#but the unbelievably rushed second and third acts have me bitching about how they didn’t cover ANY of the lore

[kareenvorbarra]

we just finished watching Dune (1984) and I feel insane

[k-popscenxrios]

Didn’t Ask For This Pt 1 (Roommate!JK x OC)

A/N: Okay look. I can explain why I’m posting yet again another Jungkook series when I already have two... I just really love this man, okay? No one can stop me!

Summary: “I didn’t know you hated me so much,” he spoke as he grabbed my wrist and once again turned me around to face him, “and quite honestly, I don’t think I’ve done anything horrible enough for you to hate me to the degree that you do.” “You say that like the hate isn’t mutual,” I remarked as he shook his head. There was a bitter smile on his face as he took a deep breath, “I think you are quite honestly one of the worst human beings I’ve had to come in contact with.”

6k words | drama ✞ | fluff ♡ | (future) mature themes ✗

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Finale

⇨ Masterlist ⇦

I ran around my apartment like a mad man as I continuously glanced at the clock. I was running out of time very quickly, and I was nowhere near done with everything that I needed done. I had to start choosing between tasks to get done, but I still was running behind.

My brother Taehyung was going to be home in an hour for summer break. Him and one of his college friends were coming back home to stay with me in my three bedroom apartment. I had originally turned down Taehyung’s proposal of staying in the same place for the summer, but I inevitably changed my mind after I realized just how much I missed him being around.

I still wasn’t thrilled about his friend coming to stay with us as well, but they were a package deal. I either agreed to both of them or neither.

“Oh shoot,” I mumbled to myself as I realized I forgot to run and buy food. Those two could just pay for take out or something…

Taehyung was finishing up his third year of college while I was finishing up my first. I had stayed home to go to a local college since tuition is so much more affordable here… That and my grades weren’t good enough to get me into Taehyung’s college.

I didn’t have the worst grades in the world, but I was nowhere near as smart as Taehyung. He was able to get a scholarship to his dream college, and then there’s me who barely got into a smaller college who’s not too picky about grades.

The hour I had left was very quickly over as I felt myself pass out on the couch. I had been cleaning and reorganizing for the last three days to be able to fit the two of them in my spare rooms. I had to go out and buy a bed for the third room so that his friend had a place to sleep, and Taehyung has still not paid me back for the expense.

I jumped up off the couch at the sound of the doorbell as my stomach jumped in excitement. It was finally time. I’d been looking forward to this for the past five months when we first started talking about doing this.

I swung the door open with a smile on my face as I saw Taehyung smiling back at me. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas break, and I was so unbelievably excited to see him again.

“Tae!” I threw my hands around his neck as I pulled him in for a hug. He smiled and laughed in my ear before wrapping one of his arms around me.

“Hey Ari,” he spoke into my hair that was in his face before I pulled away and backed away so that he could walk in. Once Taehyung pulled his bags and such through the door, I noticed the friend that Taehyung had brought. It didn’t take me more than a second for my eyes to widen as I spun around and glared at Taehyung.

He failed to mention that this “college friend” was his friend from high school, Jeon Jungkook. I never really talked with the guy because he always thought he was better than me just because he was older, but I will never forgive the jerk for what he did to one of my old high school friends.

It was our sophomore year and their senior year. I saw Jungkook all the time in the halls, and my friend Soomin would always gush over how “hot” he was. She smiled at him every time he passed us in the halls, but he pretended like he never saw us.

I just thought he was cold and uninterested, but he crossed a line one day during lunch when he practically announced that he and Soomin had sex a couple days prior. I don’t know what his problem was or why he felt the need to shout that to the heavens, but after he did, everyone called her the class slut. That name followed her until we graduated, and she never had a boyfriend for the rest of our high school career because of the rumors people mercilessly spread about her.

Some of the rumors were dumb like that she was pregnant with his kid, but most of them were insanely hurtful to her. People insisted that Jungkook would drive down just to screw her since he “knew she was easy.”

When he was still attending the school, he didn’t do a thing to stop the rumors. He acted as if he never said anything about her at all. I never understood what truly happened between the two of them, but I never forgave him for ruining her high school career.

“Sorry for lying, Ari,” Taehyung scratched the back of his head, “I knew you wouldn’t agree if I told you the friend was Jungkook.”

I put a hand to my forehead as I felt the beginnings of a headache. “That was real low of you, Tae.”

“I can hear you guys,” Jungkook spoke as he walked through the door, “Besides, I don’t even know what the big deal is. Why do you hate me so much? Taehyung doesn’t even know.”

I looked over at the boy and raised my eyebrows. My headache slowly increased in pain as I looked at him. “Does the name Jung Soomin mean anything to you?”

“Oh!” Taehyung’s eyes widened as Jungkook also came to the realization, “I forgot that the two of you were friends. How is she?”

I glared at Taehyung and turned around to gather my thoughts. I was supposed to be having some fun with my brother whom I haven’t seen in forever, yet here I am, upset over him lying to me.

