"you know, i learned something pretty effin' cool in intro to psych today," hoseok starts, even though nobody has asked. "something about your brain remembering memories randomly, even when you don't have the intention of wanting to, because of some internal or external trigger and you get the feelings associated with it again-"

"involuntary memory," jimin interrupts. he's the real psychology major, so of course he'd know.

"-yeah, so basically, when you make a move, your brain remembers your humiliation and stuff, and it's like a reminder to not pull the same again." the others seem to find this remotely funny.

jungkook does not.
 

"can we just go and get lunch already?" he says crossly. "it's two o'clock."
 

his friends exchange looks, which seem to be saying, what's he got stuck up his today? "i mean, i haven't eaten anything today. i had a lecture at eight."
 

"woe is you," namjoon sympathizes, being the literature major he is. "we could go where yoongi works to get a bite."
 

"where's taehyung, anyway?"

"dunno," jimin responds. "he went off to a restaurant with this mexican kid in his marine biology class. jesus or something."

"wait, his name is actually jesus?" for reasons incomprehensible, hoseok seems incredibly fascinated. 
 

"maybe his parents are devout christians. he might have siblings named mary and joseph, who the hell knows?"
 

"for 's sake," seokjin interjects irritably, not even looking up from his about criminals textbook. "it's not geezus, it's pronounced hey-zeus, and it's a common spanish name, you dumbs."

"no, but i swear taehyung pronounced it as jesus-"

"okay, so are we having lunch or not?" jungkook cuts in, looking throughly impatient. 

"christ, someone's hungry," hoseok titters. "fine, we can go to yoongi's job, and bug the hell out of him."

jungkook's sure his eyes are deceiving him when he sees the familiar red-and-yellow logo that's taunting him beyond the car windows. "no ing way."

his friends look at him strangely. "the heck's wrong with you?" seokjin asks. 

"you didn't tell me yoongi worked at ing mcdonalds!"

"what do you mea- oh geez, is this about your fast food aversion?" jimin realizes, looking a bit guilty. "sorry, mate, we forgot, it's been so long since we all ate together - i mean, if it bothers you a lot, we can go somewhere else. maybe the deli at the other side of town.."

jungkook's about to say that's not the goddamn issue, before namjoon speaks up. "uhm, if that's what we're gonna do, i'll probably have to just eat here, because class starts at two fourty and i'll be late if we're going to the other side of town."

"same," hoseok announces.

"wait, but you guys don't have cars," jimin remarks, confused. "how the hell are you going to get back?"

"well, we can take the bus."
 

seokjin snorts upon the suggestion. "the bus is crap and you know it."

"fine, we could walk. because, well, the humanities building isn't that far from here, yeah?" jungkook can see that namjoon's trying his best to not make him feel bad about choosing to go to the deli, but of course, it's not working, the humanities building is a ing mile away from here.

it's just one embarrassing moment in your life, jungkook, the boy tells himself miserably. get over it, she probably forgot about it. and it's possible that she doesn't have shifts today..

"no, it's fine," he says, forcing a smile. "i mean, i actually ate here with taehyung last week so.."

"you did?" his friends look shocked, to say the least. "then why were you so worked up about it?" 

well , jungkook isn't about to divulge that part of the story. "doesn't mean i still like fast food, though. but i'm willing to eat it if it's necessary for my survival."

jimin rolls his eyes. "you drama queen," he slings an arm over the younger's shoulders, humming that charlie puth song he's been obsessed with for weeks. "aight, let's go in, it's hot as hell out here."

for jungkook, it's very difficult to smother his feeling of dread, but he nods anyway.

it's confirmed, jungkook thinks hollowly. lady luck is not on his side.

the second he sees familiar blonde and pink curls by the cash register, next to where yoongi's standing, he shrinks to hide himself behind jimin - which is frankly a useless attempt because jimin is the shortest one out of them all. hoseok, on the other hand, makes a point by making an incredibly dramatic and extravagant entrance that involves something that resembles a ballet twirl. yoongi's indifferent expression significantly darkens upon witnessing this, and seeing the lot of them flood in. he is, undoubtedly, not amused. 

"welcome to mcdonalds," he says blankly. "the exit is to your left."

"don't look so happy to see us!" hoseok trills. jungkook believes that if yoongi were a more motivated individual, he would jump over the register to punch hoseok in the face. "we came here to see you, after all. put some pep in you, and all that."

"the only pep you're ever going to put in me is my willingness to die."

from the corner of his eye, jungkook can see the girl holding back her laughter as she looks at their group curiously. "are they your friends, yoongi?"

