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It's only a week after when Jungkook has a chance to take a look at the statistics of his Slow-Mo themed video.
It did well. Not as well as he predicted (more like wished) it would, but it is good enough to bring him some satisfactory revenue. That's the good thing about prank videos to Jungkook: they don't get old. If the content is hilarious, people will click for the laugh regardless of the time frame or the date of release.
It's just... Jungkook wishes he did better than "regular". He opened the channel with ideas sparking out of his brain at the beginning of the year. He was indeed so excited to create content of his own desire that his parents couldn't resist but gift him a camera set as an early birthday present. Jungkook still remembers fondly how hard he tried not to cry when he saw their kind gesture, and how easily he failed at it. His mother had pulled him into a joyful hug and his father patted his back with a grin, wishing him luck with all his perfect ideas. They probably wanted to leave him with one good memory before he headed to college, cities away from them too, and Jungkook couldn't think of a better way to be seen out.
With all said, he's not very proud of his current stance.
"So what, bro? You are making money, aren't ya?"
He snaps with a huff, tired of listening to the same consolations from Yoongi. They have been the closest of friends since first day of college and Jungkook very much is comforted by his presence at his down times, but Yoongi has been too repetitive for his own good, let alone favoring Jungkook.
"Money is not the problem." Jungkook picks at the carpet with his feet, raising it a little too high from his anxious pulling. He scoffs, annoyed at that too. "Fine, money is a motivation. But I'm getting bored of uploading lame videos just so I can make money, y'know?"
"I don't, actually, know." Jin speaks from next to Yoongi, pointedly grabbing a Lays chips from the package sitting on his lap. "I thought you liked the content you're putting out there."
Jungkook watches his friends, absentmindedly admiring how well they match as a duo. They have incredibly always been in synch, not to fit in with the other but instinctually always managed to stay concurrent with each other's ideology. He normally appreciates the solidarity, although at times like this when Jungkook needs someone to side with him he is simply not finding an escapade with one if not the other.
"It's getting old." Jungkook sinks on the couch, discontented in himself to even try being positive. "I don't know what I want to do with it anymore."
I don't know what I want to do with my life anymore, he thinks briefly, which is the cherry in the cake to enhance his depressive mood.
At the long silence that follows his announcement, his two friends are warily peeking at each other in a way that Jungkook can't really decipher. His attention is now openly fixated on Yoongi who is mouthing something to Jin, who has his eyebrows raised to the ceiling as a way of responding.
"I can see you whisper." Jungkook deadpans.
Jin is the one gathering the pieces of their indecency with a half-assed apology, as Yoongi indifferently goes back to eating the chips, eyes trained at a random spot in the living room of the duo's shared house. And he speaks. "You need us."
Jungkook takes a moment. The memories that pass his mind by are traumatic beyond say, and when he spots Jin's head rolling towards him smugly, he kind of understands why it brings him goosebumps all over. "It's time, bro. Let us in."
"No," Jungkook pitches defensively, very sure of himself when he spits the following words. "I'm not falling at that pothole again."
"It's not a pothole for God's sake." Jin sighs mockingly, while Yoongi makes an offended face, stuffing his cheeks with a couple too many chips to display his grumpiness. "You know last time was an unforeseeable business misunderstanding. It could happen to anyone."
Jungkook doesn't want to fight, because he knows there is no way he is going to win any fight against the most powerful duo in the history of college debates. These two are like fire – once they are settled to convince they will convince, or they will convince at a quicker pace than the first. But stubbornness is in his blood, and Jungkook wants to fight against what caused him psychological pain in a past he doesn't want to repeat: trusting Jin and Yoongi to solve his problems for him.
"Trust us to solve your problem for you, my friend." Jin parrots knowingly and Jungkook almost chokes on his spit. "We know how to get you what you need."
"Which is?!"
The two friends vigilantly eye each other just as they were about to speak. Jungkook almost had them, damn it.