“I haven’t talked to her in a couple months,” I started before I spun around again and tried my best to not glare daggers into Jungkook, “But I will tell you that you ruined her life for the last years of high school. Everyone called her a slut and easy. They even would claim that you would hit her up all the time for a quick one.”

Jungkook looked down and scratched the back of his head in discomfort. I glanced at Taehyung as he just stood there with his mouth slightly ajar.

“Like what possessed you to do something so shallow? Did it even happen? She would never confirm or deny it when I’d ask.” I turned back to Jungkook as he leaned against his luggage by his side.

“Well yeah, it happened.” he didn’t really say anything more as I just looked at him expectantly. Was that all he could say? I asked him multiple questions, not just the one…

“And?” I leaned toward him as he just continued to look anywhere but at me. “Why’d you do it? What could she have possibly done to deserve that?”

Taehyung cleared his throat and scratched his head before trying to change the subject, “It’s been a while. I’m sure he doesn’t remember. Why don’t we go settle in before deciding on dinner?”

I glared at Taehyung as he rushed off and ran into the room that was going to be his room for the next few months. I looked at Jungkook who was trying to make a great escape as well, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. I stood in his way looking at him expectantly as he sighed and gave me a sorry look.

“RaeAri, look,” he sighed and repositioned the bag hanging off his shoulder, “I’m sorry I did a horrible thing to your friend back then. I honestly don’t remember what she did to make me angry enough to do that. I’ve forgotten a lot about high school.”

His words just made my blood boil as I tried my hardest to not shove him right back out the door, “You’re kidding, right? The event was so insignificant for you that you don’t remember anything? I can’t believe you!”

I let out a small laugh as my disbelief grew. This guy was the worst. “You ruined her! She had to spend the next two years of high school being bullied by anyone and everyone just because she slept with you once! If any other girl in the school had been the victim to your stupid stunt, they would have been praised for scoring someone so popular.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it now,” he snapped as I took a step closer to him. My anger intensified as I clenched my fist at my side.

“I want you to apologize to her.”

Jungkook’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but I wasn’t kidding. I was being completely serious.

“You want me to apologize to her?” he repeated as I nodded, “I’m not going to apologize for something that might have been justified. She was a crazy bitch to me after we had sex.”

“So you do remember why you humiliated her like you did!” I pointed an accusing finger at him as he held up his hands in surrender.

“No, I just remember that she was annoying. I don’t know what she said or did to make me so mad to do that to her, but I know she had to have deserved it.”

My jaw dropped at his words as he shoved past me with an annoyed expression. I couldn’t believe this guy! Who did he think he was?!

“What an asshole!” I yelled after him, but he ignored me, “Give me one reason on why I shouldn’t kick you out of my place right this second.”

I was infuriated. I may not really talk to Soomin anymore, but I remember what hell she went through like it was yesterday. Why did she have to get herself involved with this guy? I would never in a million years allow myself to get in bed with this guy.

She used to tell me that she thought it would be fun to be with him. She used to gush about him all the time and about how she wished she could go up and talk to him. She really liked this guy, and I hated him for it. He stole her heart and her dignity in one fell swoop.

“You kick me out and Taehyung goes with me,” he yelled in response as I rushed into the room that I had adapted to be his living space. I would tear it all down if I could afford to pay for new decorations and furniture.

“Why does he have to be friends with such an insufferable jerkwad?” I snapped at him as he just shook his head and began unpacking his clothes into the dresser I had paid for with my own money. “And I better be getting a nice $500 from you for the furniture. I can only afford so much balancing school and work like I do.”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll get it to you eventually.”

“I want it next week, no later,” I glared as he spun around and tilted his head to the side.

“Listen here, little miss holier than thou,” he took a few steps closer to me. I could tell I was getting him really worked up at this point. “I was going to try and be nice to you since we’re going to be living under the same roof, but let me tell you something.”

I felt myself back away slightly as he took a few steps too close to me. I started to feel my nerves increase when he was so close that I could almost feel his breath on my face.

“I go to a better school than you, I live in a better apartment than you, and my living and school costs way exceed yours. So just take you and your dumb ass on into your room and leave me the hell alone. I’ll get you the money when I get a summer job here.”

I took a deep breath as my blood was simmering. “Taehyung, you’re just gonna let him talk to me like this?!”

I turned to look across the hall into what was now Taehyung’s room as I saw he had slipped earbuds in. He didn’t hear any of that? I stormed into his room and ripped the ear buds out of his ears by the cord as he looked up at me in surprise.

“Your “best friend” just called your sister a dumbass and you’re just gonna sit there and let it happen?!” I slightly yelled in his face as he just looked at me completely dumbfounded.

“Ari, calm down,” he spoke calmly as I tried to listen to him, “Don’t let him rile you up. He says a lot of things he doesn’t mean when he’s angry.”

