Jungkook's first instinct when Yoongi asks him to follow him is to think that he's going to secretly sneak him some more food. Then he tries to figure out why that's such a bad thing and what the heck is wrong with the both of them.

His second instinct is be generally suspicious for no good reason.

Yoongi is heading into the dorm building, probably up to his room. Or Jungkook's room. Or some unknown demon's - he hasn't really bothered to specify. Jungkook doesn't want to ask because it feels like it should be obvious, and he's already said enough today satisfy his Daily Stupidity Count.

They stop at room 513. Yoongi digs in his pocket for his keys. The key ring has an abnormal number of keys on it - Jungkook only has three, for his door, Taehyung's door, and his locker, but Yoongi's has eight at least - and the keychain is plain rubber, the kind you get for free.

"Come on in," Yoongi says, motioning for him to enter.

The room is as messy as he remembers it from his previous minute-long stay. Yoongi sits at his computer, and there's no extra chair, so Jungkook hovers awkwardly behind him until Yoongi pats the bed next to him. The bed seems more storage area than bed, and it takes Jungkook a moment to push things away enough to give himself space.

It's insanely soft. Jungkook is jealous. He barely resists bouncing on the mattress.

"You've listened to my music over the internet, right?" Yoongi asks, clicking away on his computer.

"Yeah."

"Those videos are shitty quality."

"...yeah."

"So." He has a complicated sound mixing software open that Jungkook has never heard of before. He's tried messing with synthesizers when he was younger and had less to study, but he always looked for the free ones. This is probably what the sophisticated kids use.

Yoongi hands him a pair of headphones that look too big for anyone's head. "Here."

"...I'm sorry?"

"You're the first person to actively seek out my music," Yoongi says, and he sounds a bit deadpan. He holds out the headphones again. "Thought you should hear it better."

Jungkook takes them hesitantly, and puts them over his ears. Yoongi presses play.

The music doesn't hit him too hard at first. It sneaks up on him, slowly, quietly, like it may not want to kill him after all, but it's still suspicious and makes the hair on his neck stand straight up.

And then out of nowhere it changes, like a punch in the face.

Jungkook lasts about a minute. But Yoongi is watching him too closely, and the track is frankly disturbing, and he thinks Yoongi knows this, is expecting him to tug the headphones off, because he's watching him with an amused light in his eye. And this seems like permission, almost, to stop if he wants, so he tugs the headphones off.

"Terrible, huh," Yoongi says, and it's not a question.

"...uh." Was there a polite way to respond to that?

"It's terrible," Yoongi decides for him. "I wasn't quite sure how terrible before, and that's where you came in."

Jungkook is slightly scared that he's done something wrong here.

"I've been working on this for quite a while," Yoongi says. "I can never seem to get it right. What you said earlier - about the colour black? This is supposed to be the exact opposite of that."

"...white?" Jungkook asks, because he's stupid like that.

"No. You said black no matter what you mix into it. This is black because it's throwing out everything else."

That...is an interesting idea, and Jungkook is instantly struck by the urge to paint it. The colours are already swirling around in his head, emerging from nothing and dissolving in chaos. He stares for a moment, unseeing.

"Could I...listen to it again?" he asks, and Yoongi grins.

It's still terrible the second time. Knowing what it's supposed to be doesn't suddenly improve it, but it gives it a little more context. It makes more sense. He still winces too often and hopes Yoongi doesn't see, but by the end of it he sort of understands what it means.

"This is my life's work," Yoongi says. "Well, life's work until I get it right."

It's a strange thing to put together and declare a life's work. And why show it to him? If anyone asked to see Jungkook's sketches, he always searched for his best work. Hard to find, but there are some pieces that he doesn't want to trash. And he only ever showed anyone completed work, the standard exception being Taehyung. Not even Jimin. And yet, Yoongi had picked the largest disaster in his file to show him.

"Why is it so important?" he asks.

Yoongi looks at him seriously. "It's supposed to sound like the human mind."

Jungkook stops. "That's the human mind?" he asks, unnerved. Is this what it's like in Yoongi's head?

