6 If you feel like you're gonna crash then accelerate more, you idiot

Over the course of the next few days, Jungkook finds himself settling into life in Seoul slowly but surely.

Namjoon promised they'd get him a cheap mattress at the end of the month once everyone got their paychecks and bills were paid; Jungkook tried to offer to pay for his own, but Namjoon has steadily refused to take any of Jungkook's money until he has his own job. Jungkook gets it and has a pretty hard time arguing when he's still too afraid to tell them how much money he actually has, since explaining how he has it would be pretty difficult.

He likes these guys, and he's feeling more comfortable with every passing day, but Jungkook's not ready to stop hiding from his past.

It's easy, too, to think about doing that, when he gets to spend days like this. Days with Jimin and Hoseok, who take him along to the dance studio when they can. With Taehyung, who is the only one who can put up a good fight when they race on Mario Kart 64. With Seokjin, who's agreed to help and teach him how to cook. With Namjoon, who brings him books and lets him listen to music on his phone whenever he can spare it, and with Yoongi, who gifts him reassuring smiles and shares little snippets of songs that he's working on.

It's easy, this freedom, and nice to get to slowly discover himself again. Jungkook had forgotten how much he was really missing out on under the strict rules back home.

This freedom, however, leaves him wondering what exactly he should be doing with himself.

College still sounds appealing, but it's so expensive and he's missed the application deadline for this semester already. Maybe if he gets a job he could afford to enroll in the spring, or maybe even next year- besides, he's gonna need a job if he wants to get a new phone like he's been itching to. Not having his own device to listen to music on is something he's never had to deal with before, and it sucks.

So, yeah. Getting a job is definitely high on the list.

As it turns out though, getting a job is hard without any prior experience- and more than that, Jungkook has no idea where he could even apply.

The question's starting to weigh on his mind more heavily with each passing day, and as he steps out of the dance studio with Jimin and Hoseok it continues to beat around in his brain, quiet but present. The weather's been nice since he came to Seoul; Jungkook's enjoying the bright sun and the fresh wind. There are days the smog gets heavy, but not today- today the wind's shifted in just the right way, prompting him to tug his face mask down around his chin instead of wearing it as he normally does. Jimin follows suit, but Hoseok keeps his up, one eye blinking closed as he yawns.

Jungkook stretches his arms out and skips down the sidewalk, reveling in the sunshine streaming down on them. He loves being in the studio dancing, but how he feels afterwards is always so intoxicating; he feels just the right amount of tired, sore and warm from the good workout. His skin's still a little damp from his shower, hair fluffy from being towel-dried. He still hasn't gone shopping for some new clothes of his own, although he's amassed a collection of bits and pieces from everyone's wardrobes. A few pairs of jeans and sweatpants from Taehyung and Hoseok, a hoodie from Namjoon, shirts from Seokjin and Jimin- even a sweater from Yoongi, although Jungkook couldn't help but tease him a bit after receiving it ("Hyung, is this really yours? This must be huge on you-", earning himself an elbow in the ribs and an 'aish, you little gremlin' from Yoongi himself).

Today he's comfortable in a pair of black jeans from Taehyung, a pink shirt from Seokjin and the black hoodie he'd gotten from Namjoon. He waits a little for Jimin and Hoseok to catch up to him and falls into step alongside them, joining their conversation with ease.

From what Jungkook's heard, Jimin's never been one to let his mutism stop him and he's always talked a lot in his own way with the others. Passed notes, expressed what he could with his hands and their very limited knowledge of sign language, whatever he needed to. But now, with Jungkook to facilitate his thoughts with ease, it's like the floodgates have been opened and Jimin has so much to say.

It's cute, really.

Jungkook grins as he watches Jimin and translates for Hoseok, responding in a mix of sign language and spoken language. They've gotten into the habit of walking to and from the studio- saves them a bus fare and it's a good cool-down after their intense dance practices. Hoseok may be one of the nicest, brightest people that Jungkook has ever met, but his choreography is anything but forgiving; he pushes everyone right to their limits and accepts nothing less than their best effort.