“So you’re just going to let it happen?” My eyebrows creased as he sighed and looked out his doorway into Jungkook’s room across the hall. Jungkook had disappeared to continue with his clothes as Taehyung just shook his head and rubbed his forehead.

“Kook, could you please not provoke my little sister like this? We’ll all drive each other mad.” he spoke as I smiled and crossed my arms across my chest. I felt very accomplished until Jungkook appeared in the doorway again.

“For the record, she provoked me. I wouldn’t have gotten made if she wasn’t all up in my face like she was,” I rolled my eyes, still feeling like I’d won, “Also, are you 9 or 19? Because you’re acting like a pathetic kid crying to their parents.”

Taehyung snickered at Jungkook’s words as I whipped around to glare at him. “That wasn’t funny.”

“It’s pretty spot on,” he laughed as he stood up to hug me, “I love you, Ari, but you’re being too much of a teenager right now.

I shoved him off of me and ran toward my room that was at the end of the hall. I slammed my door closed as I felt my face heat up. I knew deep down that I was throwing a tantrum like a grade schooler, but I couldn’t really care less. I just needed to get out of the company of this insufferable guy. I just can’t believe he’s living with me for the coming months…

::

I stayed walled up in my room all through dinner and into the night, but as morning rolled around, I was forced out of my room. I was so incredibly hungry due to skipping a meal, but I just didn’t want to deal with Jungkook again for the rest of the night.

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen, and I was immediately met with the smell of the best coffee ever. Taehyung works as a barista during the school months, and I love his coffee. He makes some of the best coffee in the world.

“Can I have some?” I asked, grabbing the coffee pot and walking into the living room where Taehyung sat. He looked up at me from his phone and nodded before looking back down.

I turned around and walked back into the kitchen, pouring me some of the coffee. Just from the smell I could tell that it was going to be amazing.

I walked into the living room and sat next to Taehyung on the couch. I took a sip of the coffee and smiled at the warm sensation rushing down my throat. Taehyung glanced at me from the corner of his eye before sighing and locking his phone.

“Do you only have one bathroom?”

I nodded as I felt a grimace rest on my face, “That’s gonna be a problem.” I hadn’t really thought about it before since I’m only one person. I haven’t had any reason to have two bathrooms.

“Yeah…” he nodded, “Kook’s in the shower right now just to warn you. I wouldn’t want some comical scene happen between the two of you where you run into him after a shower, or worse, walk in on him while he’s getting out of the shower.”

I smacked Taehyung as he just smiled and laughed. “Thanks for the heads up. I can assure you I will be trying my hardest to not let anything like that happen.”

“I’ll make sure he does, too,” he spoke as a glare started to form on his face, “I would kill that bastard if he walked in on you.”

“Good,” I smiled as I leaned my head on his shoulder, “I missed you, Tae… a lot.”

He placed a soft kiss on my head as I closed my eyes, “I’ve missed you, too, Ari. I’m sorry I lied to you about Jungkook. He’s really not a bad guy, he’s just hard to get to know.”

“I don’t plan on getting to know him, just so you know,” I assured as I moved my head off Taehyung shoulder, “I’d much rather spend some time with you. It’s been a while since we’ve really hung out.”

“True,” he nodded before placing his mug on the coffee table in front of us, “We should go do something fun today, my treat.”

My eyebrows creased as I started realizing that I couldn’t do anything with him today.

“I’ve been off of work the past couple days to help get ready for you and Jungkook to get here, so I actually have to work a long shift today.”

“Oh,” Taehyung frowned as I started to feel guilty, “I mean we could always do something another time, I suppose.”

“How about tomorrow? I work early so we could go for dinner or something after I get off,” I offered as Taehyung smiled and nodded. “You could spend today looking for a fun part time job to have for this summer.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes, but he knew it had to be done. These guys did still have a college tuition that they have to pay off eventually. They need all the money they can get.

“Jungkook and I actually both have some job interviews for tomorrow. Not at the same place, but we’re pretty excited.” Taehyung informed as I raised my eyebrows.

“That was fast,” I tilted my head to the side, “did you guys apply before coming home?”

Taehyung nodded and stretched his arms above his head before standing up from the couch. I stood up with him as he continued talking, “Yeah, we figured it would be best to apply a few days in advance. It obviously was a smart move.”

I smiled and nodded, “Where’s your interview?”

Taehyung walked into the kitchen as I followed him and watched him place his mug in the sink. “It’s at the local coffee shop actually. It made the most sense because of what my job is during school.”

“Makes sense,” I smiled and nodded, “You should get me some free coffee if you get the job.”

“Maybe not free but I could discount you,” he winked as I laughed and nodded.

“I’ll take what I can get!”

We stopped our conversation short as I heard the door of the bathroom open up. I felt dread build up in my stomach as Jungkook came into view wearing a white tee and baggy sweatpants. His black hair was falling into his eyes because of how long it became when wet. He moved the hair out of his eyes before looking at me with a questionable expression.

“What?”

