us,” Jungkook agrees, relieved that he’s achieved an understanding with Taegi without having to bring up Amanda and everything she told him. “I mean, the challenge where Namjoon and I had to pass papers with our lips… It felt like the designer of the challenges was right here among us, watching us.”

Taegi nods. “I know, right? So you want to know who reads fanfic? I’m not sure who doesn’t because some people probably do it in secret, but I do know that the cute artist girl trio does fan comics together… they’re NCTzens. Cookie Monster is a Yeonjun stan like me and he reads fics sometimes. Romy also reads, but not for any fandom in particular, she just follows certain tags. That’s as far as I know.”

A pause. Then Taegi turns to Jungkook, thoughtful. “You don’t think any of them could’ve done it?”

Jungkook shrugs. “I have no idea.” He forces a smile on his face. “But thanks for telling me this. I would’ve missed it if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

Taegi chuckles. “Well, I’m the class’s official fangirl, so. And I trust you.”

Now that surprises Jungkook a bit. Not that he doesn’t think he’s trustworthy himself, of course he is, but surely he isn’t more trustworthy than anyone else in the eyes of a random acquaintance like Taegi, right?

“I mean, it couldn’t have been you. If you were to create a challenge, you wouldn’t make Namjoon kiss an anaconda.” Taegi grins. “I could tell you’d rather stab yourself than watch it happen.”

Jungkook covers his face, not even bothering to deny it anymore. “Was it that obvious?”

Taegi pats him reassuringly on the shoulder before hopping off her seat and heading back to practice. “All I gotta say is you’re lucky that fewer than half of the class was watching by then, a lot of them thought you guys were dead meat and either started crying or refused to watch and went to another room.”

Jungkook groans and buries his face in his eyes. Gavin, who’s just walked in, asks him why he’s groaning, and Taegi explains that she just showed Jungkook her newly-composed smut fanfic.

Gavin scrunches his nose. “Ew, fanfic!” He shares a look of pure sympathy with Jungkook. “Ew, right?”

As he stalks off to the mats and the high-jump pole, Taegi exchanges a glance with Jungkook. Interesting. Does this mean that Gavin is likely off the hook? Not that Jungkook suspected Gavin in the first place, the guy was already juggling two girlfriends, he probably didn’t have time for game development.

Instead of going back to practice, Jungkook sits there for a little longer, running through the class roster in his head. Partly to attempt to figure out which ones of them are fanfic readers and which ones are not, and partly to… well, try to gauge which ones saw his very humiliating display of irate jealousy during the anaconda fiasco.

When Kim Taejin, the handsome drama club captain, strides over to Jungkook’s side a few moments later, Jungkook immediately knows that this guy is one of the ones who did not see his humiliating display of irate jealousy. Because he says he wants Jungkook to help him confess his love to his crush… and surely anyone who saw the display would realize that Jungkook is absolutely horrible at handling crushes.

Jungkook humors him anyway, asks him to tell him more, because apparently love guru is his job now. Kim Taejin, being the type that really likes hearing his own voice (which is understandable because it’s a very nice voice), is more than happy to oblige.

“I’ve had feelings for this person for a while now,” he admits between chugs of water where his adam’s apple bobs distractingly. “It’s intensified, though, these few days, where we’re all forced to live together in close proximity.”

“That’s totally understandable,” Jungkook says, gently, trying to be encouraging.

“I mean, he’s been nothing short of awe-inspiring over the past week. Oh, you have been too, Jungkook, if I hadn’t already had a crush I would be smitten by you by now—but anyway, everything my crush has done these days just further proves to me that he’s someone worthy of love and adoration, and I intend to shower him with exactly that. I want to give him bouquets, give him the moon and the stars, everything, and I don’t want to wait—I originally wanted to confess after we got back to school, but then I thought, hey, anything can happen, I can die tomorrow, so why not do it now, you know?”

“That sounds cool and romantic,” Jungkook admits, “and I’m glad that you’ve got all this figured out. I sure haven’t—I mean, anyway, what can I help you with? Sounds like you already know what to do. Get a bouquet from the interface shop, confess, and see what happens.”