He's only been going for a few days now and Jungkook can already tell why Hoseok's students respect him so much.

Halfway through their walk home Jungkook catches sight of the Help Wanted sign in the storefront window and halts, eyes flicking up as he scans the sign of the store.

He knows immediately that this is it.

Unfortunately for him, though, Jimin and Hoseok do not know, and Hoseok doesn't see him halt his steps, roughly crashing right into his back.

"Jeez, Kookie!" Hoseok pouts and rights himself, rubbing his cheek that slammed right into Jungkook's shoulder. "Why did you stop?"

Jungkook points right at the sign in the window. "That's it!"

Jimin follows his movement and quirks a brow. 'This is it?' He signs, wary.

"It's a bowling alley," Hoseok supplies helpfully.

Jungkook nods. "Yeah. I'm gonna go see if I can get a job." He wets his lips, nervousness settling in his belly; he's never done this before and the possibility of being turned away is quite real. He hesitates only briefly before stepping towards the door, but before he walks in he turns back towards Hoseok and Jimin.

"Are you guys going home?" He asks. 'I need to do this by myself' goes unspoken, but it's definitely understood.

"No, actually. Yoongi-hyung texted me during practice to tell me he finished with that track I asked him to mix for us, so I was gonna go and listen to it. Wanna meet us there when you're finished so you can hear it too?" Hoseok offers.

Jungkook has been dying to hear some of Yoongi's music ever since he found out he produces so he nods excitedly. "Yes!"

Jimin laughs and nods, quickly signing out some directions to Jungkook since he's yet to actually visit Yoongi's workplace. 'Take your time. We'll wait for you,' Jimin signs, then tacks on a 'good luck!'

"Thank you." Jungkook takes a deep breath, lets Jimin fix his hair, puts on his best smile and walks straight into the bowling alley.

Bowling is another hobby that Jungkook hasn't indulged in in years.

The familiar smell of the bowling alley fills his senses immediately- bowling shoes, industrial floor polish and cheap, greasy food.

He's hit with a wave of nostalgia, for a moment, memories flooding back faster than he can push them away. Coming here with his dad, gorging on burnt nachos, falling asleep on the train on the ride home-

"Hello, welcome!"

A voice cuts through Jungkook's train of thought and tugs him back to reality. He blinks and focuses in on the front desk, where a middle-aged man is smiling at him, dressed in a very colourful uniform shirt. "Are you here to play by yourself?"

Jungkook stumbles a little, and hurries to find his voice. "No," he says and shakes his head. "Um, I mean, no, I'm not here to play. I- I saw the sign? Outside? Help wanted?"

Nervousness flows through him. Jungkook chews on his lower lip, a thousand negative scenarios rushing through his brain- the position is filled, Jungkook doesn't have enough experience, no one will want to give a job to someone who's cracked right down at his foundation-

"Oh! You want to apply?" The man beckons Jungkook over, who follows obediently and walks right up to the counter. "What's your name?"

"Jungkook," he says. "Um, Jeon Jungkook."

"Alright, Jungkook-ah," the man says. He distantly reminds Jungkook of his high school math teacher; he'd always liked him. He was fair and helped explain things to Jungkook in a way that made sense. "Tell me why you want to work for me."

Jungkook pushes open the door to the record store where he hopes Yoongi works. He followed Jimin's directions to a little hole in the wall- small enough that if you blinked walking by, you'd miss it.

It's completely filled with records- CDs and vinyls of all sorts of genres, carefully organized alphabetically and meticulously. The walls are lined with posters of various musical groups and artists; some are classics that Jungkook recognizes, while others must be more underground or new as Jungkook doesn't know them. He turns to look at a bulletin board by the door that's full of handmade ads for musical instruments for sale, or local shows ongoing when he hears a shout from the back.