I felt my face drain of color as I realized I had been staring at him. What was wrong with me? I was trying to forget that this guy was even here, but my eyes were looking at him as if he were a TV with my favorite show on it.

“Nothing,” I shrugged it off as he scoffed and brushed past me. He opened the fridge and frowned at the lack of contents inside.

“You don’t have anything worth eating in here. How do you survive?”

I slightly glared his way as I moved him away from the fridge and looked inside. I didn’t have much in it, but there was stuff to eat. He’s just too picky…

“If you feel that way, go buy what you want as long as it fits in the fridge,” I shrugged him off as I moved away from the fridge. He sighed and shook his head before looking back into the fridge for something he deemed edible. It was all good food, it was just all healthy choices.

“Maybe I’ll do that and be sure to throw the rest of this garbage away.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I brushed him off as I walked into the bathroom, “I’m going to get ready for work. Don’t bother me please.”

I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned to look at myself in the mirror, horrified to see my cheeks were as red as a beet.

::

It had been just a couple days since Jungkook and Taehyung had moved in and nothing special had really happened besides some bickering between Jungkook and I. I was currently at work waiting for my shift to run out so that Taehyung and I could go out and eat like he promised.

I was walking around my workplace, the local movie theater, trying to keep the hallways clean. I was working with the worst of the three managers today so I had to make sure everything was as clean as it could be.

“Hey RaeAri,” I heard my coworker, Yoongi, call out to me. I looked his way as he held up the schedule that we were supposed to follow for cleaning the theaters, “We only have three more to go until we have an hour and a half long break.”

I nodded and smiled, “sounds awesome to me. Let’s knock them out, shall we?”

I was one of the fastest and most efficient cleaners out of all the employees, and then Yoongi was one of the slowest and terrible when it came to cleaning. He spent more time complaining about the garbage music that the theaters play while we clean them than he did actually doing his job.

“I could write better music than this in my sleep.” he spoke for the 100th time today. I was used to his comments after having cleaned with him on countless shifts, and I’ve learned to tune him out pretty easily.

“The faster you clean the less music we hear from these theaters,” I commented as he smiled and looked up at me. I was cleaning from top to bottom and him vise versa.

“Touche.”

We quickly finished cleaning up the popcorn messes that people left behind, and as I walked down the hallway, I was met with the face of the devil manager as I jumped in surprise.

“Kim RaeAri,” she spoke while looking down at the clipboard she’d been making notes on. She makes notes of almost everything we do whether it be good or bad. One time I caught her writing down when all of us went to the bathroom. She kept a log of when we went in and when we came out, even if we were just in there to clean the stupid rooms.

“Yes ma’am?” I asked as she looked up from her clipboard.

“We have two new hires who are starting tomorrow on cleaning. I want you to train the both of them, so I’m switching your shift with Yoo Jaemi’s.” she informed as I just nodded. I actually didn’t mind training new employees, I just got nervous over if they would be any good or not. If they’re terrible it makes my job harder for the evening.

“Okay,” I nodded and the manager turned around to run off and bug someone else.

“Good luck,” Yoongi mumbled as I poked him with the stick end of the broom in my hand.

“Hey, I trained you. I’ll be fine,” I sent him a smug smile as he just smiled along with me.

“True,” he pulled out the schedule and looked at the number of our next theater, “Off to theater 10, then.”

::

Taehyung and I actually had a nice, stress free time together at dinner, and I could only assume it was because the devil himself wasn’t present. He not only wasn’t invited, but he also had some business to attend to. Even after we came home from dinner, Jungkook still was gone. It was like Christmas morning!

“Did you want to do anything? We could play Wii Sports like the old days,” Taehyung smiled as I felt my excitement growing. I love my big brother to death, and having him home made me nostalgia sick for the days when we were kids. We used to play Wii Sports every day after school. I was always the bowling pro while Taehyung was the tennis pro.

I excitedly booted up the old Wii that I had previously had in a box until a week ago when I was getting things ready for Taehyung to be here. I already had the game inside the console and good batteries were already in the Wii Remotes.

“I’ve been practicing tennis so get ready for your butt to be kicked,” I smirked at the TV as Taehyung just laughed and looked my way.

“You’re on.”

The game didn’t last more than five minutes as he killed my score. He blew me out of the water!

“Your practicing was for nothing my sweet sister,” he grinned at me with his cheesy smile as I just laughed and smacked him with my Wiimote.

“Let’s bowl, then,” I narrowed my eyes at him with a slightly evil smile, “You’ve never managed to beat me. Think you can change that?”

“Sure do,” he narrowed his eyes at me as I nodded and started the game.

Strike after Strike, Spare after Spare… Taehyung didn’t have a chance against me. I was too good at the Wii Sports version of bowling.

“Okay whatever,” he smiled and took the Wiimote safety strap off his wrist, “I’d like to see you beat Jungkook at this. He’s a god at bowling in real life, so I wonder if he’d blow your score out.”

“I doubt it,” I smugly replied, “but we’re not going to figure out because I don’t want to be in the same room as him for that long.”