"It's getting there," Yoongi says. He's staring at his screen with that strange mix of affection and pure hatred that any artist has for their work. "It'll get there."

At that moment, they hear a "Jungkookiiiie!" outside in the corridor, courtesy of Jimin. Jungkook perks up immediately - he hasn't seen Jimin in a while - but Yoongi swears aloud.

"Pretend you aren't here," he says under his breath. "I can't open the door."

"...huh?"

Yoongi points an accusing finger at his own door. "Your friend," he says, still deathly quiet, "Will come in with zero permission. Just, pretend you aren't here."

Pretending he isn't here is practically Jungkook's middle name, so that isn't a problem at all - but the question remains why. And, more importantly, "But Jimin-hyung can smell me."

Yoongi looks at him weirdly. "That...is really absurd and probably untrue, but I don't even want to know."

It is true. Jimin has some kind of Jungkook-detecting-radar connected to him that lets him sniff him out from the strangest of places. Jungkook can't count the number of times he's just been hanging around in some weird corner of the library or the engineering block, in between shelves or tables, and Jimin has found him because he just 'had a feeling he'd be there'.

But clearly fate likes conspiring to make him look like an idiot in front of people he doesn't know, because today Jimin senses nothing and goes back down the stairs when he realizes Jungkook's room is locked from the outside.

"You can go now," Yoongi says, once his footsteps have retreated. Jungkook can't tell if that's a you're free to go or a get the hell out of here. It's hard to tell these things with Yoongi.

"Thanks, Yoongi-ssi," he says anyway, standing up. Yoongi raises a hand in farewell.

He pauses outside the door, the music still ringing in his ears. Even Yoongi knew it was terrible. It was on a completely different level from anything Jungkook had heard during his internet-stalking phase, and he's left wondering where the line between music and noise is, if there even is a line, and which side of it Yoongi should be aiming for if he indeed wants to replicate the human mind.

But then again, isn't that the point of art? To take what should be noise and turn it into music?

Nearly an hour later, the music (noise?) still doesn't get out of his head. He tries listening to music. He tries all of his favourite bands, then all of Taehyung's favourite bands, and then just about anything that shows up on the sidebar. But the low bass keeps pounding at the back of his mind, and the high pitched shriek, that may or may not have even been an instrument, still rings above everything else.

When he finally makes his way down the stairs, it's one AM, and his hands are shaking. Taehyung is playing a game on his phone, and Jimin is cross legged on the floor in front of him, watching something on his laptop.

"Hey," Jungkook says, peeking through the doorway.

"Jungkookie! Where have you been?"

Jungkook shrugs, settling down next to Jimin. Jimin hands him one of his earphones, and presses play again. It's an animated movie, badly dubbed. Something about some kind of city of dumplings, where every day a dumpling is sent to the Humans as a sacrifice. It's usually Taehyung's job to watch such cracky movies at ridiculous hours - he's not sure what's gotten into Jimin.

"Tae recommended it," Jimin tells him, after a particular nasty scene of dumplings spilling their innards.

"You don't like it?" Taehyung asks from the couch, a bit wounded.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Jimin asks.

"You don't like it?" Taehyung repeats, even more wounded.

Jungkook focuses on their familiar voices, curls up closer to Jimin, and stares as the dumplings die, one after the other. The music starts fading out of his head, and by the time the credits roll, he's forgotten about it completely.

"I heard you told Yoongi his music was shitty," Hoseok says, the next time they see each other.

Jungkook starts. "No?"

Hoseok raises his eyebrows.

"...he said it was terrible first."

Hoseok grins. "It is pretty terrible," he agrees. "You met the Project, right?"

"The who?"

"The Project. Capital P. His life's work."

"Oh," Jungkook says. "I guess." And then, because it looks like Hoseok is on his side, he adds, "It was the most horrible thing I've ever heard."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"It was!" Jungkook insists. "I...I couldn't even pretend I liked it. He's going to hate me."

"You don't need to like art," Hoseok says, in one of his rare moments of superior wisdom, which probably means he's quoting something. "It's supposed to make you feel something."

