Chapter Text
Jungkook could read minds.
It's a strange story. It could be said he was born with that ability; there's no explanation for it.
As a baby, he cried a lot and suffered from headaches and migraines that were terrible for a newborn. His mother feared for her son, so she didn't hesitate to take him for tests. The doctors told her that Jungkook had a deformity in his brain. Something very small and almost imperceptible to an adult human brain, but something large for a baby. Since they couldn't clearly distinguish what it was, they feared it was a brain tumor, that it would grow and bring worse consequences for Jungkook. In that moment, they told the woman that her little boy would live with constant headaches, that if they didn't lessen as Jungkook grew, it would have to be removed at a certain age.
Fortunate, Jungkook grew up and the headaches diminished. His head grew larger, but the "tumor" didn't. As he grew older, Jungkook became aware of what was going on in his mind. He realized what were these words that echoed in his mind when others around him were silent.
He still cried a lot, but no longer because of the physical pain in his head, but because of the mental exhaustion caused by receiving so many foreign thoughts in his mind when he was away. At home, it was just him and his mom, and she was very confused about how her 6-year-old son could guess what she was thinking or what she was about to say before she even opened her mouth. Soon everything clicked for both of them and they understood Jungkook's new ability. And since it didn't affect the kid physically at all, the visits to the doctor ended.
His mother he tried hard to learn, looking for the best for her children and ideated exercises and practices so that her son would learn to control his superpower. At the same time, she learned to control her thoughts when she was with her son.
Thus, Jungkook was able to have a "normal" life, because he obviously used his ability for his own benefit, such as getting the answers to a test, knowing what a person wanted to avoid conflicts, without ever taking it further.
And that's how we get to the junior year of high school. Jungkook was walking through the halls of his school next to his friend Jimin, doing his daily job of managing the amount of thoughts that echoed in his mind being surrounded by so many people. He was doing his best to silence the loud noise in his mind to listen closely to his chatty friend, who had been talking about his crush on Yoongi hyung for 5 long minutes.
Min Yoongi was a popular guy at school who got along with everyone, perhaps because he said what people wanted to hear with his short yes and no answers, since he wasn't really a man of many words.
Jimin always talked about him and the "magical glances" they shared at class, even when their face-to-face interactions didn't last more than a minute.
In fact, Jimin was walking Jungkook to that place in school where it was very likely that they would meet Yoongi by chance, because the older one always passed by there on his way to his classes. And as a daily routine, Jimin would ask Jungkook to read Min's mind to know what he was thinking when he sees Jimin. But Jungkook didn't really have much to say about it.
Yes, Jungkook has told Jimin about his ability because he proved that he was very trustworthy, and since they started high school, they became close friends very quickly. By then, Jimin had already been to Jungkook's house several times and already knew his mother. Plus, Jungkook was dying to be able to use his power to get right answers without having to lie to Jimin and tell him lame excuses about how he always passed his exams without studying. And Jimin told him that he would keep his secret if Jungkook helped him when he needed it. Of course, this was a representative condition because Jimin would never betray Jungkook, as he feared that some strange association of scientists would experiment on his friend and lock him up in a laboratory.
"Kookie, he's coming" Jimin whispered to him and then stood motionless in the hallway waiting for Yoongi to approach. Jimin had his mouth closed but his mind was noisy like every time Min existed around him.
«Yoongi. Yoongi. Yoongi, look at me, look at me please, hyung, please hyung, hyung" and Jimin's voice echoed repeated itself over and over again on Jungkook's mind.
Yoongi walked past them, and glanced at both of them. Jimin's inner scream echoed in Jungkook. And he took advantage of the eye contact with Yoongi to read his mind.
«Jimin, Jimin, Jimin» Jungkook could hear the older laughing internally. «He's so cute, so obvious he likes me, likes me» And Yoongi smirking figured in Jungkook's mind.
As Min was turning the corner of the hallway, Jungkook turned to face Jimin, who had an expectant smile.
"What did he say? Well, what did he think?"