Taehyung laughed and started to shut the Wii off, “The game only lasts like five minutes. You spent that much time in the same room with him just this morning when you two were glaring at your phones to pretend like you didn’t notice the other was there.”

“And I felt miserable the whole time. Why are you even friends with this guy?” I got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen to get a water bottle. The second I opened the fridge, I was overwhelmed with the amount of food that was packed in the small thing.

“What the…” I mumbled as Taehyung walked into the kitchen with a knowing smile on his face.

It was just filled with junk food and sports drinks.

“Jungkook went a little overboard. We almost couldn’t fit everything in the fridge.”

“Good God,” I rubbed my hand on my forehead, “This is ridiculous. And what is with his food choices? He’s that skinny yet all he eats is this?”

“Yep,” Taehyung nodded and smiled, “Does it bother you?”

I looked at him for a couple of seconds as I felt my eyes narrow. His smile was becoming more and more smug by the second.

“...No,” I mumbled, but Taehyung saw through it, “It’s completely fine and not totally weird and annoying like he is.”

Taehyung just chuckled and nodded, “Noted. I guess I’ll let him shop like this every time, then.”

“Uh huh,” I shoved past him as he just continued to laugh at me, “Lighten up, sis. He’s really not that bad of a guy, okay?”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I retorted as Taehyung followed me back into the living room. Jungkook had impeccable timing as I heard his key unlocking the front door. He pushed the door open as Taehyung and I looked his way. I sat down on the couch and turned the TV to the Netflix app I had downloaded to it.

“Hey Kook,” Taehyung greeted him, but I pretended like I didn’t notice he walked in.

“Hey,” Jungkook responded as he walked back into his room. Taehyung followed him into the back of the apartment as I heard them softly talking to one another.

“Tae, where does your sister work again?” Jungkook asked as my eyebrows raised. I would kill him if he was planning on pulling something while I was on the job. Knowing him, he’d spill his popcorn all over the lobby while looking at me the whole time. He’d probably give me an evil smile before glancing down at the dustpan in my hands, knowing very well that I was about to be the person to clean up his stupid spill.

“She works at the theater,” Taehyung responded as I heard the two of them making their way into the kitchen.

“Huh,” Jungkook let out a small laugh as I heard the fridge close. “Interesting.”

The two of them headed back into the living room as I pretended like I was looking at titles on Netflix and not eavesdropping on their conversation. Jungkook studied me as he took a swig of the sports drink he had a million of in the fridge.

“Do you guys wanna have a movie night?” Taehyung smiled as I gave him a look of disbelief, “We could choose some really terrible movie and make fun of it all night.”

I felt my glare at Taehyung intensify. He knew that I loved watching terrible movies like that and making fun of them the whole time… Maybe Jungkook won’t be interested in the movie and go lay in his room all alone-

“Sounds fun,” Jungkook smiled and plopped down on the smaller couch of the two, “I used to do this with my ex-girlfriend. Remember Jinae?”

“Oh yeah,” Taehyung nodded as he found a seat next to me, “What happened with her, anyway? I just remember that she was over all the time and then suddenly she wasn’t.”

“She was too much for me. Too high maintenance,” I felt my blood boil at the way he was describing this poor girl. “While we did watch horrible movies and make fun of them, she only did it because I liked doing it. It turned out that this girl just pretended that she liked everything that I did just so that I would like her.”

I sealed my mouth shut after Jungkook finished his story. Okay, maybe he was in the right this once.

“Ouch, man. She seemed nicer than that,” Taehyung frowned as he rudely grabbed the remote out of my hand.

“Hey!” I protested his thievery as he just turned his back to face me and kept the remote out of my reach.

“You were too busy staring at Jungkook to pick a movie so I’ll be the one to pick.”

“Sorry?” I tilted my head to the side in disbelief. “I was listening to him just like you were.”

“If that were true, I would be gay,” Taehyung looked at me from the corner of his eyes as I tackled him in annoyance.

“Since when does looking at someone mean that you like them?” I spat as Taehyung just laughed and wiggled me off of him. He turned to me and ruffled my hair causing it to fall in front of my eyes and obstruct my vision. I just groaned and fixed it again.

“I was just teasing you, Ari,” he knocked me with his shoulder but my glare did not falter.

“Well it wasn’t funny,” I crossed my arms across my chest before leaning against the right arm of the couch.

“I disagree,” Jungkook spoke through a smile as I glared at him, “It was pretty priceless. You must hate me really badly, Ari.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped as he just smirked and looked over at the TV. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

“I’ll call you what I want to,” he mumbled as I just groaned and gave Taehyung a look of frustration. He just shrugged and looked at the TV to scroll through the endless movies and TV shows.

He finally decided on some “romantic comedy” as I heard Jungkook groan. I found myself quite happy with the choice, and hearing Jungkook’s unhappy noises made me love it even more.

“Really Tae?” he looked over to Taehyung as Taehyung just smiled and laughed.