Kim Taejin beams, sweat-drenched face shining radiantly. “Thanks for the encouragement, bro. I suppose I just want your advice because you know this guy better than I do, you know?”

Jungkook stares. He doesn’t know that many people well, certainly not when compared to Kim Taejin, the popular social butterfly whose drawer is always full of love letters from cute squealing freshmen. The only ones he’s probably more familiar with compared to Taejin are Jimin and Taehyung, but surely Taejin knows they’re taken? He may be prone to dramatic flairs, but he’s not stupid.

“Uh, who exactly do you mean—”

Before Jungkook can finish asking the question, Taejin is already prattling on. “See, I have a lot of sympathy for you guys, you know. When Jin and Jihope broke up, I chatted a bit with both of them, and I could tell that while they do care about each other, what love they shared had diminished under the pressure to act as the class’s ‘golden couple’. Every time the class hoots and cheers and makes a fuss over whatever tiny little thing they do, it’s another dent in their relationship. It’s really hard when your classmates are more invested in your relationship than you are, and I know you’re probably really tired of it by now—”

Jungkook blinks, the queasy feeling in his stomach intensifying as Taejin rambles on. What exactly is this guy getting at?

“—So, anyway, Jungkook, I know you’re probably tired of the class force-shipping you and Namjoon when you don’t even feel about him that way, so I’m sure you’ll be happy to help a bro out, yeah? Tell me, what does Namjoon like and what tips do you have for me when I confess to him?”

Chapter Text

Jungkook barely remembers the rest of the conversation with Taejin. Taejin talked a lot, about horoscopes and favorite ice cream flavors and how disappointed he was that one time when he wanted to play Jack in the school drama club’s Titanic remake but ended up being cast as Rose’s fiancé, but Jungkook wasn’t really listening. He mm ed and aah ed on autopilot, probably gave Taejin some generic advice too, but his mind was elsewhere. He hardly even registers it when Taejin gives him a grateful whack on the back and goes back to practice.

It’s hard for him to not feel inadequate, to be quite honest. Kim Taejin is cool and outspoken and has sculpted features and hair that always falls into his eyes at the perfect angle. He’s the captain of the drama club, has fans galore, runs a popular fashion account on TikTok, and has more pocket money than he knows what to do with. He’s taller than Namjoon too—not that it matters, of course, Jungkook tells himself, Namjoon doesn’t necessarily like taller men, but still. Jungkook would very much prefer to have the upper hand in the height department.

Kim Taejin is everything Jungkook is not. He can shower Namjoon with affection that Jungkook is too shy to give and spoil him with gifts that Jungkook cannot afford. How can Jungkook even compare?

He can see it happening now, in his head. Kim Taejin striding over to Namjoon on his long, spider-like legs, ninety-nine roses in hand. And he’d bow down, hair still impeccable, like he did that time he played the prince in the class’s performance last year for the schoolwide drama contest—

And Namjoon would smile. A smile that would shatter Jungkook’s poor little heart.

That’s how he finds himself wandering into Jimin’s arms a few moments later, just the two of them in the corner, watching five or six of their classmates honing their dancing skills. Hoseok is nowhere to be found, but the dancers seem to be having a good time without their instructor nevertheless. Jimin is perfectly capable of instructing, of course, but Jungkook needs him right now because this is an emergency .

Jimin laughs out loud when Jungkook tells him what exactly the emergency is. “Oh, my dear Kookie, you’re way more oblivious than I thought.”

“…What do you mean?”

Jimin reaches up to ruffle Jungkook’s hair fondly. “You’re devastated because you just discovered that you had a rival. The thing is, Taejin isn’t the only one. Heaps of people have crushes on Namjoonie, and tons of others have confessed already. Taejin is far from being your first and only rival.”

Jungkook’s mouth drops open. Wait, what? He has competition? A lot of competition? And he never even noticed?

Like, he can’t blame people for having feelings for Namjoon, he’s so damn lovable. Jungkook can see the logic in that. But… but… but what about him ? What about his happy ending?

Jungkook is aware that this is a very self-centered way of thinking. He can’t expect everyone to automatically cancel their feelings for someone just because it’s inconvenient for him. Love doesn’t work that way. Life is not a fairy tale. But… but…

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Jimin says, laughing. “Namjoon has been nothing but civil to these rivals of yours. Always friendly and polite, nothing more. I promise, out of all of them, you’re definitely Namjoon’s favorite.”