"But is it art if it's mostly just noise?"

Hoseok considers it. "It depends on what, exactly, it made you feel," he says. "It's basically art if you think it is. Have you heard the Rite of Spring?"

"The Rite of Spring?"

"Igor Stravinsky's ballet. The first time it was performed there was a freaking riot in the theatre."

"...wow. That bad?"

Hoseok shakes his head. "It isn't bad at all," he says. "But it scares the hell out of you. That's how Yoongi's music has always been to me."

"...huh."

"He hasn't caused riots yet," Hoseok says. "But sometimes I think he wants to."

It's a strange approach, Jungkook thinks. He's only ever met people who want their music to be loved. Cherished. Listened to when they're numb and need to remember how to feel. Only Min Yoongi would want people to run from it screaming.

It's almost funny to think about. It would be funny, if Jungkook could stop remembering the sound of his Project and the chills it gives him still.

It's the next day, in the middle of a lecture, that the right colours finally strike him. It's almost revolutionary - his teacher is saying something like so we assume epsilon tends to zero, and three seconds later Jungkook has understood the human mind.

Black because it's throwing out everything else, Yoongi had said.

He doesn't have any paint with him, obviously, and his classes only end at five, but the idea is there and it's burning at the edge of his mind. He bounces his leg, clicks his pen repeatedly, and finally pulls out his pack of markers and decides to make do.

His notebook is ruled, the paper too thin, and all in all it's very unfit for what Jungkook wants to do, but he bites the cap off of his black sketch and starts to draw.

It's hard being sneaky and passionate at the same time. He wants to lean over his desk, shade with full concentration, but at the same time he has to pretend he's pleasantly interested in whatever the heck epsilon is doing now. It's a relief when the bell rings. He has a free period now, maybe he'll go up to the roof and sketch there. He's just about made it out the door when someone calls him.

"Jungkook!"

It's his lab partner.

"Did you finish those calculations?"

He realizes, with a sinking feeling, that he'd forgotten about them. What with Yoongi's music and Jimin's city of dumplings, he'd forgotten about his homework.

His lab partner looks about two seconds away from having a melt down of his own. "I'm so sorry!" Jungkook says hastily. "But it's okay, we still have three hours, I'll finish it now!"

They decide to meet in their lunch break, and Jungkook dashes up the stairs, up to the roof, but now for a whole different reason. He pulls out his notebook and his calculator. The colours still dance in the corner of his mind, telling him look, here's an idea, you're going to forget it, entertain it right now.

Jungkook kills it.

He finishes the calculations with more than half an hour to go before their lunch break. The tension of will I finish this on time or will I die hasn't gone away yet, even though he's staring at the finished work in front of him. Half heartedly, he pulls out his drawing and stares at it.

It looks ridiculous. Jungkook can't remember what he thought was revolutionary about it. It looks like a kid drew it with the black sketch held in his mouth, and then splattered red all over it for no reason. He crumples it up, smoothens it out again, stares some more, and then stuffs it back in his backpack.

It'll get there, Yoongi had said. His confidence was surprising. Jungkook had never felt that way in his life.

Which was probably why Yoongi was where he was, and Jungkook was...here. Waiting to go to lunch. Then on his way to the lab. Then on his way to a lifetime of things he doesn't want to do.

It's not a nice thought, and to forget about it, he pulls out his phone and texts Taehyung.

You in class?

As expected, he gets two pings in response. Taehyung's nope and Jimin's why do you always text him before me??

Because you reply no matter who I text, Jungkook replies, which is one hundred percent true.

Rude!

He's seen both of them only sporadically over the past two weeks - like late at night, when Jimin bursts into his room to give him food he bought at wherever he'd been that day, or when Taehyung just wanders in, climbs into his bed, and falls asleep. Things like a couple of days ago, when he and Jimin had watched that movie together, were a rarity. Jungkook misses them a bit.

It strikes him that he still hasn't told them about his encounter with Yoongi. He starts to type up an explanation, then realizes that to explain it he has to talk about leaving things under his door, and for that he has to talk about Yoongi giving him food, and for that he has to talk about getting caught up in the rain, and all in all the story has become too long for Jungkook to tell, so he drops it.