"You know how things work." Yoongi clears his throat, intending to throw his arm at the backrest of the couch and belatedly realizing it's too high for him to do that.
"We gotta talk it out." Jin is following up with a serious nod, making Jungkook want to mock them for whatever gangsta attitude they are taking against him. "We need time to figure things out, do calculations, meet with our people – figure things out." Jin bobs his head around sloppily, fingers stretching in weird angles to expresses his swag.
Jungkook can't handle the comedic situation. He breaks into a laughter and watches his friends stare down at him in amusement.
"I'm not letting you guys rob me again. It's out there," he states his final decision, shrugging comfortably as he sinks back into the couch.
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Standing at the half-open door of the debate club in the basement of the university building devoted to clubs and the seated crowd of five, Jungkook realizes, he is totally letting them rob him again. It was a lost battle even before he got started with it, but a part of him doesn't care about losing too. Not when he already lost the purpose of his channel and there are someones who claim to have a way out of his dilemma.
He readjusts the straps of his backpack and steals a look at the empty corridors of the stuffy basement floor. He has no idea why they gave the Debate Club out of all clubs, the stalest place to conduct their affairs. It honestly makes them look like an illegal base meetup – and if Jungkook is to think it through, maybe they have evolved into an illegal base meetup by breathing the shady air in here so often.
Last time he'd resorted to the "Secret Services" run by the Debate Club following Jin and Yoongi's advice, who happen to be the presidents of the club too, things had gone horribly wrong. Jungkook doesn't want to talk about it further than stating that he'd been embarrassed in front of the entire university and scarred for life, said scars extant to this day.
Sigh.
Jungkook scratches his head in agony and screws everything, pushing the half-open door wider and taking a step in. The laughter in the room dies upon his presence, the chatter fading away and a serious aura taking over the atmosphere. There, are the same five members of the secret service team in their glory, dressed up in suits and ties with glasses hanging off the bridges of their noses, serving him looks as he awkwardly stands in front of the big round table where they're seated.
Same as Jungkook had left.
"Hey, look who's here!" Jin chimes brightly, standing up to receive him into the room. "Let's welcome our revisiting customer, everyone!" He runs a hand over the small of Jungkook's back, almost forcibly pushing him forward. Upon his word everybody breaks into their initial cheerful mood, clapping for Jungkook with full force and whistling upon his presence. Jungkook even spots a too-nerdy-looking girl lose her glasses from the intensity of her head-bobbing excitement.
Yikes, they are all too deep in this thing. But then, monetary affairs. Jungkook can relate to personality change at the mention of said asset, especially if you are a college student who refuses/lacks support from your family.
"Hope your service has improved since last time we met." Jungkook fakes a cloying smile, shrugging off his backpack and Jin's arm fighting to keep him near, settling on the nearest wheeled chair with all abruptness. He ties his arms and raises an eyebrow, watching the alarmed expression on the students' face.
He is not even sure if that shady-looking guy sitting at the corner seat is a student! Where did they even find him?!
"Minji, inform him of our customer satisfaction reports since the beginning of the year." Yoongi speaks up for the first time, seated next to Jin's with a dominant aura. It's hilarious how the suit makes Yoongi look smaller than manlier, the assertiveness melting into some sort of cuteness that makes Jungkook want to coo.
A neat-looking girl with long black hair (Minji, Jungkook assumes) shuffles some papers from Yoongi's other side. Jungkook lets his eyes wonder over, surprised at how decent she looks compared to the other crackheads. He mentally wakes up when she holds forward a paper full of graphics, her face disappearing behind it.
"Since the beginning of year 2019, we have observed 100% customer satisfaction."
Jungkook rolls his eyes, not even sparing the paper a look. "That's a long shot. I've spent athat same year with these two presidents of yours," he points accusingly at Jin and Yoongi, stirring the two at their seats. "And they haven't shown any intellectual advancements that I know of."