“I’ve heard this is a trainwreck of a movie. Get ready,” his voice was all serious as if we were about to dive into deep waters. Could this movie really be that bad?

…

“Oh my God are you kidding me?” I found myself saying out loud as I groaned in annoyance.

“I see some glaring plot holes,” Jungkook noted as I nodded in agreement.

“I mean this movie has no direction and it just keeps getting worse and worse,” I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. This was one of the worst things ever. Not just one of the worst movies, it was one of the worst things in the entire existence of the word.

“Was this written by a middle schooler?” Jungkook spoke in between handfuls of popcorn as I smiled.

“I bet you this was. There’s no other explanation,” I shook my head and hugged the pillow I was holding to me, “I could have written a much better story than this even in middle school.”

“It wouldn’t take much to beat this, Ari,” Jungkook mentioned as I nodded in agreement.

“True…”

Taehyung didn’t say a word almost the whole movie as I felt myself grow concerned and curious. I leaned forward to look at him only to realize that he had fallen asleep laying on the armrest of the couch. I smiled at how young he looked sleeping like that. His face was all squashed up against the couch as I felt myself tempted to pull out my phone and take a picture of him for blackmail reasons.

I was torn away from thinking about Taehyung as Jungkook shuffled on the little couch he was trying his best to lay on. It was hilarious watching him try to fit on the couch with his knees bent so much that he looked like he had to almost fold in half to get any sense of comfort. I felt accomplished at the fact that he was having a hard time simply just laying down, but I was snapped out of it when a loud music track started playing on the TV.

“These song choices are horrid,” Jungkook whined as he rubbed his temples on his forehead, “I want to arrest whoever thought this was a good soundtrack.”

“Agreed,” I spoke, feeling something weird stirring in me. I just agreed with Jungkook? What was wrong with me?

One excruciatingly long and pointless movie out of the way, Jungkook stood up to flip the lights on. It was pretty late in the evening and I had work in the morning.

“I need to head to bed,” I spoke as Jungkook just shrugged me off. I don’t know why I felt like I needed to tell him that, but there was no use in reflecting on the fact that I did.

“Goodnight,” he nodded to me as he watched me walk down the hallway. “Have fun at work.”

I turned around and gave him a weird look at his strange words. ‘Have fun at work’?

“...Okay…?” I responded as he just smiled and looked away from me. That was very odd. Was he actually going to show up tomorrow and make my shift miserable? I guess only time could tell for sure…

::

A/N: You’ll never guess what movie they were watching... :x Thank you for reading~!

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Something to Prove, Chapter Eleven: Third Wheel

Rating: T Warnings: Swearing Words: 2417 Fandom: Naruto Summary: As Suna prepares for its first independently-held chunin exam since Gaara became kazekage, the sand siblings must make sure that everything goes off without a hitch.

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Far less of the week was spent relaxing than Shikamaru would have liked. As the third exam approached, spectators from other villages and lands began to arrive. Gaara had taken the last two days to welcome the feudal lord of the Land of Wind, and security was at its peak. The third exam was always his least favorite for this very reason; there were too many people, and the constant buzz of excitement kept him from feeling completely at peace.

He took his cigarette between his fingers and exhaled a cloud of smoke. He stood in the center of a large arena, looking up at the rows of empty seats above the walls of the structure. The ground was basically a pit of sand, but the loose earth had been moved into dunes, scattered around the arena. This left a good portion of the arena with a solid, sandstone base, which would allow the genin from other villages to keep their footing. Suna couldn’t be accused of bias.

Temari climbed down a flight of stone steps along the wall, making her way down into the arena. In her left hand, she held a file, which was closed tightly with string. “Everything seems to be in order,” she informed her fellow proctor as she approached. “We’ll have a few more matches than we wanted, but there’s too few of them to hold an elimination.”

Shikamaru held out his hand for the folder, which she passed to him. He unwound the string and removed the papers inside, glancing over the information sheets for the remaining genin. “I don’t think the spectators will mind. We have a solid group this year. It should be entertaining all the way through.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

“Still, this is going to take at least two days. The nine, preliminary matches will probably take the entirety of the first day. Even if they’re over quickly, the crowd will appreciate the break.”

“Right. Then we’ll have to have five matches with the winners; one will have to fight twice, if no one drops out. Ideally, we can get through the semi-finals and finals that day, too.”

Shikamaru slid the papers back inside the file and sealed it. “Are any other kage coming?”

“Not that I know of. The only high-profile guest we have so far is the feudal lord.” Temari informed him. “During the matches, Kankuro will be the liaison between us and Gaara. Gaara wants both of us on the field in case we need to stop any of the matches.”

“Is that a little much?”

“Perhaps, but I’m not going to tell him that.” Temari placed her hands on her hips. “I say we leave well enough alone. We’re prepared two days ahead, which is better than we’ve ever done.”

