Chapter Text
The night was warm and the air full of promises. One could almost say there was something magical about the evening. But that would be stupid, because this was college, and if there was one place where fairy tales and magic don’t exist, it was college. Bangtan Sonyeondan was ready to enjoy their last night of freedom before classes began on Monday.
For the group’s fearless leader, Kim Namjoon, the party was a way to shake off the stress of his step family. His step brothers bullied him into doing all the housework for the week, and his hands were rubbed raw from cleaning the stains from their underwear. All he really wanted was a drink, preferably of the strongest liquor he could get his hands on.
Jung Hoseok had the bright idea to bring his younger cousin, Jeon Jungkook, to his first college party. Jungkook however, was a little worried. He did not do well in large groups of people, especially those he didn’t know and especially especially groups with girls.
Park Jimin could barely contain his excitement, jumping up and down like a newborn, wriggly puppy. It was his first college party, and he couldn’t wait to get drunk. (Oh how disappointed he would be when found out the only alcohol at this specific party would be cheap beer and hunch punch.)
Min Yoongi and Kim Taehyung were like-minded in their displeasure of the evening. Yoongi was in the middle of writing his mixtape (due to drop at an as of yet unforeseeable future time) and Taehyung just didn’t want to go due to the meat market of cat-calls and casual pawing of bodies.
Sweet mama Kim Seokjin had a bad feeling that this evening was not going to go as smoothly as everyone else seemed to think, and vowed to himself that he would take care of his little babies.
At the party, the group dispersed like dust in the wind. Namjoon went to the kitchen and scooped a red solo cup full of hunch punch from the tepid cooler in the center of the room, making note of some guys doing keg standing on the back porch. Hm, Namjoon thought, that looks like fun.
As soon as Jungkook and Hoseok entered, a group of girls with ruby red lips and tight pants swarmed the duo, attracted by their looks and charisma.
SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT, Jungkook mentally screamed, I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE. While the pack of hormonal wildebeests preyed on Hoseok’s smile, Jungkook slipped away down the nearest hallway and tumbled into the first doorway on the right, breathing a sigh of relief when the harsh white light characteristic of cheap bathrooms illuminated a simple toilet, bath and shower combo, and pedestal sink. Slightly traumatized from his first run-in with college girls, Jungkook grabbed the closest thing to him for comfort, which turned out to be the plunger of all things, and plopped down onto the closed toilet lid in shock.
Jimin followed Namjoon into the kitchen, expecting a full bar and being severely disappointed with the classic option of hunch punch and cheap beer. For his first official college drink, he went with the hunch punch, because go big or go home, right?
Yoongi, still thoroughly displeased and giving into his more grandpa-like tendencies, attempted to find a quiet place to work on his music. Quickly realizing that nowhere was quiet, Yoongi settled into a sofa sticky with sweat, alcohol, and probably other unmentionable things, and tried not to think about it. With a sigh, he settled his expensive headphones around his neck, and pulled his laptop out of his satchel, opening up Ableton Live (not sponsored, I wish) music editing software and got down to work.
Taehyung knew immediately that the night was not going to end well as soon as he opened the door and narrowly missed a freshman running outside to throw up. However, he wouldn’t leave his hyungs, and they wanted to come out, so apparently he was staying for the next few foreseeable hours. He wandered past the living room and into the den, seeing some guys playing beer pong. He observed for a few minutes, quickly picking up the gist of the game, and put on his most innocent face, ready to hustle the shit out of some upper classmen.
Hoseok, freed from the talons of the girls, turned to consult his cousin on what he wanted to do first. He quickly discovered that his little Jungkook was missing, and frantically began calling for him. “Jungkook-ah! JUNGKOOK-AH! WHERE ARE YOU?!” However, his voice could barely carry over the pounding bass and rhythmic beat of LMFAO’s “Shots”.
Seokjin, his spider senses tingling, looked up from his conversation with the cute girl he sat next to in Philosophy 101 last semester and began looking for the source of distress. He noticed Hoseok running around like a chicken with his head cut off (and screaming like one too, probably, although he couldn’t hear him), and went over to check on him.
“Hyung, I can’t find Kookie!” Hoseok exclaimed.
“Well, where did you last see him?” Seokjin patiently questioned.
“Well, we were at the door, and this group of girls, you know they love me, came up and started - oh. Oh no. Kookie has this weird phobia of girls. Like, he’s terrified of them. He can’t make eye contact, he gets all sweaty, he hyperventilates, actually that reminds me of this one time when -”
“Focus Hoseok!”
“Right, right, sorry, but yea, long story short, he’s probably off hiding in a closet or something having a panic attack,” Hoseok finished.
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE WAS PRONE TO PANIC ATTACKS?!? WHY WOULD YOU BRING HIM SOMEWHERE WHERE YOU KNOW THERE WOULD BE GIRLS AND DRUNK PEOPLE WHO WOULD TRAUMATIZE HIM? HOSEOK WHAT MADE YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!” Seokjin yelled.
“Well, I thought it would kinda be like immersion therapy, you know. Like we learned in psych last semester, where we throw him into a really intense thing and he gets better faster -”
“Yah, did you sleep through that class too? It doesn’t work like that!” Jin sighed, done with Hoseok’s antics. “Look, I’ll search upstairs, and you search downstairs. I’ll have my phone if you need me. Text me if you find him, and I’ll do the same for you, ok?”
“Ok, sounds good. You’re the best hyung,” Hoseok complimented, smiling up at the older boy.
“I know,” Seokjin smiled.