Jeongguk gets into college the following school year, and it's the university that most of the hyungs study, because Seokjin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung graduated the previous year.

 

Still, Jeongguk asks for them to pretend that they don't know him when they cross paths, because despite knowing what they're really like, Bangtan is still a name that a lot of people fear.

 

Everyone in the school knows of Bangtan and who is a part of it, and Jeongguk has not heard as many warnings to avoid the members of Bangtan at all costs as he had during orientation. Hence, Jeongguk makes them promise to ignore him (Taehyung and Jimin especially) and reluctantly, they do.

Jeongguk has his classes in the Manipulation sector, where all the Elementalists and other manipulators are allocated. He makes friends with the other shadow manipulators (his classes are small, as he's only the ninth shadow manipulator enrolled in the school for the year), despite most of them being older than him.

 

A week into the first term, they're having their lunch break in the campus courtyard when a van pulls up. His friends are asking him why he has not bought anything for lunch, and Jeongguk stops mid-explanation when the whole courtyard goes silent.

 

He turns to see what everyone is staring at, and watches as the person in the van's driver's seat gets out, and Seokjin goes to pull open the van door, where he takes out a stack of lunch boxes.

 

He walks across the courtyard, and goes to an empty table, placing the lunch boxes on it. He takes out his phone and types out a message, and Jeongguk's phone buzzes. While everyone is still preoccupied with Seokjin, Jeongguk checks his phone, not surprised to see a message from Seokjin in their group chat telling the hyungs that he has brought lunch.

 

It's not long before Hoseok, Namjoon, Taehyung and Jimin run up to the table, settling down as Seokjin gives them their lunch boxes. Slowly, as they begin eating, everyone else returns to what they were doing before, albeit a bit quieter.

 

Jeongguk checks his phone when it buzzes again and smiles at the message. Just then, he's called by his friends, and looks up, saying, "What?"

 

"Who do you think that lunch box is for?" Jeongguk looks over to Seokjin's table, where there is a lunch box placed at the corner, even as the others are eating with relish. Jeongguk shrugs, saying, "Who knows?" and refuses to say anything else.

 

He types out a quick message in reply to Seokjin, and watches as they finish up their food, the lone untouched lunch box remaining at the corner of the table. The five of them slowly get up, talking and laughing loudly with each other.

 

With all the attention on the five of them as they walk away from the courtyard, no one notices a lone shadow sneakily grabbing the lunch box on the table.

 

While his friends suddenly exclaim at the missing lunch box, Jeongguk stands up, telling them he's going to get some food, and comes back with a food tray, having dumped the food in the lunch box into an empty food tray.

 

The lunch box gets stuffed into his bag, so that he can return it to Seokjin later.

 

Due to that encounter with Bangtan, Jeongguk hears so much more about the hyungs and nearly cannot hold his laughter in from all the bull he's hearing. The stories are so different from what he knows of his hyungs, and he goes back and gets all the laughter out of his system, so that he won't break into laughter when he's meeting his hyungs.

 

The promise to ignore Jeongguk lasts for a month, which in Jeongguk's eyes, is an achievement in itself. Every time he passes Taehyung and Jimin, he can practically feel the determination to not do something to disturb him. Hoseok and Namjoon are easier, because despite being in the same sector their schedules do not overlap much.

 

That day, he's on his way to the campus entrance closest to the Senses sector, so that he can meet Taehyung and Jimin out of school to go home together. Hoseok and Namjoon end later that day, so the three of them are going to head back first.

 

He's at the Physical sector of campus, having planned to cut through that section to the Senses sector, and is scrolling through Instagram on his phone when he accidentally bumps into someone.

 

He bows in apology, and continues walking, head bouncing to the music playing in his ears, all the while still looking at his phone.

 

He looks up when there is a loud 'Hey!' and he's pushed roughly. At eighteen, almost nineteen, years of age, he looks up into the eyes of someone much bulkier than him (he's in the Physical sector, what does he expect?) and removes his earphones.

 

"What?" he asks, not expecting to be called. "Aren't you going to apologise for bumping into me?" the guy's tone is arrogant, and Jeongguk scoffs. He hates dealing with people like this. "I just bumped into you on accident, and bowed to you in apology, what more do you need?"

 

"A proper apology, for one. You weren't even looking at me when you bowed." Jeongguk raises an eyebrow at that. "What proper apology? I don't see the need to apologise for something so minor."