Jungkook stares, heart rate speeding up. “You really think so?”

Jimin grins. “Think about your interactions over the past few days. Would you call it civil, polite, forced?”

Jungkook can’t say he can.

“Yeah, that means he likes spending time with you. A lot.”

Jungkook hugs his knees tighter from his spot on the ground and sags into Jimin’s side. “You always know how to cheer me up the best.”

Jimin pats him on the back of his hand. “Well duh, that’s what best friends do.”

A brief silence. And then they both speak at once.

“Jimin, I’m sorry—”

“I wonder—”

Jungkook chuckles, a bit flustered. “You go first.”

“No, you go first.”

“No, you.”

“No, you. I mean, you were apologizing about something. I was just wondering if Taehyungie’s done training at the swimming pool yet. Yours is more serious.”

And that’s exactly why I don’t want to continue with it, Jungkook thinks, but he speaks anyway, letting his words tumble out clumsily.

“Um, I’m sorry for acting a bit weird these two days. I kind of had a lot on my mind—”

“I’m sure we all do. There’s no need to apologize for that.”

“…Yeah, but… it’s different. Um, I was being weird because I… because I…”

He can’t get the words out. How do you even tell your best friend that you’ve been worried that he’s an evil mastermind who designed a death game for his entire class, just because he’s good at lying and bad at lachimolala (and also reads fanfiction, Jungkook’s brain supplies)? Is telling him even the right thing to do? Wouldn’t it be better to just shut up?

But it’s too late to shut up now. Jimin is gazing at him quizzically, all soft smile and peach cheeks, and Jungkook knows there’s no turning back.

“…Because I was worried that you could be the one behind all this. The one who designed this game. I mean—” he doesn’t stop here, knows he can’t stop here, knows he must hurry and get his whole thought process out there before Jimin starts hating him and stops listening— “I mean, I started worrying that it could be one of us, one of the classmates, I mean, because so many things point to it being one of us, and my mind automatically assumed the worse, and I thought, what if it’s Jimin? And then my stupid brain tried to convince me like hey, why not? Jimin certainly is smart enough for this, and a good liar too! But then of course I knew that it couldn’t be you, you’d never do something like this, and I started feeling guilty and I’m sorry and it’s okay if you think I’m a shitty friend now and don’t want to be friends anymore, I totally understand and—”

“Dude, of course I want to be friends.” Jimin chuckles, not even giving Jungkook a few seconds to regret his outburst. “You’re not getting rid of me this easily.”

Jungkook blinks. Huh? This is too fast. He expected Jimin to stew over it for a bit at least. He expected there to be awkward silence, where he’d chew on his lip and hold back tears and wish he had never been born. “…You still want to be friends?”

Jimin reaches out and wraps one arm around Jungkook’s shoulder. “That would be a silly thing to stop being friends over, don’t you think? Especially considering how I suspected you too, at a point.”

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?” Jungkook exclaims. There’s no way it can be him ! He doesn’t know shit about coding. He wasn’t even familiar with half of his classmates, unlike Jimin. And he’s a bad liar. And he’s so preoccupied with Namjoon thoughts that if he were in charge of overseeing the game process, it would have been a total disaster.

Jimin laughs. “Yeah, I know it can’t be you, you’re too kind, too pure. But I was considering all possibilities and, well, you’re smart, Jungkookie. And you certainly do have the imagination—no offense but half of the class doesn’t. And the first challenge is an aim challenge, which is basically made for you. A perfect way for you to gain trust from the classmates, don’t you think? You’d swoop in and be the hero, kickstarting the very first challenge with an easy win, and you’d become the last person anyone would ever suspect.”

Jungkook stares, flabbergasted. He had never thought about it this way, but he supposes that it does make sense.

“So we’re even. Don’t worry, yeah? I know it’s not you. You know it’s not me…” Jimin says, then turns to face Jungkook suddenly. “Wait, was that what you’ve been angsting about the past couple days?”