"He thinks you are cute" simply said. He couldn't imagine how Jimin would react if he knew that he wasn't the only one who could read him so easily. Meanwhile, Jimin jumped in excitement.
"And what do I do now with this information? Should I act cuter from now on? Will he noticed?" Jimin started blabbering.
"Don't exaggerate" Jungkook began to walk.
In front of them, a tall boy with flying brown long curls passed by with firm steps. His penetrating gaze held Jungkook's.
«Oh, well hi, pretty boy. Handsome, handsome, handsome» A deep voice with a mocking tone resonated throughout Jungkook's interior, the amusement in the voice contrasting with the fierceness in the boy's eyes.
The guy walked past them in silence, but Jungkook's body tingled with every flattery word that echoed inside him with that baritone voice.
«Handsome, handsome, pretty boy, pretty nose, the prettiest eyes, pretty pretty» Jungkook's face turned red and looked over his shoulder but only saw the tall, slender figure walking confidently and disappearing into the hallway.
♡
He was with Jimin in the classroom waiting for the teacher to arrive for their first class. Jimin was looking at his phone, and Jungkook was distracting himself by humming a song in his head, like his mom taught him to quiet the noise in his mind.
Someone walked through the door, catching everyone's attention. Jimin looked up and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Jungkook blushed when he realized who it was. The handsome brown-haired guy in the hallway with the crazy thoughts. He walked to find an empty seat in the classroom, scanning the room. His eyes flew up and landed back on Jungkook's.
«"Pretty Eyes" is here» Jungkook perceived excitement in the deep voice echo.
«Oh my god, he is here» As fast as he noticed his gaze, Jungkook turned around to look at the window in the other side of the classroom.
«What's his name? What's his name?» that guy's voice was loud in his mind. But Jungkook couldn't help being more curious, he also wanted to know that boy's name.
"I think I know him" Jimin said at loud. Which made Jungkook turn to look at him. "I think he is... He really looks different, he looks bigger." he grimaced.
"What you mean?"
"He was my friend in elementary school. And my neighbor, until he moved away. I guess he might be back now." Both of them fixed their gaze on the boy, Jimin concentrated on remembering.
"You really know him?" Jungkook leaned closer to his friend as he spoke.
"Yes, we were such good friends, so bad we lost contact after all this time. I wonder if he still remembers me." Jimin sighed.
"What's his name then?" Jungkook's question made Jimin cock and eyebrow.
"His name is Kim Taehyung"
Jungkook tasted the syllables of his name in silence.
«I'll talk to him later» Jimin's thought echoed this time. And then both turned to pay attention to the teacher who just arrived.
♡
It's time for a break after two classes and Jimin gets up after collecting his things and looked at Jungkook.
«Let's go invite him to eat with us»
Jungkook grimaced, took a look at the guy who was packing his things suspiciously slowly. And when he turn to Jimin, he was already walking to reach the new guy's desk.
Jimin touched his shoulder gently. "Taehyung-ah?" Taehyung met eyes with him, and showed surprise.
"Jimin-ah?"
"Yeah. When did you come back?" Jimin smiled. "I missed you"
"I just moved back a few days ago. I missed you too, friend." Both boys couldn't help but hug each other.
Jungkook listened to the conversation as he approached cautiously. Jimin saw him and spoke again.
"Would you like to have lunch with us? This is my friend Jungkook."
Taehyung's gaze felt heavier on Jungkook's eyes. Jungkook expected to hear a loud thought echo after eye contact as strong as the one they were having now. But he didn't hear anything. All he could see was the depth of Taehyung's eyes, which seemed to say so many things but at the same time it was silence.
"Yes. Nice to meet you, Jungkook-ssi" Taehyung said without losing his gaze not even for a second.
"Nice to meet you too" Jungkook's face turned red and couldn't hold his gaze anymore.
"Well, let me show you around to the cafeteria." Jimin took Taehyung's arm and leave Jungkook behind to follow them. Leaving him questioning what he was going to do with such a strong presence as Taehyung's.