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Weeks later and Jungkook finally finds a friend of his own.
--
The School is a brutal place. People are sorted based on their powers and strengths, and the strong have the right to enjoy their school life while the weak remain prey to the constant glares and harsh laughter pointed their way. Sometimes those laughs become shoves. Sometimes those glares become dangerous things slipped into someone’s bag without him knowing. And almost all the time the result leads somewhere not as fun.
People who have any common sense look for a group to join the first few days that they arrive. If they are sorted with the strong, all the better. If they are weak, then at least they have each other. Like a swarm of confused flies they fly until they fall into sync with another swarm. And then they become normal.
--
“This is fucking pathetic,” Yoongi groans as Jungkook continues to eat his food in silence, his figure melding with the shadow of the wall. Completely ignoring the other, Jungkook proceeds to shove another large bite of rice into his mouth and chews with a light heart. No matter what his hyung says, he quite likes the fresh air and view of the empty field that he sees every afternoon. It’s a break from all of the judging, all the looks that people don’t even try to hide.
‘You’re pathetic, Jungkook,’ Yoongi calls again, and Jungkook shakes his head freely, no one looking at him to see him do so.
‘I like it here, hyung, don’t you?’ he asks with a small smile.
‘I don’t understand why you don’t just man up and eat in the cafeterias like everyone else does. Who cares if you’re alone? I’ve seen other dweebs eating alone with pride. If anyone tries to pick on you just roast them.’
‘Do you really want to be in a room filled with hundreds of people day after day?’ Jungkook asks back, and Yoongi freezes for a second in his answer.
‘Well,’ he says slowly after a while. ‘I gotta admit that was a good point.’ And Jungkook smiles with the spoon still in his mouth.
He’s just finishing his last bite of food (wistfully, if he must say--Jungkook’s always had quite the big appetite) when a small yip catches his attention, and Jungkook feels it going down the wrong way.
‘Hyung... did you just squeal?’ he manages to think coherently as he hacks at the floor, and the other hisses at him through his mind.
‘No, idiot! Look at the ground!’ Yoongi says, and Jungkook finds himself staring at the most adorable eyes of a fluffy brown puppy as it stares up at him curiously. Huh. So this was what they called love at first sight.
A smile blooms on his face as he bends down slowly, his own eyes staring back with the same amount of curiosity and adoration. “Hi,” he calls softly, and reaches his hand out.
The dog seems to stare at it, as if deciding a major choice, before it nudges it’s head against Jungkook’s palm, and the boy’s smile grows into a full out grin, white teeth showing and eyes glimmering. The puppy seems to enjoy his touch tremendously, as it yips cheerfully and wags its tail. In its excitement, it darts out a tongue to lick at the other’s hand, and a laugh escapes Jungkook’s lips.
“You’re adorable,” he says with wonder in his voice, and jumps slightly when his hyung scoffs.
“Finally meeting one of your kind, right?” Jungkook can hear the teasing tone in his voice, and he tilts his head as he tries to find any sort of identification on the puppy.
“It doesn’t have a name,” Jungkook says as his hand absently scratches the other’s belly, the puppy looking like it’s in total bliss.
‘Make it cool. Call him Brick or Lambchop or something. I kinda want lamb,’ the other drawls lazily. Jungkook remains quiet, and Yoongi scowls. ‘Hey, brat!’
“V,” Jungkook breathes out, his eyes not straying from the puppy. “I’ve always wanted a single letter name. Like the superheroes,” he adds with a small blush.
His mind is quiet for a minute, but then Yoongi laughs softly. “We should just call him Kook Jr. Looks kind of like you,” he says, but his voice is fond, and Jungkook lets a smile slip onto his face.
“V…?” he tries, and almost like it understands him, the puppy barks out a high tone of agreement. It nudges against him for a bit longer before Jungkook hears a small tolling in the distance, and the smile dims on his face. He looks up at the clock standing in the distance, and sure enough the lunch hour has passed. Slowly, he stands up, patting the puppy one last time on its head. The puppy watches him stand with wide, questioning eyes, and and when Jungkook waves goodbye to it the only reaction he receives in return is a tilt of the head.