Jungkook nods, a bit ashamed. For some reason, now that they’re talking it out, it feels like he had been making a big deal out of nothing. But it’s because he cares so much, he supposes. Because ever since that day in middle school when Jimin approached him, beaming bright, took him under his wing and accepted his quiet and weird mannerisms without question, he’s known that Jimin is someone he never wants to lose.

He doesn’t say this out loud to Jimin, that’s too embarrassing. He simply lies down, head in Jimin’s lap, and flashes his best friend his cheesiest bunny-faced grin.

“Brat,” Jimin mutters, stroking Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook’s never felt more at home.

It takes the two of them some time to find Taehyung, who’s practicing his breath-holding underwater. That isn’t what makes him so hard to spot. The main issue is that he’s invisible.

“The others kept getting worried and coming down to check on me, kept trying to pull me up to the surface,” Taehyung explains, later, when they’ve finally located him following the bubbles and are talking on the poolside bench, “but I knew I could’ve gone on for longer and I really wanted to test my limits, so I got frustrated and thought oh if only I were invisible! And then it just happened. I think it’s this ring.” He shows the two the ring he’s obtained from the previous challenge. Despite being a much larger size in the challenge, the golden band now fits securely on Taehyung’s ring finger.

“We were horrified,” Chu Jikook, one of the guys in Kim Taejin’s drama-loving clique, joins the conversation. “He just vanished! Just like that! We thought he was dead. We were like, oh no, Park Jimin’s gonna kill us, and then about a minute later he appeared again. It was ma-gic.”

“You guys should give it a try too,” says Kim Minjoo, a pretty girl who’s also there to train her swimming skills.

So Jungkook gives it a try. He’s already wearing his ring, though on his left hand as opposed to Taehyung’s right. He looks down at it and thinks, make me invisible —

And then he can no longer see his body. He moves his arms—he can feel them, they’re still there. And moves his legs—yes, still there too. But he can’t see them. Next to him, Jimin is saying something, but it’s all distorted. And then Jimin is gone too. Is this how it feels to be under the invisibility cloak? Jungkook wonders. Is this how Frodo feels when wearing his ring?

Jungkook has not, in fact, watched the Lord of the Rings, though he does know that it has a killer soundtrack. But from what he’s heard, using the ring to become invisible for too long can have adverse side effects. He’s not sure if this applies to his ring too, but better safe than sorry—and the distorted hearing is making him a bit loopy. He thinks all right, I want to stop being invisible, and his body immediately comes back into sight. Seconds later, Jimin has reappeared as well, presumably for the same reasons.

“This is cra-zy!” Chu Jikook hollers.

“We should find the other guys who have rings and tell them about this,” Taehyung says, shaking water out of his hair like a wet golden retriever. Jimin throws a large towel over him and they’re on their way.

Hoseok’s still not back with the dancing students, and Seokjin and Yoongi aren’t anywhere to be seen either, which is strange. They do find Namjoon sitting by a piano, lecturing Brad, Jordan, and Son Namjin on reading sheet music. As the lesson is pretty much done, Namjoon joins the three on their hunt for the rest of their little group, though not before testing the ring out himself and eliciting loud cheering from the bullies.

After searching the entire mansion to no avail, they finally return to their bedroom to find the other three there—and they’re all lying in Seokjin’s bed.

Normally, Jungkook thinks, Jimin and Taehyung might have bounced right over and joined them, because they’re Jimin and Taehyung and that’s what they do. But this is not normal circumstances. Seokjin is crying.

Seokjin never cries.

At least Jungkook’s never seen him cry. He’s always been the cool, the sophisticated, the cheerful class president, the one who’s good at everything, even opening bags of chips with his toes, the one everyone can rely upon.

But he’s crying now. The shattered, utterly heartbreaking kind of crying, as unhindered and undisguised as a baby’s wails. Yoongi and Hoseok, who are lying on either side of him and rubbing his back, each raise a finger to their lips.

“What’s going on?” Namjoon mouths.

“It’s not been easy.” Yoongi shrugs. “It’s been hard on all of us, so imagine how hard it must be for the class president.”

Imagine how hard it must be for the class president who just broke up with his long-time girlfriend.