“We’ve got this down to an art,” Shikamaru agreed. The chunin exams were always an ordeal, but he couldn’t deny the satisfaction he felt when they were over.

“Tomorrow, we’ll give the arena a once-over to make sure nothing’s been tampered with. Everything else is planned and ready to go.”

The pair, having finished their task, exited the arena and stepped into the flow of Suna’s now-bustling streets.

“Hey, Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru stuck his pinky finger in his ear and rotated it. Maybe he needed to eat something? Could hypoglycemia make someone hear things?

“Shikamaru!!”

Temari stopped walking and turned, and Shikamaru followed her lead. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered as she drew in a breath.

“Naruto?” Shikamaru asked, extremely confused. The blonde ninja stuck out from the crowd in his bright orange outfit. The flow of traffic parted around them as Naruto rushed over to his friend. “What are you doing here?” he asked, a little more harshly than he intended.

“There’s no way I’d miss Konohamaru becoming a chunin!” Naruto declared, a smile on his face. “He’s gotta have someone here to cheer him on, after all!”

Well, he had a point. After losing the Third Hokage and Asuma, Naruto was the closest thing Konohamaru had to family. It seemed that Naruto had sufficient time to forgive and forget the incident at the hot springs. Shikamaru glanced at Temari, but she just looked annoyed. At the moment, they were public figures. They couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

Naruto became situationally aware enough to realize that Shikamaru wasn’t alone. To his credit, he took a half-step back as he greeted, “Oh, hey, Temari.”

Temari resisted the urge to make a sudden move in his direction just to see if he would jump. She crossed her arms below her chest, narrowing her teal eyes just a fraction. “Naruto.”

“Did anyone else come with you?” Shikamaru tried to change the subject before Naruto had a chance to say something he’d regret.

“Nah. I had to convince Grandma Tsunade to let me come; she didn’t wanna send anyone else.” Naruto raised his arms and put his hands behind his head. “Say, where’s Gaara?”

“He’s attending to the feudal lord,” Temari informed him. “You didn’t really think the kazekage would just be wandering about before the third exam, did you?”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

Shikamaru saw a flicker of indignation in Temari’s eyes. “Listen,” he said to their unexpected guest, “we’ve got a lot to do before the one-on-ones.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “We should probably get going.”

“I’ll come with you! I’m supposed to meet up with Gaara, and he’s sure to show up around you guys!”

Shikamaru looked at him in disbelief, but Naruto ignored him completely. He was unbelievable.

“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Naruto asked, forcing himself between Shikamaru and Temari to continue walking down the street. “Let’s get going!” He stopped mid-step and looked behind him. “Where’re we going, exactly?”

Shikamaru and Temari sat on either side of a shogi board, their pieces scraping and clacking on the wooden surface as they made their moves. To the side, Naruto sat cross-legged, frowning. He did his best to sit in silence, his eyes darting back and forth as the two ninja took mere seconds to take their turns. He growled to himself impatiently before blurting out “I thought you were going to work on the exam!”

“We are,” Shikamaru lied flatly, his eyes never leaving the board.

“No, you’re just playing shogi! Come on, I wanna help!”

“It’s not our fault if you don’t understand the process,” Temari countered, following Shikamaru’s lead.

“You guys are just fucking with me.”

“Listen, Naruto. These exams are the result of months of planning. Everything has to go off perfectly. For that to happen, we have to stick to our method. We wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t important.” Shikamaru set his knight down, taking one of Temari’s pieces.

Naruto grumbled. “Man, when’s Gaara gonna get here?”

“He’ll be back when he’s back,” Temari informed him. “No one’s forcing you to stay.”

“I mean, he’s got to come home sooner or later, right? So it makes sense for me to just hang here with you guys.”

Unbelievable, Temari thought to herself. How could a ninja be so oblivious? By this point, they had all but told him to leave. If it wasn’t for Gaara’s request for secrecy, she might have resorted to being completely blunt in telling him that he was an unwanted third wheel who was taking up the few precious hours Shikamaru and she would have alone that day. It was maddening.

Shikamaru knew what she was thinking by the way she made her next move. She was too preoccupied to notice that she’d left herself open to checkmate. He took his rook between his fingers and trapped her, much to her disdain. “That’s a match.”

Naruto looked excitedly at Shikamaru as he brushed the shogi pieces into their box. Finally! “So what’re we gonna do now?” he asked, ready to get to work helping them with the third exam.

With a straight face, Shikamaru informed him that they would “Play Go.”

Naruto gaped at him in complete disbelief. His demeanor changed as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Yeah, you guys are fucking with me.”

When Gaara and Kankuro returned home, Naruto acted like they’d saved his life. He rushed after Gaara, following him to his room while prattling on about something or another. Kankuro watched them go before asking “What’s his problem?”

“He’s been here for hours,” Temari complained as she stood up from the board.

“We ran into him on the street, and he invited himself.” Shikamaru popped his neck. “He refused to leave until Gaara got home.”

“Sheesh,” Kankuro empathized. “Why’s he even here?”

