BTS Imagines

Enigma - part 6

// Jungkook's Struggles //

The pair sat in their shared room, unpacking the boxes from the shipment. They had everything and anything the students wanted and needed, so long as they paid the price. Spread out on the floor of their locked dorm room were packs of high-quality cigarettes, a pound of weed, vape pens, E-liquids, packs of beer and other personal items requested by the students.

Yoongi saw a way of making money when he realised that first, students here were deprived of their essentials due to the school's strict law of "No Prohibited Goods Are Allowed On Campus Grounds"; and by prohibited, they mean they'll only allow a backpack full of school books into the school. Second, was that students here were filthy rich and very willing to pay a high price.

His business started small, with only Yoongi's closest friends and occasionally a few of his classmates. But once word got out about the mini black-market run in room 307, the demand for him got higher. Soon, he managed to get Jungkook on board. As the son of the Director, he almost always gets his way; hence them being able to smuggle their shipment in. But of course, their operation was able to run smoothly with the help of a few money-hungry guards.

"You got the books?" Yoongi asks as he peels open a pack of cigarettes for himself; Davidoff was his favourite. It's been days since he had his last drag so he savoured the taste of the roasted tobacco on his tongue.

Jungkook grunts in response while the shifts the stacks of hollow books towards the middle. The way they ran their black-market was through the library's system. They would place an order in the hollow books, taking note of the serial number on the spine, then checking it into the system. Their customer would receive the book's serial number, search for it in the shelves and without a hint of suspicion, check out the book filled with illegal goods. Yoongi and Jungkook had to give credit to Namjoon for muttering that ingenious idea. It gave the pair hidden identities, the perfect cover if the students were to rat them out.

Once they were done packing up the orders, Jungkook hauled them into his backpack. "I'll drop these off on my way to Enigma." He looks over to his older friend who's happily grinding away the weed. "Should I tell Jin that you're not coming for today's meeting?"

Yoongi gave him a wink as he slipped out a piece of rolling paper, prepping to make himself a joint. If Jungkook hadn't need to attend Namjoon's tutoring lessons, he'd be rolling his own by now.

"Your snarky comments will be missed," Jungkook calls out as he closes the door.

From: Prof. Joon

I'm at Enigma. Where are you?

Enigma is what they called their grand and spacious private room where they hold their club meetings. Jin had created that name, calling their group a puzzling recipe - considering that everyone was so different - and was always thought to be a mysterious group by everyone else in school. Perhaps it was the fact that the sons of the few most powerful families are all band together.

To: Prof. Joon

5 minutes. Making a detour to the library.

The boisterous noise of the students in the hallway gave way to numbing silence as Jungkook enters the library. The cool breeze caresses the back of his neck, making his skin litter with goosebumps. He's always hated the cold; making a mental note to pull out his thicker school coat from his locker.

"Binge studied last week?" the student librarian uttered the coded words with a smile.

"Burnt the midnight oil," Jungkook responds as he dumps out the books. He produces a black envelope from his back pocket while the librarian stacked them up. He slides it over with a straight face, making sure he got the boy's attention before letting it go. "Greens and doughs in there for you. Put the books on priority listing and make sure it gets up on the shelves by 3pm today."

At the mention of free weed and money, the librarian lights up. "Not a second later."

-

As soon as he walked into Enigma, he could feel Namjoon's eyes lingering on his bruised knuckles. Ever since he took Jungkook under his wings, tutoring him in almost every subject, Namjoon felt overly protective of him. He was the few people against Jungkook partnering up with Yoongi, knowing that the black-market they ran would only fuel Jungkook's violent tendencies. And as a man who believes in peaceful solutions, he was disappointed that Jungkook took up the offer. Thankfully, he only tittered and gave a resounding sigh before pulling out his glasses.

"Ready for chapter 7?"

Jungkook gave him a withering smile as he grudgingly slammed the heavy blue textbook. The title MATH blared at him like a loudspeaker. That irritable subject was probably on the list of things he hated, along with cold weather. But as much as he despised it, Jungkook has to suffer through the tedious and tiring tutorings to ace Mathematics. It was enough to receive bruises from his father to know never to bring home a report card with the letter F next to Mathematics.

"I promise you, Algebra is going to be a breeze," Namjoon said, patting Jungkook's hunched figure.

"A breeze for you is like the fucking tornado for me," Jungkook chided.

It always irked him to know that everyone in his group of friends aced in their studies, leaving him to be the bimbotic blondie - he's heard enough whispered conversations down the hallways to know what the students thought of him. Namjoon and Jin were practically geniuses, always competing with each other to get the top spot. Then there was Taehyung, who seems to pass with flying colours without needing to put effort, Jimin the new kid who was already making his name in the top 10 and Hoseok who's a brainiac, being part of the debate team and mastered seven languages at the mere age of 18. Heck, even Yoongi manages to surpass the top 100 in the school.

"Kookie, you have to trust and believe in yourself. You got this," Namjoon praised him. "The C you got in the Summer was a step ahead don't you think?"

Jungkook mulled it over. Frankly, he was beyond excited when he received his examination scores. Earning a C in Mathematics was already nirvana for him. His friends had cheered him on, treating him to a nice 3-course meal during lunch break made by Jin's private chef.

"Not good enough," he grumbles. Jungkook's dad still had that unsatisfied poker face as he peered over the card in his son's hands.

Namjoon's smile slowly faded away, replaced by pity. He knew how hard Jungkook had worked for the Summer Examinations. That boy had stayed up in Enigma well over study hours every day of the week, re-doing questions he wasn't confident of. And to get a C, in Namjoon's opinion, was a leap of success for Jungkook. But in his father's eyes, he was never good enough until he was at the top.

"C'mon," Namjoon nudged his younger friend. "We should finish the chapter before everyone gets here."