“Should we leave?” Jimin whispers. “If you don’t want to be disturbed—”

“It’s fine,” Seokjin croaks, “I want you guys to stay.”

Jimin takes it as his cue to climb into the bed, except there really isn’t much space left since it’s a bunk for one and there are already three growing boys on it. Not to be deterred, Jimin maneuvers himself until he’s draping over half of Hoseok and half of Seokjin and rests his chin against Yoongi’s back with a content sigh.

“We need a bigger bed,” Taehyung complains.

And Jungkook is immediately reminded of the large, seven-person bed he saw in the interface shop back in the first day. It’s been a while and surely they’d have enough points for it—they’ve all been tackling challenges nonstop after all.

Namjoon seems to read his mind. “Buy the bed. I’ll transfer my points to you if you don’t have enough.”

It turns out points are not transferable, but there is an option for multiple people to each pay for a portion of the price of an item, and they manage to buy the bed without much hassle. This means, of course, that all the bunk beds in the room, pillows and all, have been automatically moved to their inventory because no way a seven-person bed would fit otherwise, but Jungkook is perfectly fine with that.

“Maybe we should all start stashing things in our inventory just in case. I mean, who knows, the stuff can come in useful in a challenge,” Seokjin says before plonking himself down on the mattress and bursting into tears again. Though upset, his brain is still working in overdrive, trying to figure out the best way to get everyone out of this alive. Jungkook understands how this feels. It’s like his brain has gotten no rest at all in the past few days. And it must have been worse for Seokjin, with all that responsibility on his broad shoulders.

“Yeah, maybe I can try and stick Mrs. Partridge into my inventory,” Jungkook jokes, voice soft, as he crawls onto the big bed too, next to Seokjin. It’s shaped like a gigantic purple clam shell, soft and velvety, and comes with a luxury of silky-smooth blankets and an abundance of plump pillows and huggable cushions.

Jungkook kicks a couple cushions aside. He doesn’t need them right now. He just wants to hug Seokjin.

He does, and Taehyung wraps his arms around him from behind, and on the opposite side there’s Jimin and Hoseok, and Yoongi and Namjoon join the pile last, completing the tightly-packed human sandwich despite there being all that space available.

“This is nice,” Seokjin mutters, even though he probably has a hard time breathing with all those limbs around him.

Jungkook agrees that it’s nice. Though he kind of wants to cry for some reason. Maybe it’s hormones. He could write a song about that. Call it War of Hormones.

As the room is filled with nothing but the warm, soft, rhythmic breathing of the seven members of the cuddle pile, Seokjin chuckles suddenly.

“You know, if there’s anything good to come out of this fucked-up situation,” he says, “it’s that it brought you guys to me.”

Chapter Text

Jungkook wakes up feeling unsettled. It's the sort of feeling that hounds you on certain days, even when you wake up on the right side of the bed and the birds are chirping outside. A sort of feeling where you just don't know why it feels like everything is going to go wrong. 

He's able to place it the moment he walks out of the room, freshly showered, hair dripping water, and he can sense the strange air of tension and spot everything that seems to be wrong at that moment. Sort of like one of those find-the-difference puzzles. Outwardly, everyone's doing what they usually do in the morning. Yoongi's in the kitchen making breakfast with Minnie and Seokjin, Amanda's buttering her toast, seemingly unbothered by the way Hopekook is half drooling on her shoulder as he continues napping, and Namsook has managed to fit herself into yet another tiny space with her pen and journal, today being in between the refrigerator and the shelves. It's a wonder none of the multiple people who're walking around the kitchen have tripped over her yet.

Outwardly, most things seem the same, but Jungkook can also see that Minnie is glaring at Inseol whenever their eyes meet. Amanda looks a little more dishevelled than usual. And there seems to be some sort of strange tension between Fairy Cub and Sugar Cookie. And that's all that Jungkook can notice. He thinks that if Namjoon were there, he'd be able to point out at least fifteen other things because he's just observant that way. 

And of course, as if all of that wasn't enough, somewhere down the hallway, a door slams shut with a bang and a few minutes later Karen comes huffing into the kitchen, wearing mismatched rubber bands in her hair.

Somehow, that one detail makes it feel like the world's going to end. 

