"Mom! I cannot seriously find it!  Please send help!" Jungkook was yelling from his room and Mrs. Jeon sighed in anger as she left the cooking in between and reached her son's room with expressions resembling a killer wolf, hands on her waist, and bangs falling in her eyes that she blew by huffing. 

"You have so many shoes, so many of them. Why do you suddenly need the red Jordans? You have not worn anything red in three years."

"It might just be my lucky day. Just find them, please." Jungkook pouted. 

How could a mother say no to her son? Specially the pouting one. She got into Jungkook's little closet that had an overboard sign hung at the entrance, Golden Closet. 

"Why don't they just give a school uniform to seniors too? I can't take this new job of shoe hunter every other morning." Mrs. Jeon murmured in exasperation as she ruffled through Jungkook's Iron man figurines on the ground.

The closet was situated beside his bathroom. It was nothing fancy or big but it was more than enough and a little changing room was also provided in it where Jungkook had a wall-length mirror to check himself after getting ready.

The mother triumphantly walked out with red Jordans in a few minutes, bringing Jungkook's eyes a sparkling crinkle that was hard to miss.

He jumped on his mother and kissed the hell out of her cheeks. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." He tried to lift her up but Mrs. Jeon pushed the boy down, not wanting to assert the exhaustion towards him before he even started his day, and it was just two weeks ago that boy had started going to school after recovering for 7 days in the hospital and at home. 

Jungkook didn't give any name to his parents even after repeatedly asking. Mrs. Jeon knew that her son was growing up and he wanted to deal with shit on his own but that didn't make her feel less scared at all times whenever the adorable little boy was not in front of her eyes. 

"And mom," Jungkook looked up while tying his shoelaces. "I might come home late... Because um, it's a surprise and I will tell you once I am back."

"Oh, sure!" Mrs. Jeon said sarcastically. "Live your life."

"Soooooo... Is it a yes on the curfew extension?" Jungkook asked with brows edged up in anticipation as he slowly stood from the bed.

"Not even a half minute." Mrs. Jeon replied indifferently, turning to walk out and tend to her cooking. 

"How do I enjoy my life when you never let me go out?!" Jungkook yelled after her. 

**

After the lunch break, many students ran towards the school auditorium today. Jungkook was one of them and he was welcomed by three teachers among which, first handed him a slip, the second one handed him a sipper and the third was just standing at the gate as a guard, scanning everyone as if he could see the students naked. 

Jungkook ignored the tough glances from the third teacher and walked into a big rectangular room. The floor was wooden and glossy, one entire side of the wall covered with a mirror, two big speakers kept on either corner of the very well illuminated room.

Jungkook looked at himself in the mirror and pressed his lips into a thin line. He looked good and was all set for the audition. He assured himself that.

Everyone attached the slip which was actually a label with a number printed on it on their shirts and kept their matching number sippers alongside the wall at the back.

The boy's eyes fell on a familiar face who flashed him a smile, Jung Hoseok. Jungkook did not look back at Hoseok after that one accidental eye contact. Albeit the senior seemed nice, he was Jimin's friend and Jungkook wanted to do nothing with anyone who had ties with Jimin.

He could only stare through the mirror at edgy Hoseok who seemed to be a cat on hot tin. He was walking up to the door and back as if waiting for something to happen.

"Boys and girls! Come on, make a line as per your number slips." One teacher announced and Jungkook stood in front. 

"Before we start, we would like to welcome all of you to this year's audition for the school annual event. You all must have one question in mind as to why the audition is being held so early this year." The teacher asked and a hoot chorussed through the ensemble. 

"Because this year, we are hosting the university fest." The teacher put rest to the hooting just for a while with the good news and the choir that arose after the announcement was something that was enough the bring the roof down.

It took a moment for teachers to take control of the situation again."Sir," A student raised her hand. "What is university fest?" The small voice didn't reach the teachers and Jungkook quickly pulled the girl's hand down.

"It is a whole week festival. We have free K-Pop concerts from many bands and idols who go to universities. The concerts are high end but the host gets free tickets, many other outsiders also attend these concerts. We have pop-up bars, students get drunk for a whole week."

"All of them?" The girl asked. 

"Not all of them, only adults of course." Jungkook chuckled when the girl's face morphed into disappointment. "What's your name?" He asked. 

"Utkarsha, Utkarsha Rohit." The girl extended her hand for Jungkook to shake. Jungkook happily held the outstretched hand and smiled. "I am from India." She added.

"I am going to need you to teach me how to pronounce it," Jungkook told the girl with a blank face and she chuckled.

"I will, I just have one more question." She asked quickly while grinning.

"What is it?" Jungkook was more than happy to help the foreigner. 

"Why are we hosting it? Shouldn't the universities be doing this instead? I mean hardly any student is adult here." She looked around with a confused expression.

"No, no. We do have our university campus right beside this building. So it will be hosted there but by extension, we will all go." Jungkook replied. 

"CUT IT OUT!" The teacher let his voice reverberate and everyone formed into a straight line. The audition was starting, music commenced and Jungkook was the first one to go.

The girl he was talking to showed him thumbs up and he smiled nervously. He was on the dance floor after almost two years.

His heartbeat could compete with a running bullet train right now and his throat went painfully dry. His mind went blank and eyes dark for a moment before music echoed through speakers. And just like that, he felt his body felt was moving on its own as if it had muscle memory which was being restored.

All reservations fell when music and his movements became one and the hosannas that emerged from the crowd snatched the invisible layers of insecurities from his mind. A smile appeared on his face as he now looked up to see the felicity on the faces that were watching him closely and cheering for him. 

Hosoek ran to the teacher who was closing the room door. Jimin was on his way as they both peeked out, climbing the stairs. "FASTER!" Hoseok yelled when he saw Jimin at his snail pace. 

Jimin ignored him as if his hearing was compromised. The teacher pushed the door to close it, "be in. Or begone like him."

"How can you start without Jimin?" The boy asked. 

"I can. It turns out, we have found someone who can replace him." The teacher pointed at Jungkook who was sweating through his forehead as everyone hugged him after his powerful performance. 

By there, Jimin slid through the small gap in the door that Hoseok was able to successfully create with his resistance. 

"Let's see who can replace me." Jimin walked over to the system and plugged in his phone.

The room fell silent as they looked at Jimin, the best dancer in the school. "It's showdown time." He said after turning his frame towards the crowd, more specifically Jungkook.

A/N: The track (Tune in)⇨

The instrumental music started playing and Jimin's body started swaying. His piercing eyes did not leave Jungkook who stood in his tracks, not wanting to engage with Jimin, the same thing he has been doing for almost two weeks.

The younger's thoughts faltered when the group pushed him in the front. Jungkook looked at Jimin and he could tell even if the boy was just fiddling with the music, he was a fucking brilliant dancer, he looked back at the crowd and their stupid grins.

Sighing, he began moving his body, slow at first, fast as the tempo escalated. The flabbergasted eyes and wide-open mouths of the audience told the story of what was unfolding in front of them.

Few took out their mobile devices to capture the video. It was the undeniable battle of popping-and-locking of the decade.

No one threw hands, yet they wounded, no one used guns, yet the shots were fired at each other, slashing the opponent with their varied and flowing moves. 

2 Oct 2021