However, when he turns to begin walking away, there is a slight tug at the leg of his pants, and he looks down to see the puppy trying to pull him in a certain direction, eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Of course, the thing doesn’t manage to move an inch. Jungkook breathes out a small laugh of delight, his face flushing in wonder again, and he bends down to try and separate himself from the creature.
“I’m sorry, I really have to go,” he tries again, but the puppy ignores him, and pulls on his leg just a little bit harder.
‘Why don’t you just follow the dog? He seems like he wants to bring you somewhere,’ Yoongi calls to him, and Jungkook‘s eyebrows furrow.
‘But I have class,’ Jungkook tries, and the other scoffs.
‘Screw class,’ the other says. ‘Stop trying to be a goody two shoes all the time and live a little. They say one thing you should do before you graduate is skip a class.’
‘Have you ever even had classes?’ Jungkook asks defensively, and Yoongi whistles in response. He can almost envision his hyung shrugging his shoulders with a smug face.
‘Class or not, the things I do are way more fun than your sorry life.’
Jungkook sighs, and the puppy whimpers. ‘Jungkook,’ Yoongi calls again. ‘That thing is begging you right now. I think it has a reason for doing what it’s doing.’
Jungkook manages a glimpse at the clock one more time, and he swallows before his hand falls to soft brown fur again. The critter stops its struggling momentarily. “Where do you want to take me..?” Jungkook asks hesitantly, and the puppy yips once before it runs a few feet forward. It turns back to sit on the ground and stare at him.
‘That is so cute,’ Jungkook thinks as he bites the inside of his cheeks, and Yoongi’s laughter rings distant in his mind. Slowly standing up, he makes to follow the dog.
The place he is led to is on the other side of the courtyard, also hidden in the shadows. Jungkook feels paranoid, as if every step he takes is one away from stepping on a landmine or some other tracking device. The lunch hours were already over, and he technically wasn’t supposed to be wandering around the school if he had no class, so being out in the open at this time is a slight risk on his part. However, his thoughts are interrupted as he nears the shadows, and the puppy disappears into one of the small openings between buildings. There is a slight silence for a while, but then a muffled voice is heard.
“I said go away…” the voice sounds like the person has been crying, and a sudden sense of dread fills Jungkook as he realizes that he is about to meet another human. He shuffles backwards, but his legs stop in their motion.
‘H-hyung,’ he calls wither fear in his voice, but Yoongi refuses to let him go anywhere but forward.
‘You didn’t expect to find just a random dog in the middle of the school now, did you? Of course it would have belonged to someone else,’ the other drawls in a lazy tone, and Jungkook shakes his head.
‘That’s not--’ he tries to say, but a small force pushes him forward by one step.
‘I won’t force you to do things you’re not comfortable with, Jungkook,’ Yoongi continues. ‘But as a hyung, I think sometimes taking one step forward could really change something.’
Almost as if on cue, the puppy starts to bark out in a desperate tone, and Jungkook swallows, before he presses his hands together and walks forward.
Behind the building, the puppy nudges on the leg of a person hunched over in shame. The figure won’t move, and Jungkook’s mouth feels dry.
“U-um, excuse me...?” he forces out. There is no movement for a while, before the balled up figure slowly unravels himself, and both pairs of eyes glint with recognition.
Jungkook recognizes him. He’s the short one, the one who was being picked on by his partner during their first lesson in his Strategics class.
From Jungkook’s first day and the wide eyed look present on the other’s face, he supposes the person hasn’t forgotten him yet, either. “Um, hello?” he greets, although it comes out more as a question than a salutation.
“Jeon Jungkook,” the boy calls with a surprised tone, and Jungkook flinches. Of course they all knew his name. “You’re skipping. A class. You?” he continues, and Jungkook finds himself flushing in embarrassment. Yoongi laughs.
‘I like him,’ he says.