"Kookie!" That's definitely Hoseok, and Jungkook turns to see him standing at the back of the store, halfway through an open door. "We're in the back. Come on over."

Jungkook hurries over and steps through the door Hoseok is holding open.

The back room of the record store is small, containing little else other than a few couches, but on his second look Jungkook realizes that there's a door propped open that leads to what looks to be a small recording studio. He's curious to see more, but Yoongi and Jimin are sitting on one of the couches and look up as soon as he enters the room, stealing his attention.

"How did it go?" Yoongi asks at once. Jungkook looks at him, confused, until he clarifies. "Um. Jiminie and Hobi told me you went to apply for a job?"

Of course they did. Jungkook would almost feel a little flustered if Yoongi didn't look it for him, like he had asked about something that was secret.

Jungkook smiles. "Good," he says. "I start work on Monday."

He got a job.

Yeah, it might be working at a bowling alley, giving out rental shoes and burning nacho cheese and mopping floors, but it's his, and he got it all of his own merit.

"Great job, Kookie!" Hoseok says behind him, stepping up close to give him a big hug. Jimin and Yoongi give him their congratulations too and Jungkook feels so, so warm.

He's happy to have made them proud.

Hoseok steps around him and offers him a wide smile, but something about it feels off.

"You feeling okay?" Jungkook asks him and tilts his head to the side as he looks at Hoseok. His brows are pinched together, face drawn into a frown; he looks a bit in pain.

"Just a bit of a headache coming on," Hoseok says with a sigh. He leans his head on Jungkook's shoulder and Jungkook responds in turn, lifting up a hand to card his fingers through Hoseok's hair. He's seen Jimin do this exact thing before and even tried himself a few times. It always seems to calm him down and Jungkook hopes maybe it'll help his pain.

Turns out it's the right move and Hoseok sighs contentedly, nuzzling in a bit. Jungkook smiles and holds back a laugh; it's almost funny how Hoseok can go from being so serious in the dance studio to this- soft and sweet and made of puddy- in a blink of the eye. He relaxes like an old dog getting pets on their favourite spot.

Jungkook looks up to see Yoongi smiling at them fondly. He steps closer to drop a hand on Hoseok's shoulder, squeezing tightly. "Hobi, you should go home and take a nap. That'll help."

Hoseok hums in response and lifts his head. His eyes droop a bit, exhaustion tugging at his features. "Yeah. I think I will."

Jimin smiles and wraps his arms around Hoseok in a back hug. He frees his hands enough to sign to Jungkook, 'I'll get him home. You need to listen to hyung's song.'

"You sure?" Jungkook checks. He knows Hoseok's heavier than he looks (he found out the hard way, a few nights ago, when Hoseok fell asleep on top of his legs. It was not very fun) but Jimin just nods. He waves a farewell to Yoongi and leads Hoseok out of the store, arm wrapped around his shoulder to keep him steady.

Once they're gone, Yoongi sighs. "Hobi works himself too hard sometimes. He hides it too well." It doesn't look like he's waiting for an answer, moreso thinking out loud- which is good as Jungkook doesn't know what to say. He can agree that he's easily one of the most hardworking people Jungkook knows, but he wonders if Yoongi realizes that he does the exact same thing himself.

Jungkook turns over and looks at the piano in the corner of the room. He'd always loved the sound of it- so beautiful, although he'd only heard it played live a few times in his life.

He must be staring rather hard, as Yoongi steps over to stand next to him, right beside the piano. "You play?"

"Ah, no," Jungkook shakes his head. "I never learned. Always wanted to, though…"

Yoongi nods. He steps up closer to the piano, fingers ghosting across the keys as if he were embracing an old friend. He presses down gently on a single key, then moves his fingers in a pattern as if it were the easiest thing in the world. The sound to come from that piano is unexpectedly otherworldly- a chill runs down Jungkook's spine at the melancholic sound, but just a suddenly as it started it ends and Yoongi stands back up.