"You little-
Jungkook brings his chin forward daringly, challenging Yoongi who is trying to break free of Jin's and Minji girl's hold to come fight him. Well everyone knows Yoongi won't actually jump Jungkook or anything, considering his inexistent build compared to Jungkook. He's just a showman, and people play along for fun. Jungkook finds it endearing, more so.
After everyone has calmed their nerves, there seems to be a shift in mood. Noone's pretending to be professional anymore, and Jungkook notices their humanly nature for the first time ever since he has stepped into the room. They look tired, more than anything – the nerdy girl has her forehead resting against the table's corner, the gangsta boy took his glasses off and he looks totally done with this mess of a meeting, the neatsy girl is not even interested on whatever she's scrolling through her phone.
Jin and Yoongi?
They look guilty, unexpectedly.
Jungkook bites on his lips as he gives tentative looks at the two, both worn out of their acting suits with the way they are sulking indecisively. He shouldn't have a reason to apologize, Jungkook, but maybe he has brought the mood down a little more than was necessary. He might have embarrassed their presidents in front of the club members and stirred up a confrontational atmosphere.
He clears his throat.
It doesn't really work.
He sighs. "Okay, look everyone, I'm sorry for bringing you down. If you still wanna take me on as a client... to hell, I'm in."
It works this time round, indeed, like lightening until everyone's undivided attention is on him. Jungkook doesn't allow himself to question whether they were acting hopeless to get him to agree, nope. He is not doing that cruelty to himself. He did not just get baited.
But Yoongi has never grinned so wide his entire life, and Jungkook just knows. He just got baited. They are the debate club, for God's sake, what was he thinking?
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First rule of being the client of the secret services of the Debate Club is to basically follow their instructions, unquestioningly. They supposedly have a made-out long-term plan for the solution of the problem and for Jungkook's case it is enlivening his channel: bringing him a fresh purpose to upload videos. Jungkook doesn't know what in the world they have planned for him this time, and he isn't entirely trusting of the team's spontaneous schedule.
Because spontaneity, is what they proposed.
See, in contrast to the puppy eyes and bubbles of sadness these group of a secret gang make when you turn down their ideas, in charge they reveal their dark side. It pains Jungkook how much money he paid these people to help him out. Truth be told, this time round, their plan was on another genius level. So Jungkook can sort of deal with the pain of agreeing to a 150-bucks-each-task contract (he will triple the revenue when his videos hit the roof, they promised), because he is not going to lie, these students had actually put their lives on the line to get Jungkook his spark for content creation.
"For this plan to work, you can't know the details." Jin had pressed, with all sincerity.
Equally determined, Yoongi had spoken up to the fist-microphone Minji held to his lips. "We're gonna be running a show, Jungkook." He had swatted away the hand that was distracting him from ducking his head forward and gone the extra mile by putting a knee up the table as well. "More precisely, we are going to run your prank show."
"All you have to do is hand us your camera equipment and give us the freedom to film you when and wherever." Jin had added smartly, his eyes sparkling in content when Jungkook's face gave away the chilling flip his heart made. "You'll basically be handing us the freedom to run a prank show on you."
Yoongi pointed a finger at him smugly. "In which you star and only you be the star."
Not even five minutes later Jungkook was signing all pages of the contract they handed him unquestioningly, first rule of the Secret Services complied without issues. He was excited, and so unexpectedly too, that he didn't try hiding the smile in his eyes when Yoongi and Jin raised knowing eyebrows at him when he handed them over the contract.
"See, my dude? Told you we'd fix it for you."
Jungkook nodded in acknowledgement and when they grew too cocky he took their necks into an armlock and whispered at their ears. "If you guys dare doing me dirty with your little spontaneous prank orders, I'll end your careers. Hear me?"
There had been no resistance whatsoever. Jungkook had contently left the room as the rest of the members urgently gathered around a choke-coughing Yoongi and a tomato-faced Jin.
This was going to be good. It was exactly what Jungkook needed for a change.
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