‘You like anyone who judges me,’ Jungkook thinks bitterly.
‘No,’ Yoongi replies. ‘I like the ones who get puppies as summons. Shows me they’re harmless as fuck.’
Jungkook blinks at that. “The puppy’s a summon?” he asks out loud by accident, and he can see the way the other’s face falls into another round of disappointment. Oh shoot. Jungkook wasn’t the type to know how to deal with crying people. He couldn’t deal with people on a regular basis, even.
The person laughs bitterly. “Yeah, my first summon. Impressive, right? I’m the fucking laughing stock of the century,” he spits.
“I-I think it’s cute,” Jungkook says, but the person clicks his tongue.
“I don’t need cute--I don’t want cute. What can cute do in the Summoning Program? We’re supposed to be offense-based, not… not pacifiers or entertainers. I mean, I wasn’t expecting any human resemblance, but--this is too much for me,” he finishes with a sigh, and Jungkook remains quiet, unsure of what to say.
He’s heard about it before, the strength levels of the summons you make. The more human one appears, the stronger they are, or so it was said. Many end up with hybrids, some of the more unfortunate with just animals. Some who are lucky get human lookalikes, coming with powers or the like. He thinks back to his hazed memory of Yoongi-hyung’s appearance. There was no tail, no ears, no slightly off trait about him. When Jungkook was young and his hyung had come out into the real world for the first time, he was just warm looks and a soothing voice.
Jungkook’s eyes meet with the puppy’s, looking back at him with an unreadable expression.
‘I’ll say the thing matches his cute face,’ Yoongi tries, and Jungkook manages to hide the scowl that threatens to appear on his own.
‘Hyung, you’re not helping,’ he replies, and he feels the other shrug nonchalantly.
‘Just saying.’
“I’m sorry,” the higher pitched tone brings him out of his musings. “It must be such a waste of time, having to skip class because my puppy led you here just to hear someone ramble about how unfair life is.”
‘Damn right, at least he’s got something right today.’
‘Hyung,’ Jungkook hisses inside his head. “No, that’s okay. Your puppy. Um.” Jungkook fidgets with his hands. “It kept me company today, so I’m thankful to it,” he finishes lamely, and the other, for the first time, shoots him a sweet smile, and Jungkook blushes.
Yoongi whistles in his mind.
“I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself, Jungkook-ssi. I’m Park Jimin, from your Strategics class.”
Jungkook finds himself smiling back. “Jeon Jungkook,” he says, and Jimin laughs, bells twinkling in his voice.
“We all know you. Especially me, after you saved me from getting my ass kicked by that asshole a week ago. The professor loves you,” he muses, and Jungkook shrugs with a grimace of a smile before he goes to sit down next to the other, allowing his back to lean against the wall as well.
“They all do,” he admits with a small apology in his tone, and Jimin hums in agreement.
“There’s quite a bit of rumors going on about you, you know…” Jimin starts, and Jungkook finds himself shrinking into the ground. Oh no, not this again. “But at least I know now that one of them isn’t true,” he adds, and Jungkook turns to look at him with a questioning glance.
“People say you think you’re too good to be talking with them, but the way I see it you’re kind of just really shy, aren’t you?”
Jungkook shrugs at this. “I mean, it feels like whenever people look at me they’re expecting something from me, and I just don’t know how to react to that,” he admits for the first time. He doesn’t think he’s ever said this fear of his to anyone--he hasn’t even allowed himself to dwell on the fact in case Yoongi accidentally picks up on it, and it feels strange being able to say it out loud to someone he’s just met. But Jimin seems nice, like the type who wouldn’t judge him.
True enough, the other only smiles back, and goes to ruffle his head. Jungkook shakes himself away automatically. “How old are you, Jungkookie?” he asks, and the nickname takes the other aback for a bit.
“Um, I’m a first year right now,” Jungkook replies, and Jimin looks at him in shock.
“And you’re in the Strategics class?” he asks. Jungkook nods, looking at the ground. “You. A first year Applier. In the Strategics class for the offense sections.”