And you? in class? Taehyung asks, when Jungkook hasn't said anything for a while.

Nope.

Nice! I'm near the engg block, be there in five mins

Jungkook sends him a thumbs up.

Traitor nerdy kids, Jimin texts. Why are your classes so far from us regular people.

Jungkook sends him a shrug emoji and puts his phone down.

Taehyung finds him easily - this is where they usually hang out, after all. The science block is close enough for him to drop by during his free periods.

"Hi," Jungkook says, as Taehyung sits next to him. He doesn't have anything strange in his hair today. The past week has had a strange assortment of beads and hairpins, but today his hair is limp. Instead he's wearing thick framed, circular glasses, that Jungkook knows for a fact he doesn't need.

"Hi," he says, too. "I don't see you much these days."

Jungkook is sort of surprised that he's noticed. "I guess."

"That's actually why I came."

Jungkook starts. "You don't have a class?"

Taehyung shakes his head. "I tagged along with Jimin. Since you were free I came here instead."

Jungkook is a bit touched. He feels guilty all over again for being upset that they keep leaving him behind.

Contrary to the popular belief, Taehyung was his first friend - not Jimin. Anyone who knows the three of them always assumes it's Jimin, because Jimin is the sort of person who makes friends with random kids he sees on the streets. But it was Taehyung he met first. He'd found Jungkook outside the auditorium, leaning against the wall and trying to hear what was going on inside, and told him that what was going on inside was shitty as hell, and settled down cross legged in front of him, already tapping away at his phone to show him real music, despite having never met him before.

"We'll play Overwatch after lab today," Taehyung decides for them both. "In the evening. And we'll kick Jiminie out if he makes too much noise."

"...but we make too much noise."

"Yeah, but our noise is related to the plot. His is unnecessary and a distraction."

Jungkook nods solemnly, but can't hide a grin. It's probably childish, the fact that he's looking forward so much to playing a game with his friend, but it's been a while. A long while.

Taehyung starts telling him about whatever catches his fancy - about where he went yesterday (the bowling alley), how he feels about the weather (perfect to roll down the stairs and fall asleep half way down) and the newest conspiracy he's come across (the ducks they see on the way to class aren't ducks, after all). He has this way of talking where sometimes he forgets to look at Jungkook and talks to the sky instead, and then talks to the walls, and then at the climax of his story remembers he wants an audience that's capable of reacting and turns back to Jungkook, wide eyed and earnest.

Jungkook listens intently. He's always been Taehyung's best audience - it's the reason they get along so well.

He hates his lab sessions with a burning passion.

For one thing, they never seem to end. For another, his lab partner has the patience of a burnt tomato. For another, this is maybe the fifth time his breadboard has fallen to the floor, and the fifth time the components have fallen out, and the fifth time he has to connect everything all over again.

"Why do you keep picking it up?" his lab partner says, exasperated, like Jungkook is doing all this on purpose. And this is when the other boy hasn't connected it even once.

"Sorry," Jungkook mutters. "But how else am I supposed to move it?"

His lab partner sighs again, like the world is on his shoulders, and Jungkook's temper flares a bit. It's not like he wants to stay late. He wants all of this to be over and done with so that he can throw everything out the window, go home, and do nothing productive at all.

But it's Jungkook who's delaying things, not his partner, so he bites his tongue and connects it again.

By the time he makes it back to the dorms, it's about eight o clock, his frustration has spiked and fluctuated so much that it finally flat lined, and now he just feels emotionally dead.

He can see the light in 513 on from the street, and remembers his abandoned drawing. Maybe he'll have a go at it again.

He stops at Taehyung's floor, and the door is locked from the outside. He frowns.

He goes two doors to the left, and finds Jimin's door locked as well.

This can't be right. Neither of them have classes today after four thirty, and they never run late. He stares at the locks for a couple of moments, trying not to let the disappointment crush him. Had he misunderstood? Maybe Taehyung meant let's play together in the vague sort of way adults said we should catch up sometime. But then, adults didn't say we should catch up this very evening without specific intent.