"Who stole my face wash?" She snaps at the kitchen in large. 

Nobody says anything, which apparently just seems to piss her off even more because she rounds up on Minnie, wrenching the spatula out of her hand. 

"Was it you? I know it was you, you were looking at it, right?" She asks, eyes a little wild.

"It wasn't me," Minnie protests, trying to grab the spatula, but Karen just swings it around like it's a weapon.

"Don't lie," she says. "I know you wanted it."

"I would have bought it if I wanted it. Why would I steal face wash out of all things? And that too, yours," she adds, something close to a sneer on her usually passive face.

Karen narrows her eyes.

"What does that mean? What are you trying to say? Are you — "

Inseol coughs from the table, interrupting her.. "It can't be Minnie," he says, and for a moment Jungkook wonders if he's trying to step in and diffuse the situation, except — "She's too dumb for that. If it had been her, she'd probably have gotten caught holding it by now."

Hoseok drops his head against the wall, and Jungkook offers him a sympathetic look as he wonders when Hoseok, or most of the class for that matter, had shown up in the kitchen, probably intrigued by all the yelling. 

"That's rich coming from you," Minnie says icily, face a little red. "At least I won't be pushing someone to their death anytime soon." Still not taking her eyes off him, she unties her apron and tosses it on the floor. "At least whoever does a challenge with me won't have to fear for their life."

The silence that follows her statement is a little unnerving, everyone frozen in their spots as Inseol gapes at her before looking at the rest of the class, probably expecting someone to defend him, except…

Nobody does. Minnie pretty much voiced what all of them had been thinking, even if only unconsciously, Jungkook thinks, as nasty as that thought is. Because despite Namjoon’s uplifting speech on the previous day and hours of amicable co-training, now that everyone has had the chance to stew it over overnight and really think about Britknee’s “death”, the trust between the people in class has apparently reached an all time low, something Jungkook doesn't blame anyone for, because how do you know that the person you’ll be doing the challenge with won't push you to your death to save their own skin?

How do you trust? 

"You guys can't seriously believe it was deliberate!" Inseol cries, when it becomes clear that no one's going to speak up in his defense, least of all Karen, who's stopped her face wash tantrum to glare at him with deep seeded distrust. "It was an accident! We were both wriggling around inside the trash box thing, and she fell out by mistake. I didn't push her!"

And it's... plausible , Jungkook thinks. Inseol could be telling the truth and it could be an accident, but also…

"It's pretty much like Schrondinger's cat, though. We don't know what happened in there, so..." Hopekook trails off, and a few of the people around nod uncomfortably. 

"And besides," Fairy Cub goes on, "all three of you could have survived if you guys had gone back for the third chicken. You chose to make a fuss and start a fight instead. There was an alternative, it's not like you were on a time crunch or out of chickens."

"We panicked," Inseol snaps. "You try being in there, in that position, and tell me you wouldn't panic. It wasn't deliberate." He gets up from his seat, looking around at everyone once again, but when it becomes clear that no one will believe him, he storms out of the kitchen, his bowl of untouched cereal remaining miserably in the centre of the table.

"That was something," Yoonjin mutters. "He says he panicked, and expects us to believe him as if he hadn’t literally launched himself onto a girl and tried to take her chicken, as if he hadn’t always been an — " asshole, she doesn't say, choosing to let her words trail off, but it hangs in the air, dark and ominous. It leaves Jungkook feeling uncomfortable because, sure, Inseol is an asshole, but...

"Yeah, he’s shady, that much is obvious," Amanda speaks up, looking up from her table. "But to be fair, as righteous as we all like to believe we are, no one can really say what any of us would do in a situation where we're threatened."

And that... Jungkook hates it. He hates it mostly because it's true, because it means you can't trust anyone, because they're only on Day 6 and they're already falling apart, and the challenges are only going to become harder, and if it's going to be like this, will they even make it through all twelve days in one piece?

With this amount of suspicion and a terrible lack of teamwork?

Would they have to rely on the fact that they need each other in order to make it out everytime they stepped into a challenge?