“Do you have a problem with it?” Jungkook mumbles, and maybe the other feels the hostility in his tone because he lets the subject drop.
“You’re my little brother’s age,” Jimin says instead, and he goes on to pat the puppy’s head, who jumps into his lap with a comfortable expression. Jungkook watches the exchange from the corner of his eye.
“It sucks, but I don’t hate him,” Jimin says. “He’s my first ever attempt at a familiar. I couldn’t hate him even if I tried.”
Jungkook finds himself smiling at that. “Um, have you given him a name?” he asks, and Jimin turns to him with a confused look.
“Familiars usually come with their names already,” he explains, and Jungkook opens his mouth in understanding, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “But it’s not like I can figure out his name, since I can’t seem to speak to it. Usually people can telepathically communicate with their summons, but mine is an exception in so many ways,” Jimin sighs again, flattened out hand turning into one stretched out finger to poke the puppy on the stomach playfully. “I guess I should come up with something to call it until I can find a way to ask it for its real name,” he says.
“V,” Jungkook blurts out, and Jimin looks over at him. The puppy barks to attention at his nickname. “That’s what I called him a few minutes ago,” he admits with a sheepish smile, and Jimin scrunches up his nose in confusion.
“Why V?”
“...I think one letter names are cool.”
“...”
The other bursts into a laugh, eyes crinkling up, and Jungkook gives him a frown, but on the inside he feels lighter than he ever has before. ‘Hyung,’ he calls as he lets himself to laugh along with the other. ‘Thank you.’
Yoongi doesn’t reply, but a small warmth flows through his body, and Jungkook feels the other’s acknowledgement.
--
A chair scrapes from next to him, and Jungkook looks up from the table with a start, his conversation with Yoongi being interrupted. He finds himself looking into the bright smile of Jimin, and he finds the ends of his lips curling up as a reply. “Hi, Jimin,” he says, and the other scowls.
“Hey, I’m a second year, you know. You should really be calling me hyung.”
“Okay, Jiminie-hyung,” Jungkook repeats, but his tone is filled with mirth, and the other makes to hit him playfully on the shoulder. When their slight bickering settles down, however, he realizes that the room is filled with more than just pointless conversation. Specifically, there are a few pairs of eyes trained on the two of them, mouths moving silently in what was surely judging whispers. He swallows, automatically, suddenly afraid. “Um, hyung,” he calls. “Are you sure you want to sit with me?”
Jimin blinks at him, before he nods like it is the most obvious thing in the world. “Of course. You’re a friend, Jungkook, why wouldn’t I?”
“No, it’s just… I’m not really liked here.”
Jimin shrugs slightly. “I guess that makes two of us,” he says, and Jungkook gives him a questioning look. “I told you about being the laughing-stock of the century, right? People haven’t necessarily been wanting to talk to me much, either. Plus,” he continues, looking around the room. “None of the few friends I have are even in this class. They’re waiting for next year. So I’m all alone right now. Better with you than with no one, right?”
Jungkook ‘ahhs’ in understanding. “Why are you taking this class as a second year, then?”
“Thought it would help me grow if I learned how to control my body a bit earlier. How about you? You’re still a first year. How did you get into this class, even?”
Jungkook blushes slightly. “I--there was a conversation I had with a professor, and something ended up happening,” he mumbles, and Jimin raises an eyebrow but doesn’t pry.
“Hey,” he calls instead. “So I heard that today was another hands-on lesson. Wanna’ be sparring partners?”
Jungkook blinks, before he lets a smile slip through his face. “Yeah,” he breathes.
At this time, the door slides open, and almost unnaturally the whole room becomes dead silent. The tension makes Jungkook gulp nervously as he tries to avoid shifting his eyes as the professor bores holes into each and every one of them. When his eyes meet Jungkook’s, there is a slight glint in them, and Jungkook swallows with a dry mouth.
‘He really likes you huh,’ Yoongi whistles in his head, and the familiar tone brings a feeling of warmth to him.