“To watch the third exam,” Shikamaru informed him. “Which means that he’ll be hanging around for another three days, at the least.”

Gaara returned after putting away his kage garb, Naruto still on his heels. “So, yeah, I kinda need a place to stay.”

“We can put you up,” Gaara assured him, ignoring the frantic gestures his brother and sister were making. “But Shikamaru’s staying here, too, so you’ll have to sleep on the couch.”

“He can have my room,” Shikamaru said quickly. “I can take the couch.”

“Wow, thanks, Shikamaru!” Naruto exclaimed.

If Naruto were to stay on the couch, he would treat the entire place like it was his bedroom. They would never be able to get away from him. This way, they could enclose him inside four walls for at least a few hours, giving them all some peace. “No problem. Just give me a minute to get my stuff.”

“He’s a real stand-up guy,” Naruto declared after Shikamaru left the room. “I feel kinda bad, though. He’s taller than me. I don’t know if he’s gonna fit on the couch.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kankuro said dismissively. “I’m sure he’ll figure something out.” As much as he hated the thought, he knew that Shikamaru would be sleeping in his sister’s bed rather than in their living room. He just hoped the two of them would be careful enough not to let Naruto find out.

“It’s all yours,” Shikamaru declared once he returned.

“Man, I really owe you one. I’m just glad you’re not pissed at me anymore.”

“I got it out of my system,” he said honestly. To his surprise, Naruto laughed.

“I’d say so.”

As annoying as he was, Naruto was perhaps the only person that Shikamaru could hit in the face just to be forgiven a week later. He hadn’t even apologized, but it was all water under the bridge.

“So,” Naruto spoke up. “What’s for dinner?”

Temari lay on her stomach on her bed, her head resting on her forearms. “This has been the longest day of my life,” she muttered, her voice muffled by the mattress. Naruto’s presence was draining on its own. The added obstacle of keeping him in the dark brought the whole ordeal to a new level. It was still early, but she had to take a few minutes to herself if she was going to keep from injuring him.

“He’s not easy,” Shikamaru agreed from inside her bathroom, where he stripped down to his boxers. He could see Temari’s reflection in the mirror above the sink. “But, he’s clueless. Just a few more days, and we’re in the clear. We’ll let him get a head start to the leaf, tell him there’s something we need to do here before I can go back.” He pulled the ribbon out of his hair, letting it fall down.

Temari sat up so he could hear her better. “I don’t know if I can survive a few days.”

“You’re being dramatic. Are you feeling alright?” he quipped before walking further into the bathroom. He pulled back the shower curtain to start the water, but he was caught off guard.

Kankuro had positioned his Crow puppet behind the curtain with the intention to get Temari back for hiding his tools a few weeks before; he was an avid proponent of waiting until she didn’t expect him to retaliate. Of course, Shikamaru wasn’t supposed to be caught in the crossfire.

“MotherFUCKER!” Shikamaru staggered back too quickly, and his step caused the bath mat to slide across the floor. His foot slipped out from underneath him, and he came crashing down on his back.

“Shikamaru!” Temari jumped up and ran over to him.

Gaara opened the door to Temari’s bedroom, fearing for her safety. Kankuro was right behind him, but for a very different reason. The evil smile fell from his face when he saw Temari lifting Shikamaru into a sitting position.

“What the hell was that?!” Naruto demanded as he made room for himself to be part of the scene.

Shikamaru moved his hand from the back of his head, grimacing when he noticed blood on his fingers.

In anger, Temari grabbed Shikamaru’s hairbrush from the vanity because it was the first thing she could reach. She used it as a projectile and sent it flying at her brother. “You are such an ass!”

“It was supposed to scare you, not him!” Kankuro tried to defend himself.

“How does that make this better?!” Temari growled.

After taking a moment to process what had happened, Naruto snickered. Unable to help himself, he burst into laughter at the expense of his friend. “Man, that’s awesome!” he praised Kankuro, who was admittedly pleased that someone found his prank entertaining. “I wish I could have seen his face!”

“I’ve been sitting on that one for weeks,” Kankuro admitted, proud of his work.

Temari was too busy examining the back of Shikamaru’s head to bother with them, trying to stop the bleeding. It was a mild injury, but the less blood he lost, the better.

Gaara sighed, aware that he could do nothing in this situation. “Come on,” he ordered turning his back on the scene.

Naruto was in stitches as Kankuro shuffled into the bathroom to grab his puppet. Temari glared at him with an intent to kill as he made his way back out. She bit down on the inside of her cheek until Kankuro left and Naruto followed him, asking him admiring questions about what other pranks he’d pulled.

“I’m going to strangle him in his sleep,” Temari threatened out of frustration as she threw away the tissues she’d been holding against Shikamaru’s wound.

“Kankuro or Naruto?” Shikamaru asked as he stood up. His head rushed a bit, but Temari steadied him.

“Either. Both.”

“Just wait until after the exam. Fewer witnesses.”