"As true as that may be," Namjoon speaks up, voice soothing, "there's little merit in thinking of it like that because at the end of the day we'll all have to work together and I, for one, am going to choose to continue to believe that the people with me will have my back. Isn't that a better mindset to have, given that we're under a compulsion to trust one another, in any case?"

Amanda deflates, expression not so rigid anymore, and at least half the class exhales. Jungkook feels his own shoulders slumping in relief. 

"Namjoon to the rescue once again," Hoseok tells Jungkook, admiration on his face, as he settles down beside him at their table. "He’s so good at being convincing. If anyone else had said what he'd said people would have just scoffed and the argument would've continued."

"But he made sense!" Jungkook protests, because Namjoon had made sense, except… the more he thinks about it, Hoseok's right, Namjoon's words had been nothing but a basic platitude and trust me, trust us , and yet somehow most of the class had settled down. "How did he do that?"

Hoseok shrugs. "I think it has something to do with the way he speaks. There's something very reassuring about him. I haven't really figured it out either but I'm just glad that it didn't turn into as big of a mess as I expected."

"You expected this?" Jungkook asks, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Don't tell me you didn't see how antsy the whole class was right since the day started? I know you noticed it too."

Jungkook nods, because yes, he'd been feeling unsettled, but he had thought they had everything under control, with how smoothly things were going the previous night. He certainly didn’t expect people blowing up like this, especially not small, sweet Minnie.

"It's the sixth day. Britknee, for all purposes, was pushed to her death yesterday. The challenges are getting harder," Hoseok explains. "It was bound to happen. Everyone's getting angsty now that the novelty of the first few days has worn off and it's becoming more and more likely that more things are going to go wrong."

He’s right. "I didn't think of it that way." Jungkook turns to look at Hoseok, worriedly. "It's not going to get worse from here, is it?"

"I think it depends on today's challenges, to be honest," Hoseok admits. "If we all make it out today majorly unscathed and display some extraordinary teamwork, everyone’s nerves will be soothed somewhat, but..." He shrugs. "Don't fret too much. Like Nmajoonie said, we can't really do much at this point except trust blindly, so let's do it happily and with a lot of hope."

Jungkook exhales, determined, as Jimin brings over food. 

They'll be okay. Hopefully.

The mood doesn't improve over breakfast. 

"We've got to do something before the challenges are announced, this isn't good," Seokjin mutters into his coffee. "If everyone’s just sitting around like this in a sour mood when the challenges are announced... I don't even know how people are going to volunteer — "

"I'll take care of it," Taejin says, walking past their table, and Jungkook watches him with suspicious eyes. He looks too confident, too dressed-up, magician's hat and all, and is that a flower stem peeking out of his cuffs?

Yoongi notices his gaze and snorts. "That one's definitely leader of the drama club." 

"Today," Taejin starts, standing in the centre of the room and clapping his hands, "I'll be dedicating my performance to exactly one person." He pauses dramatically, and almost as if rehearsed, Chu Jikook, a fashionable dude also from the drama club, pops up from behind a chair, wearing an owl mask, and asks:

"Who is it? Who is it?" 

Half the class winces, and Yoongi leans over to whisper: "Should’ve said ‘who? who?’ Totally missed an opportunity to make a good pun."

"Too bad," Jungkook agrees, as Son Namjin, another drama club dude, pops up from under a chair, wearing a heart-shaped mask, and…

Jungkook thinks he knows where it's going and he hates it.

Hates it , as Namjin says, "I know! I know! Perhaps it's someone he wants to take out on a date!" 

Yoongi pats Jungkook’s arm consolingly, and Jungkook wants to ask how Yoongi knows Taejin's talking about Namjoon. Jungkook wants to ask if that's public knowledge too, or maybe Taejin had asked Yoongi for suggestions on how to woo Namjoon too, given that Yoongi and Namjoon are best friends, after all. 

Or maybe, Jungkook thinks, as he watches Taehyung pop up as part of their terrible skit, maybe at least half the class knew, because clearly, if his best friend is siding with the enemy....