‘That’s just pressuring,’ Jungkook replies, pressing his lips together, and Yoongi breathes out something close to a sigh of laughter in response. At this time, the professor opens his mouth, however, and Jungkook puts his hyung’s voice in the back of his mind.
“Fifty of you,” the man says, his gruff voice echoing in the room. “34 Wielders, 15 Summoners…” he pauses for a second, and Jungkook tries to shrink himself into his seat as inconspicuously as possible. He already feels the gazes directing themselves towards him. “...one Applier. I take it you all are well into the school year that you’ve learnt enough skill sets to apply in real life,” he states. Of course, there is no response, and the professor continues. “And so today’s sparring lesson will require you to use your skill sets along with our newly learned movements and tactics in harmony to provide the ultimate balance of defense and offense.”
“This class is two hours long. And I’ve already wasted five precious minutes talking at you about things you should already know. We will be gathering on the field in ten minutes. Find a sparring partner and space yourselves out evenly. Because it will be hard to keep an eye on all of you to make sure you don’t cause trouble, I have invited some guests from your respective departments to keep an eye on you. We will meet again outside.”
With one last glance around the room, the professor strides out, and almost immediately the place turns into a bustle. People scramble to find friends in the same class, some scrambling to pick out those that seem slightly weaker, and the weak trying to scramble for the even weaker.
Jungkook glances over at Jimin, who looks almost as lost as him. As if feeling his gaze, Jimin meets his eyes, and smiles with a shrug. “Well, I guess both of us are kind of lacking today, so it’ll even out?” he suggests, and Jungkook laughs weakly at his statement. “Anyways, we should get out before anyone tries to make a fuss,” the other says, not waiting for an answer before he grabs Jungkook by the arm and leads him to the window.
The other doesn’t realize what’s happening until he sees Jimin’s foot on the windowsill, and then nearly jumps back from shock, pulling the other back with him. “You--Are you trying to kill yourself?!” Jungkook panics, and Jimin gives him a strange look.
“What,” he replies. “You don’t know how to scale heights?” He sees the other’s scandalized look and his face breaks out into a smile. “Ah, right, Applier. I forgot,” he says, but his tone isn’t hostile in any way, and he makes to take Jungkook’s hand again, this time holding on with a confident smile. “Okay, just trust me. It’s more fun than it seems.”
“We’re on the fourth floor,” Jungkook begins, but the other only nods as if it’s normal.
“It’s only four floors, it’ll be fine,” he tugs slightly at Jungkook’s hand, and the other looks at the ceiling high above their heads, unsure.
“Okay…” he finds himself saying, and then he sees a blindingly bright smile for a split second before Jimin rushes out of the window without hesitation. Jungkook barely has enough time to watch in awe, because the next second he feels himself getting pulled along, and the gaining speed scratches his face as he goes down.
“Just run and jump!” he hears a distant voice call, and he’s not sure what happens but something scrape against his shoes, and Jungkook finds himself kicking his legs quickly in order to stabilize himself. He feels himself running horizontally down, the ground getting closer and closer, and then there’s another force pulling him, and suddenly all the blood is rushing to his head as the world stills around him.
The next few moments Jungkook vaguely realizes are spent in the arms of another person, but he has to hold on in order to calm his churning stomach. However, that doesn’t bother him much. What he really feels is the tingling on his skin and the pounding of his heart.
“Holy shit, that was--” Jungkook gasps, looking up excitedly, only to stop abruptly at the sight of deep, brown eyes boring back into him, and full lips curled into a soft smile. This close, he can see the small stubbles of hair on the other’s face, and the smile previously donning Jungkook’s face dims into a look of entrancement (he hadn’t even realized he was smiling).
“Fun, right?” Jimin finishes for him, the warm air fanning onto Jungkook’s face. The shiver that runs up his spine serves as a wake up call, and Jungkook rips himself out of the other’s hold so fast he nearly falls as a result. He can feel his face getting hot, and makes to rub one hand against his right cheek. Indeed, the coolness of his palm soothes his nerves.