 

"Y-you!" The guy's eyes bulge in anger and Jeongguk sighs internally, already knowing where this is going. The guy takes a swing at him, and it's obvious from his bulky body structure that he's a Strength, and Jeongguk sighs out loud this time, shifting back smoothly, missing the punch aimed at him.

 

A crowd had started gathering when the guy first yelled, and it's becoming crowded with more people as the guy continues to take swings at him, even as Jeongguk dodges him with little effort.

 

One thing about Strengths, Jeongguk thinks as he ducks to dodge another punch and slide back to avoid a kick, is that they usually don't think with their brains, choosing to let their strength speak for themselves. Is this why Yoongi-hyung always complains about interacting with Strengths? Jeongguk commiserates with him.

 

Yoongi-hyung is probably napping at home, as usual, Jeongguk thinks, even as he moves to the side. The guy is becoming more and more enraged, and Jeongguk laughs internally. He hasn't even shown his ability yet.

 

Speaking of hyungs, Jeongguk muses, he was supposed to meet Taehyung and Jimin a while ago, and hasn't been replying the texts he can feel coming in, the buzzing from his phone a constant in his pocket.

 

The crowd is murmuring amongst them as they watch Jeongguk dodge the guy effortlessly. A voice cuts through the murmurs easily and Jeongguk tunes back into the fight, recognising the voice immediately.

 

"Look, Jiminnie, there's a crowd!" Taehyung sounds excited, and everyone shuts up immediately. The guy is still swinging at Jeongguk, so he continues dodging absentmindedly, even as his shadows track Taehyung and Jimin as they come closer.

 

"I'm not blind, Tae, I can see. What's it for?" Jimin's voice is sarcastic, and Jeongguk huffs a laugh. The guy frowns at him and yells again. "Can't you be serious about this? This is a fight, and all you've done so far is dodge. Are you that weak?"

 

"I'm not weak, you're just slow enough that I don't have to do anything," Jeongguk snaps, bristling at being called weak. "It's a fight! Chimchim, this is blasphemy! There was a fight we weren't invited to?" Taehyung's voice rings out once again, sounding offended, and the guy falters mid-swing.

 

Taehyung and Jimin's voices are distinguishable from the crowd, and the mass of people part easily for the two. Jeongguk frowns at the two. What's so scary about them? The two of them look adorable, and Taehyung's even wearing his black spectacles today. Jimin has a beanie on, and both of them are in sweaters and skinny jeans. In what way exactly are they intimidating?

 

Jeongguk is blocked from Taehyung and Jimin's line of sight by the bulky guy (what's his name? Jeongguk wonders.), but he hears Jimin's voice tense. "Ok Taecyeon. Bullying the weaker ones again, huh? Who're you bullying this time?"

 

Taecyeon, which is apparently Bulky Guy's name, snorts condescendingly. "Just some kid that bumped into me. It's none of your business, Bangtan."

 

"What kid?" Taehyung asks, cheerfully. Jeongguk is not the only one to sense the tension underlying the words, and the whole crowd visibly tenses. "Apparently me," Jeongguk drawls out, stepping out from behind Taecyeon (seriously, why is he so bulky?).

 

Jimin chortles when he sees who's speaking, and claps a hand over Taehyung's mouth to stop any words from coming out. "Oh, this I have to see. Go on, I'd like to see this," he says, clearly trying not to laugh.

 

Taehyung struggles against the hand Jimin has on his mouth when he hears and sees Jeongguk, the older barely flinching when Taehyung his palm. "Jeongguk's going to trash him, and I want to watch. Shush," Jimin hisses at him, his Siren ability allowing him to let Taehyung and Taehyung only hear what he has to say, and the lilac-haired boy stops struggling, Jimin finally letting him go.

 

Taecyeon shrugs, and turns his back to the duo, apparently satisfied that they won't interrupt his bullying session. Jeongguk catches Jimin's eyes, who mouths at him to 'show them what you've got' and Jeongguk smirks.

 

Taehyung whimpers very, very softly when he sees that mischievous smirk, and Jimin looks at him, laughter evident in his eyes. The crowd is very, very silent as Taecyeon speaks. "So? Not gonna fight, kid?"

 

Jeongguk snorts, and taunts, "Come and take a swing at me first, then we'll talk." Taecyeon takes a step forward to do just that, only to find that he can't. "...If you can, that is," Jeongguk adds cheekily.