"I could teach you, sometime," Yoongi offers, "You know… if you wanted to."

"Really?" Jungkook looks up, smile on his face. "I'd love that. That'd be so cool."

Yoongi smiles, shy and sweet. "Cool. We'll figure out sometime that works." He moves back to the couch and sits down where he'd been before, laptop propped up on the table in front of him. "You wanna hear the song now?"

Does he? Jungkook grins and nods excitedly- Yoongi laughs at his eagerness, fingers typing away on the laptop.

"There's no vocals yet or anything," Yoongi says with a shrug. "I'm no singer- Seokjin-hyung, Hobi, or Taehyung-ah are better suited for that… or Namjoonie, although he doesn't sing nearly as much as he should with that kind of voice." Yoongi shrugs. "So it's not that impressive or anything…"

"Hyung," Jungkook huffs, "you told Jimin-hyung just the other day to stop talking himself down. And what are you doing now?" Jungkook makes a face like he's hurt. "Aren't you supposed to, like, practice what you preach? Be a good example for your dongsaengs?

Yoongi huffs. "Yeah, yeah, okay you little gremlin, I got it. Come sit down." He waves Jungkook over, gesturing to the seat he was in once he stands up and moves behind the couch, leaning against the back. Jungkook cheers excitedly before hopping in the seat, immediately pulling up his legs so that he can hug his knees.

"That's not a very nice nickname you know, hyung. Why am I a little gremlin?" Jungkook asks with a pout. When he'd told Jimin that Yoongi called him that, Jimin had smiled so wide then laughed for a solid ten minutes. Jungkook still has no idea why, but Jimin had told Seokjin immediately after and he reacted much the same. What gives?

"Because you are a little gremlin," Yoongi says, leaning over Jungkook to navigate on the computer. Jungkook doesn't need to see his face to know he's smiling. He can hear it in his voice. "I should start locking the fridge after midnight just to be on the safe side."

Jungkook snorts a laugh, knocking Yoongi playfully with his shoulder. "Hyung," he whines in mock-petulance. Truthfully, he likes the nickname, although he's pretty sure he'd like any nickname Yoongi gave him.

"This is it," Yoongi says as he clicks on a music file and loads it up. He pulls his headphones from where he'd had them slung around his neck and slides them over Jungkook's ears, reaching past him to plug them into the laptop. He doesn't wait for a response from Jungkook before pressing play.

Music fills up the headphones and Jungkook listens, entranced.

He knows Yoongi mixed this for Hoseok and he can feel it. His vision explodes with images- bright and colourful, like the paintings in Hoseok's studio of orange and red and blue and green fish and plants; vibrant and energetic, like the dances he choreographs. The beat is so fun and lively- it'll be perfect for Hoseok to dance to. Jungkook can envision it already, can imagine how he'll express every individual note, every feeling through his dance.

The song ends. Yoongi reaches for Jungkook's headphones, but Jungkook moves faster, reaching for the laptop so that he can replay the song.

Music streams in through the headphones and Yoongi drops his hands to Jungkook's shoulders. He freezes where he is, leaning against the back of the couch- and by extension, Jungkook. Yoongi rests his chin on Jungkook's shoulder and Jungkook can feel him smile.

Jungkook listens to the song four times before he finally acquiesces and lets Yoongi take back his headphones.

He feels like words can't even describe how listening to that made him feel. Jungkook's never been good at communicating his feelings with words- he's always preferred to show them, so when he turns to face Yoongi who is waiting for a response he reaches up and pulls him into a warm, tight hug.

"Wow," he mumbles against Yoongi's cheek. He squeezes Yoongi, wanting him as close as possible.

Needing it.

Yoongi swallows pointedly before returning the hug, arms tight around Jungkook's shoulders.

"Thanks, Kook," he whispers, sounding just as out of breath as Jungkook feels.