He texts Taehyung, but there's no reply.

Finally, he gives up and goes upstairs, somehow feeling even worse than he did when he left the lab. He thinks of going to see Hoseok, but it's too early for that, and honestly, right now Jungkook just wants to be alone. Not like he has another choice.

Because his day isn't bad enough as it is, he hears footsteps behind him as he steps onto his floor. It could be any one of his floormates, and all of the options are equally bad. Jungkook decides to just keep walking till he reaches his door without turning back.

"Jungkook?"

He recognizes the voice instantly. "Seokjin-ssi."

Seokjin smiles at him, and Jungkook doesn't know how he can smile at people so easily. Jungkook needs to burn a thousand dollars and sacrifice his soul to the gods to be able to smile at a stranger and for it to not turn out awkward.

He tries smiling at Seokjin anyway. Sure enough, it doesn't work out.

"Good to see you!" Seokjin says, which is another thing Jungkook can never say without his face twisting, because when is it ever good to see a stranger? And when is it good to see Jungkook?

"Good to see you too," he says, and hopes it doesn't sound too dead.

"Are you hungry?" Seokjin asks. "I was just bringing Yoongi his dinner, but I've made some extra. Want some?"

Before Jungkook can answer, the door of 513 opens, and Min Yoongi is visible in the doorway, looking like he hasn't showered in three days.

"The kid is petty about things like sharing food," he says, and that stings a little bit, because it was Yoongi who started it.

"I'm not," he says quietly, but it gets lost in Seokjin's gaze of muted horror between them.

"You know each other?" he asks, incredulous. "Yoongi, you know someone?"

Yoongi looks sort of done with his life. "I found him drowning in the rain and gave him some food," he says. "If that counts as knowing him."

Seokjin looks at Jungkook with a strange, sincere expression. "You should definitely eat with us," he says, and this is already too much. Jungkook just wants to go back to his room and sleep, for heaven's sake. His nerves are stretched thin, and he really just wanted to see Taehyung, but Taehyung is missing and he doesn't know these people and he doesn't have the energy to try to smile and make it look like he's a semi decent human being -

"Hey," Yoongi says. He's staring at him too intently, like he knows everything that's happening inside Jungkook's head. "It's no issue, you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Jungkook looks at Seokjin, who isn't looking at him anymore and is staring at Yoongi in confusion.

Jungkook nods, mumbles something that he intends to be an apology but doesn't come out right, and all but runs into his room. He can hear Seokjin's confused, muted voice outside, and Yoongi's deeper tones, but he can't make out words.

He locks the door behind him and sinks into his bed, trying not to think at all. Maybe Taehyung will just be back later. Maybe evening to him means after midnight. Maybe, or most probably, Jungkook is just overreacting.

If they didn't want to spend time with him, they wouldn't have stuck with him for so long. Jungkook is easy to leave behind - he knows this from past experience. But then, Jimin's too nice to leave anyone with zero friends, so. So. Maybe it really is just pity.

He needs his brain to shut up.

He reaches under his bed and pulls out his sketchbook. He stares at the empty paper, thinking black, throws everything out, human mind, yoongi, jimin, taehyung, black, black, and slowly the colours start coming to him again.

He doesn't know when he falls asleep, right there on the ground with the paint brush still in his hand and splatters all over his clothes, but he wakes up to the sound of gentle knocking against his door and a hushed voice calling out to him.

In the haze of his sleep, he knows the voice is Taehyung, and most of him doesn't care. He curls up tighter on the floor, drifting asleep again as he waits for the knocks to stop.

They don't. They get louder, and Jungkook jerks awake again. He moans something incoherent and presses his palms against his eyes. He just wants it to shut up.

"Kook-ah," Taehyung calls. "Wake up."

Why won't anyone let him sleep?

"Kook-aaah."

His frustration hikes again, but he uncurls himself to let his friend in.

What he doesn't expect, is for Taehyung to be leaning against his door frame, bruised and beaten, one eye turning dangerously purple. He doesn't smile at him, or even try.

Jungkook is instantly awake.