Jimin doesn’t seem to realize the internal turmoil going on in the other’s mind, and he turns around to survey the area for a good place to practice. “How about the near the walls?” he asks, pointing to the walls that separate the campus of the school from the rest of the world. “We can use them strategically--or I can teach you how to, I don’t know-- and it’s out of the sun so it won’t hinder us. Unless you want to use that, then…”
“The walls sound good,” Jungkook calls out, jogging slightly to catch up to the summoner. “You really know your stuff,” he says and Jimin smiles at the compliment.
“I am a second year. I should know it, or else I’d be screwed in this school.”
“Ah, right. I forget sometimes,” he says, and Jimin turns to look at him with an offended look.
“Why? Because I’m too short? I’m hurt.”
“Wh-wha--no, I just meant--” but Jimin bursts into a fit of giggles at the younger’s face, leaving Jungkook watching with a lost expression.
“I was kidding, Jungkookie, relax a little,” Jimin says.
Jungkookie. It was the second time he had heard the other use that nickname.
Jungkook falls back in step with the other, a smile on his lips. He’s never had anyone close enough to him to give him a nickname. No one but his parents and Yoongi-hyung when the other was feeling happy (although Yoongi tends to call him brat and kid just as much to rid Jungkook of any happiness he would feel at the familiarity).
“I actually never realized, but now that you mention it, you’re pretty short for a second year, huh?”
At this, Jimin scowls, and the two fall into an easy laughter afterwards.
--
Practice goes well until Jungkook and Jimin are told to stay at the end of class.
“Of course he would’ve noticed,” Jimin says, and Jungkook gives him a confused look. “I’m a Summoner. You’re an Applier. We didn’t use any of our learnt skills. All we did was spar. He’s going to call us out.” He looks over to see his dongsaeng jittering in nervousness, and lets out a small reassuring smile.
“You’re not scared?” Jungkook asks him, before he berates himself for sounding like an immature child.
“I am, actually. But we both kind of have a reason for why we did what we did today. Also--” he breaks off with an embarrassed laugh, and mumbles something Jungkook can’t quite hear well.
“Hm?” Jungkook asks, but the other shakes his head and turns away.
‘He said he doesn’t want to show himself as an idiot to you,’ Yoongi’s voice suddenly pops in his head, and Jungkook flinches slightly at the sudden intrusion of his thoughts.
‘Hyung,’ he calls. ‘Where were you the whole lesson?’ he asks, but there is no answer again. His mind is strangely silent , as it has been for the past two hours, and the feeling is unsettling. ‘Hyung?’
“Would you two care to explain to me,” a voice cuts off his thoughts, and Jungkook is brought back to reality by the tone of his professor’s tone. it is cold, that much he had expected, but other than that he can make out… nothing. Any other emotion the man might have been feeling is so well masked that his gaze looks to be a shell of a human mask, and Jungkook gulps at the sight. “...why you have not abided by my rules?”
Jungkook takes a deep breath, trying to hold down the small trembles in his breath, and a voice speaks up next to him.
“Professor, we both deemed it to be a nuisance to try and involve our abilities in a physical lesson, and thought it would have been more helpful to have carried on without such addition,” Jimin speaks up next to him, and Jungkook’s eyes flit over for a split second before they return to their original direction in between his professor’s eyes.
The man maintains his calm composure as he examines the two of them, before he speaks up again. “As a first year Applier,” he begins, looking over at Jungkook, who matches his gaze with a respectful one, “I suppose it is expected to not have learned the maximum usage of your knowledge. I admit I may have been expecting a bit too much from you,” he states.
Jungkook’s eyes fall to the ground. Of course, this is what happens whenever one places too many expectations onto him--they become disappointed. Because it’s just impossible for him to carry out all of their wishes. ‘But no one seems to realize that,’ he thinks to himself bitterly.