"Taejin probably forced him," Yoongi reminds Jungkook lightly, but. He doesn't want to listen to it. Just like he doesn't want to listen to the slapstick that's happening right in front of his eyes or the serenade clearly aimed at Namjoon, even though Taejin's not mentioned who yet —

Though, honestly, if someone hasn't figured it out after hearing the words debate, dimples, and Joon in Taejin’s grand speech, Jungkook doesn't really know what to tell them. It's so obviously Namjoon, which is proven when Taejin pulls out a whole-ass chicken from his tophat and hands it to Namjoon “for safekeeping” , with a wink. 

Jungkook wonders how rude he'd seem if he left the dining hall right then.

Like, okay, good for them, but does he have to bear witness to all of it?

Especially when he sees Namjoon's smiling face, and can't help but feel slightly bitter because what had Jimin said? He doesn't look like that at everyone else? Well here he is, smiling at Taejin.

"It'd be terribly awkward if you left now," Yoongi murmurs, like he's read Jungkook’s mind, and Jungkook wants to say fuck it , and also fuck you , because can Yoongi stop being so calm and logical? And he would have done it except the mood of the class is finally improving, people are less tense (these people sure are easily amused, Jungkook thinks with annoyance), and he can't ruin the atmosphere again. So he grits his teeth and watches as the drama club minions and Taehyung, his traitor of a best friend, help Taejin serenade Namjoon, openly, throwing rose petals over him, and…

It goes on for ten minutes. 

Jungkook doesn't quite remember everything else that happens because he's practicing the art of not seeing with his eyes open and not hearing even though he hears everything and the only reason he knows it goes on for ten minutes is because he counted the amount of time he'd spent in hell, for documentation purposes. 

Of course, at the end of it, the class is in splits, and Namjoon's dimples have never dimpled as much as they do when Taejin finally presents him with a rose that's an ugly shade of purple, nevermind that everybody else seems to think it's pretty.

"Can I tuck it behind your ear?" Taejin asks, after Namjoon's fingers brush against his, around the stem of the rose, and Jungkook seethes, but there's nothing he can do except watch as Namjoon blushes and Taejin does the tucking, and …

It's terrible , whoever wrote that stupid script was terrible, and Jungkook would like a time turner so that he could’ve gotten out of bed like two hours later. 

He would also like compensation for the mental trauma he had to undergo, watching the whole class, that had been cheering for him and Namjoon previously, agree that Namjoon looks pretty next to the tall and handsome Taejin.

"So is that yes for a date?" Taejin asks, once the flowers have been placed where they need to and the chickens have been returned to their rightful owners. 

"Uh," Namjoon starts, cheeks still pink, and Jungkook feels hope bloom for a second, in his chest, as Namjoon looks his way —

"Aren't Namjoon and Jungkook a thing though?" Namsook's voice rings out, slightly indignant, and all the hope withers and dies in Jungkook's chest, even though good old Namsook is acting like the perfect wingman, because for some reason he has a feeling this is going to backfire terribly.

It does. Spectacularly. In a way that makes Jungkook want to dig a hole and bury himself in it. And, like, never come back out. Preferably not for the next six business days. After that, he’ll  just burrow his way back to Busan, his childhood home. 

Later, he'll wonder if Namjoon would have said no otherwise, and Namsook interfering on his behalf, with her misplaced loyalty, is what made things worse, because the moment Taejin hears that, he goes, "Oh, but I already spoke with Jungkook about it, and he's completely okay with it. In fact," he says, slinging an arm over Jungkook's shoulder as Namjoon raises an eyebrow in his direction, an expression that seems to say oh ? in the most doomspelling of ways, "in fact, Jungkookie here was the one who okayed most of my ideas." 

And Jungkook wants to scream no , wants to say I had nothing to do with it, I was merely used as a wall to bounce ideas off, except there's a terrible glint in Namjoon's eyes, and the words get stuck in his throat as Namjoon says, clearly, "Sure, why don't you take me out on a date tonight, after all the challenges?" 

Jungkook feels his heart break, shatter, and the leftover pieces shrivel under Namjoon's gaze because he's still looking at Jungkook when he says the words to Taejin, and oh , how cruel love is, how cruel —

"You started angsty and turned it into a melodrama," Yoongi grumbles, pinching his side, and Jungkook forces himself to tear his gaze away from Namjoon's lovely eyes, and…

"Stop getting into my head." He glares at Yoongi.