"no," yoongi says emphatically. "yes," hoseok answers at the same time, and yoongi gives him the dirtiest of looks. "so, yoongi, i'd fancy a double cheeseburger set, with three cheese sticks..."

the group slowly disperses into two queues to order, and jungkook quickly moves to yoongi's queue, desperate in his attempts to not have the girl notice him in any way.  he can't have her recognize him, not after the show he performed in front of her. it's then when hoseok's bullcrap about involuntary memory echoes in his head, and memories of the previous week begin crashing down on him like a wave. he cringes, wishing for dr. brown's delorean to be invented in the near future, because ing hell, there is no way he can live knowing the fact that he's probably remembered as a dip in the mind of the cutest girl alive. 

unfortunately, her queue seems to be moving faster than yoongi's, and it's not long until he sees her type up seokjin's order - he's the last person waiting to order in her line. jungkook has an odd premonition about where things are going, and he begs to whatever superior astral beings there are up there to spare him and give him some mercy for once-

"sir? i can take your order."

you, astral beings, he thinks faintly. she's already seen his face - and he knows that she remembers him; the way her eyebrows rise indistinctly with recognition upon observing him tells the tale. time to face the music. 

"you remember me?" he manages to say as he walks up to her part of the ordering area. she gives him a quick look before she goes back to pressing a few buttons on the register. a small smile is on her lips. jungkook wants to die. 

"of course i do, why wouldn't i?" at this moment, jungkook swears what do you mean by justin bieber is blaring in his head, and before he can even ask what she's implying, she interrupts his train of thought by saying, "so, what would you like to order?"

"the big mac set, please." why is he not dead already? 

"alright, your order will be ready in a few!" she hands him his credit card, and dashes off to the kitchen. it's then when he realises that he's the last of them to order, and yoongi's blanking out at the register, with an expression that screams i hate my life. jungkook feels momentarily sympathetic, but not when he remembers the question that's been nagging at him since they came here. 

"psst, yoongi, what the ?" he hisses, and the boy turns to him, his face bored. "you didn't tell me you worked here!"
 

"FYI, i've been complaining to anyone who'd listen for the last few months," yoongi answers. "so who's the one who didn't ing listen?"

jungkook grimaces. "okay, i'm sorry. but who's the girl? the one who was just here taking my order, i mean."

the elder boy looks at him skeptically. "why is that bothering you? you into her or something?"

it was clearly a passing comment, but jungkook freezes, and it's hard for him to muster up a neutral response. "maybe," he utters instead, and internally cringes. this, he belatedly understands, is the reason why he was tree #3 and not romeo in his high school romeo and juliet production.

"you're into her," yoongi deadpans.

the heat on his cheeks is enough to tell him that he's blushing right now, and he loathes it. "i-"

"try not to up," his friend says, which is just yoongi-speak for good luck.

"well-"

"order number thirty five? your big mac is ready!" yeri calls out, as she comes out from the kitchen, carrying a burger in one hand and fries in the other. jungkook gulps, and heads to the pick up area.

"hope you enjoy your meal," she says brightly as she hands him an empty paper cup for his drinks. "fountain's over there, though i'm sure you'd know, since you've already been here."

"um, about that," he starts nervously, even though he has no idea where the hell he's going with this. "i feel like-" he pauses, and she's just standing here as her eyes bore into him with inquisitiveness. no, i can't talk about that, what are you doing, jungkook, digging a new grave? panicking, he only distinctly recognizes that the restaurant is playing the charlatans again, this time how high. "- i feel like you guys are playing the charlatans every time i've been here. i mean, i've only been here twice, but still," he's rambling again but he doesn't care, because holy , that was a nice save considering it's him. "i'm guessing someone in your staff really likes the charlatans?" 

 

he doesn't even expect an enthusiastic response from her, just a polite one enough for him to waltz his way (read: run) back to the table where his friends are at - so he's quite surprised when her eyes light up. "yeah, it's actually me!" she grins and laughs. "i love them, they're one of my favorite bands."
 

she likes the charlatans? jungkook doesn't know how many times he's proclaimed to have died today, but he really does think he died inside when she said that. "no way," he voices faintly. "i mean, they're my favorite too- i mean, i like their old stuff back in the 90s more but-"
 

"oh god, same!" her voice bubbles with excitement as she smiles at him, and jungkook's wondering if he's in a dream. "honestly, their second album - between the 10th and 11th - is so underrated, i love i don't want to see the sights so much, and page one-"
 

"page one, jesus christ - same," jungkook enthuses. this can't be happening, the cute girl also listens to the charlatans? what the , he's head over heels and he's not even going to deny it. "i love the riff in that, and i mean, that bass - martin blunt did a number on that. i mean, i know the band didn't like that album that much, but you still have to admit that there's a number of bangers in there, weirdo was phenomenal with that organ intro..."
 