But the professor doesn’t allow him to dwell too much on his words, and instead immediately turns to Jimin. “However, for a second year Summoner, I believe you should know that one’s familiar will come to be his or her greatest strength, and the only reason to believe any weaknesses to be showing is because of their inexperience,” he states. Jungkook sees Jimin lower his head slightly. “With practice, comes familiarity. And with familiarity, becomes the comfort that is strength.”
Jimin doesn’t say anything, however, and the silence that falls over the three of them feels almost suffocating. “How many times have you called out to your familiar so far?” The professor finally asks.
“One, sir,” the quiet answer has even Jungkook snapping his head over with wide eyes. One? But that would’ve meant that other than the first time of contract, the other hasn’t even tried to call out his familiar again. An image of wide brown eyes and soft, squishy paws flashes in Jungkook’s mind again. He doesn’t really know what the other dimension is like, where all the familiars reside, but from his conversations with Yoongi he supposes it can’t be much different. He thinks of the puppy, V, again, sitting quietly in the corner of a lone room, and a huge sense of guilt begins to overwhelm him.
Outside of his thoughts, a similar conversation is taking place, although this one more tense, more accusing. Jungkook is snapped out of his thoughts by a small hint of desperation and a loud gasp of air. When he looks back up, Jimin is a few feet away from him, eyes wide and body in a wary stance.
Jungkook blinks. What had just happened? But then there is another shadow moving in the open space, fast enough that Jungkook almost misses it. He blinks again, and then Jimin is thrown back slightly, his feet able to avoid only some of the force. A sense of alarm fills, and he looks over at his professor, who stands still in his position. “S-sir,” he calls, but the man replies without sparing him a glance.
“Stand still, Jeon Jungkook. Right now I am teaching the boy a lesson about familiars.”
Jungkook is torn, his fingers twitching slightly. It happens to him a lot, the overwhelming urge to fidget, step up maybe, just do anything when something doesn’t sit well with him, but this time, Yoongi’s voice isn’t there to tell him right from wrong. It’s a little eye-opening, how much reason his hyung had given him throughout the years.
“What… are you teaching him?” Jungkook asks. “Sir, if you are trying to tell him the importance of the bond between people and their familiars, I think you’re going a little too far--” he breaks off when he sees the other choke out a cough after getting a kick to the stomach. “He’ll get hurt, sir.”
“The very first thing a summoner is taught during their first week at this school,” the professor starts, “is the importance of trust and loyalty in a bond between summoner and familiar. It is impossible for a summon to be successful without the summoner pouring his heart into the process, and impossible without a familiar having enough respect to trust the other with its life in another world. Knowing that, and the fact that I have not received news from the Summoning Department about a failed summon in my class yet, it is safe to assume that the same applies to that boy over there.”
“But his summon’s just a puppy!” He retaliates quickly, but his eyes widen and he snaps his mouth shut when the professor looks over at him with widening eyes, a glint starting to show in his pupils. Oh no, he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say that out loud.
“A puppy…” the professor repeats, now a small smile creeping its way onto his lips. Jungkook isn’t sure if the expression is supposed to be comforting or concerning. “Very interesting indeed…” The man turns silent for a few seconds as Jungkook stands nervously by his side, gaze flitting to and from the man next to him and the scene unfolding on the field.
Jimin seems much dirtier than before, no doubt a result of being kicked to the ground many times. The figure that aims at him has on a bored expression, eyes glossing its surroundings as it swings its body towards the other.
“Well then, Jeon Jungkook,” his professor’s voice makes him flinch in surprise. “As a summoner myself, I must say I have never heard of a summon that wasn’t able to conjure up a considerable amount of strength, no matter how ‘weak’ you inexperienced fools like to label them as. Especially if they have the potential to cross the gate from their dimension to ours.”
“S...ir?” Jungkook calls, not quite understanding what the man is saying. The other seems to be musing to himself, however, and then his eyes widen slightly before they school into the neutral, calculating expression that he is known for. His gaze flickers over to the younger.