 

Taehyung and Jimin look at the ground, where the area around Jeongguk and Taecyeon is a mass of black, Jeongguk's shadows at work. Taecyeon grinds his teeth, trying to move. "Don't bother trying to break free, Taecyeon-ssi. It is midday, after all, when the sun is highest in the sky," Jeongguk says, shadows swirling up to wind around his arms, torso and legs.

 

The crowd starts whispering amongst themselves again, this time for a totally different reason. Shadow manipulators are rare, and Jeongguk knows that he's only the ninth one at this college. Taecyeon does indeed stop struggling, eyeing the shadows coiling around Jeongguk's body and finally, looking at the ground.

 

"Stop controlling me!" Taecyeon yells. The shadows on the ground do not move, clearly still holding Taecyeon in place. Jimin glances at Taehyung, whose eyes are fixed on Jeongguk. They are both trying to fight the smile off their faces.

 

He'd known the kid for less than two months, and he already thought of him as a younger brother. Heck, the kid had made all of them, including (especially) Yoongi-hyung fall in love with his wide doe eyes and stupid face.

 

If it weren't for Taehyung having dibs on the kid since they were children, Jimin thought, and if he didn't have Hobi-hyung and Yoongi-hyung wrapped around his little finger, he would have hit on him. Now though, Jeongguk was just that little brother that somehow managed to annoy him with everything he did.

 

He finally checks the time, and sighs. He knew that they had promised Jeongguk, but he really, really can't be bothered with it right now. Jeongguk's social standing in school would shoot up once people knew Bangtan was fond of him, anyway. Anything was better than Seokjin's nagging about why they were late.

 

"Jeonggukkie, we gotta go. Jin-hyung's gonna nag if we're late," Jimin says, and Taehyung snaps out of his admiration of Jeongguk, checking his phone. "He's already messaged us, because Hobi-hyung and Joonie-hyung are home and we aren't," Taehyung mentions, stuffing his phone back into his pocket again.

 

Jeongguk broke away from the staring contest he had been having with Taecyeon, the Strength glaring at him with all his might. The crowd gaped silently as the guy they'd watch stop Taecyeon right where he was standing turned to the two Bangtan members and talked to them. Like, actual conversation, I'm friends with you kind of talk.

 

"How long do we have?" Jeongguk asked, scrolling through his phone again. Behind him, Taecyeon started yelling for him to let him go, again. "About half an hour. But we gotta go now," Jimin said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

 

"The promise about not letting people know about your connection to Bangtan is stupid, by the way," Jimin says, and Jeongguk laughs, saying, "Well, at least I tried." He then lets Taecyeon go, and walks towards the two.

 

"Let's go, then. Can't keep the hyungs waiting, yeah?" Jeongguk says smartly, and Jimin replies, "Yah, and who were we waiting for for the past hour, huh?" Jeongguk comes back with "Not me." Jimin grabs their youngest in a headlock, and Jeongguk laughs, breaking free after a while.

 

The crowd once again parts for them silently, gaping at the trio, and Taehyung slings an arm around Jeongguk as they walk, nuzzling into his temple. "Hey Jeonggukie?" Taehyung says, and Jeongguk hums from where he's tucked into Taehyung's side.

 

"You looked really hot with a smirk on your face," Taehyung says into his ear, and Jeongguk immediately flushes bright red. "Tae-hyung!" Jeongguk whines, and both Taehyung and Jimin laugh.

 

The crowd they leave behind are gossiping about who the new guy is, and whether he was part of Bangtan as well, and basically everything they can think about the new guy, and his relation to Bangtan. Ok Taecyeon is left to nurse his injured pride silently.

 

(Jeongguk walks into campus the next day fooling around with Taehyung and Jimin, Hoseok joining in every once in a while and Namjoon just watching them. Everyone turns and stares, and Jeongguk sees his friends gaping at him.

 

After that, word spreads quickly - do not mess with Jeon Jeongguk, or Bangtan will come after you, if Jeongguk doesn't get revenge first. Jeongguk just frowns, because he wants people to spar with, but everyone just avoids him when he's asking for a spar, even his friends.)

 

A/N: Elementalists are a sub-class of Manipulators, which is why they’re studying in the same sector. Jimin is the only one studying in the Senses sector, where Sirens and other controllers of the different senses are allocated.