"i know, right?" she sighs happily. "i never thought i'd meet another person who listens to them, honestly. most people listen to oasis and elastica and all those other bands from the 90s so they don't quite know the charlatans. don't get me wrong, i love oasis, elastica too, but i've never really met someone who appreciates the charlatans enough like i do."

"i know that feeling," the boy readily agrees - it's the same dilemma he usually faces when bonding with people over music taste. "at least the tellin' stories album is somewhat known well-"

"oy, jungkook!" someone shouts - it's namjoon, jungkook notices. "are you going to come and eat or what?"

"i am, wait!" the boy hollers back. he looks back at the girl, an apologetic look on his face. "sorry i can't talk more, i'd love to, but i really have to eat because i have class later -" he pauses upon the realisation that he doesn't even know her name. "-uh, what's your name?"

"yeri. yeri kim." 

"yeri," he repeats once - but in his mind, he's already repeated it a hundred times - it fits her, and after knowing that, he can't quite think of any other name that could suit her well, out of all the names he's been guessing for the past week. "i'm jungkook, jungkook jeon. so," he finds himself stumbling over his words again. "see you around?"

her eyes curve into crescent moons as she chortles - and he swears he's in love, he's so in love. "definitely, jungkook."

extra:

jungkook's lovestruck mumbling and spacing out is soon cut short by jimin's shrieks of disbelief - fortunately, they're the only customers in the restaurant, or so he believed, until he hears his friend screeching, "taehyung, what the are you doing here?"

that snaps jungkook out of his trance. taehyung's here? the hell?

taehyung's at the table at the other end of the restaurant, happily eating his burger, raising his eyebrows as jimin sniffs at him, and hoseok lingers around them, eyeing them with evident curiosity. "you're a in' liar, you know that?" jimin complains heatedly. jungkook walks up to taehyung's table, narrowing his eyes at taehyung's company, and he realises what the hell jimin is on about.

"he's not mexican, he's ing asian!" jimin cries. and indeed he is - the boy eating burgers with taehyung does not even remotely look mexican - in fact, his doe eyes blink with the innocence and audacity of what could only be described as korean. "i bet his name isn't even jesus!"
 

"wait, what the are you on about?" taehyung interjects, looking puzzled. "i-"

"you told us you were going with this mexican kid named jesus!" the other exclaims with contempt. 

"okay, first of all, i said i was going to a mexican restaurant with jisoo, not that i was going to a restaurant with a mexican named jesus, you obviously need to clean your ing ears-" 

"but this isn't a mexican restaurant," hoseok reminds him with unbridled glee.

"oh, shut up, hoseok, we had a change of plans."

"you just came for the mcshanghai," jungkook says accusingly, and taehyung effectively avoids his gaze. 

meanwhile, the guy who's supposed to be jisoo-not-jesus is looking incredibly confused with the boys' less-than-normal exchange, and hoseok takes this as an opportunity to let himself shine. "hello, jisoo," he says very seriously. "do you have siblings named joseph and mary?" and with that, jimin starts howling the house down. taehyung rolls his eyes, attempting to explain again - but that doesn't seem to placate jimin at all, he's still crying with laughter - really, jungkook doesn't think it's that funny, but the boy seems to think otherwise.

 

"what are you doing here, anyway?" taehyung nods towards jungkook, while jimin is practically collapsing. "i thought you hated fast food -" his eyes widen as he remembers who's on shift today. "oh god, you didn't."
 

"she took my order," the younger informs him dryly.
 

and with that, taehyung erupts into a laughing fit, along with jimin - they're both rolling on the floor in a duet of sniggers, but for different reasons. jungkook just stares at them, unamused, refusing to believe that these are the people he chooses to socialize with. he's made a lot of bad choices throughout his life, but this seems to be easily the worst out of them. 

"here we go again," namjoon murmurs from the other side of the dining area, eyeing his friends with a gaze mixed with sympathy and distaste. 

"oh, shut up," seokijn responds sourly. "if anyone asks, we don't know them."

--

a/n: drinking game: drink every time jungkook says 'i mean' in this chapter
i tried to keep the charlatan fanboying/fangirling to a minimum but enough so they could bond slightly w each other
i also thought about jungkook accidentally saying the ' you' astral beings part in front of yeri but then it would be too tragic my boy is already as in miserable as he can be i'm not tHAT heartless ((or am i))
cries i am shamelessly proud of this one i'm ashamed and proud pls be proud of me & lEMME know what you think in the comments omg??? i'm excited to hear what you think, good or bad c: plus there are so many references in this chapter  l el 

FYI: these are the bts members' majors: seokjin - criminal justice(prepping for law school), yoongi - business, namjoon - eng lit, hoseok - sociology, jimin - psychology, taehyung - biology(prepping for med school), jungkook - sports science they're all in college lmao