“However,” he states, “if you really wish, you may attempt to intervene in this foolish spar between the two. Your addition may make a quicker result, if my hypothesis is correct.” Jungkook blinks at him in confusion, but the professor only gives him a wry smile that seems to be laced with amusement and… expectation? WIthout another second for Jungkook to process this look, he feels a large force ramming into him, and he gasps as he is thrown backwards, right into the middle of the spar between the two.
“Wha--” he barely manages to make out before his legs move out of reflex to avoid the incoming kick.
“Jungkook-” he hears Jimin say his name in shock, but then a grunt sounds. When he glances back, the other looks as if he is pressed to the floor, trying to pick himself up with difficulty. “Jungkook--” he gasps, “watch out!”
Jungkook turns around in time to see a shadow flashing past his vision, and then he feels himself thrown backwards and the air forced out of his lungs. Jungkook coughs, his vision going hazy, and he feels a small trembling from inside him.
‘Hyung,’ he calls, gritting his teeth when he feels another gust of air blowing him back harshly.
‘Jungkook,’ the other calls, but his voice sounds uncertain. ‘I think that guy’s on to something,’ he says, and Jungkook coughs loudly as he barely manages to dodge the next hit. He can feel some of Yoongi’s power leaking into him, but it seems restrained, like Yoongi himself is giving Jungkook only enough energy to dodge the most fatal of blows. ‘This might hurt a bit, but stop moving.’
‘Stop… moving?’ Jungkook says, and his feet hesitate on their movement, but they move on instinct once again when Jungkook catches a glimpse of the professor’s summon. ‘No no no no, hyung, that is not a good idea--’
‘Trust me, Kook,’ Yoongi says. ‘I think I know what’s going on. I’ll prevent you from getting too hurt. Just stop moving.’
Jungkook looks around him wildly, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure in the shadows, before he swallows and lets himself slump to the ground. He can hear Jimin calling out to him in worry, but he squeezes his eyes shut, in hopes that it will lessen the oncoming pain.
“Jungkook, what are you doing?!”
He feels himself being kicked, punched, thrown, something off the ground, but true to Yoongi’s words, the force doesn’t make as big of an impact as it did before. In fact, it feels as if Jungkook was kicked while wearing a metal armor of some sort, because the force is lessened and spreads throughout his whole upper body instead of being concentrated in one spot.
However, the dizziness from being thrown all over the place seems to have remained, and when Jungkook opens his eyes his head lolls from one side to the other helplessly. Jungkook swallows heavily, trying to clear his head, and ends up dry-heaving. His gaze meets the other’s from a few meters away, and Jimin’s expression is dark and worried.
But he only sees it for a split second, because in the next the figure is above him again, shielding him from any other sight, and Jungkook watches as the thing raises its arms in what seems to be the final blow. Jungkook is frozen, but he thinks of Yoongi and clenches his eyes tightly closed.
And the pain never comes.
Instead, there is a loud exploding noise as Jungkook feels the air around him shifting rapidly. He hears the ground crumbling around him, and when the air clears enough so that small pebbles and drafts of dirt are no longer hitting his face he lets himself open one eye experimentally, before the other one quickly follows.
In front of him is a slim figure, hands grasping onto the figure with a sort of ease, and Jungkook lets his mouth open slowly in awe and confusion. He spares a glance over to his hyung at the side, and Jimin’s own expression of shock is almost comical, eyes blown and jaw dropped as he stares continuously from the figure to his own hands.
“W-wha--what did I…” Jungkook hears him breathe, and then it clicks.
His gaze falls back to the figure, or rather the familiar shade brown hair on his head, and it couldn’t be, but…
“...V..?” he calls uncertainly.
The other figure turns around to show a stunning young boy looking back at him with a wide smile. He looks almost his age, and Jungkook’s eyes are drawn to the other’s, large and a clear brown, just like he recalls.
“Hi!” he chirps in greeting, and his voice reminds Jungkook so much of the cheerful, excited bark of that brown puppy he had met, despite the addition of the deep timbre to it. I’m Taehyung,” he says with a sweet smile. “But you can also call me ‘V.’”