At My Worst

Chapter 1

Jeon Jungkook's life was a stupid irony and he hated it more than anything. The problem? It was far too normal, mundane and boring. Every day was the same: wake up, go to the university, assist Namjoon in his lab when he had free time (probably the only exciting thing about his day) and go home. He liked to draw graffiti on the walls (making Jin pick him up at the police station and get yelled at for hours after getting caught) or skateboard in the park after school. The big irony, the huge irony was that Jin was Black Widow, was part of the Avengers and was engaged to Namjoon who was the one and only Iron Man! The universe had to be laughing at him if 80% of his entourage were superheroes and he was not.

He looked at the New York Times article about the recent feat that Namjoon did:

       IRON MAN AND CAPTAIN AMERICA STOPPED AN INTERNATIONAL CRIME RING LAST NIGHT.

Jungkook banged his head against his desk drawing the attention of his classmates.

Namjoon-Hyung and Yoongi-Hyung were so cool...

"Are you okay Jungkook?" Ethan asked from beside him.

"Yeah, great..." he mumbled his nose still against the wood of his table.

"You don't look too good, bro... Oh, did you read the Avengers article?" The other asked as he picked up the newspaper that had fallen to the floor.

Jungkook finally gets up rubbing his sore nose to look at his best friend who was looking at the piece of paper with bright eyes. If there was anything that had brought the two boys together, it was their shared passion for the superhero group. But of course, Jungkook wasn't allowed to tell him about the fact that he knew them personally. Ethan and Jungkook have known each other since middle school, he was the first friend he made in his new class. Then they became inseparable as other friends were added to their group, left and time passed. Eventually they found themselves at the same university, both studying technology. They both aspired to get an internship at Kim Industries, Namjoon's large research and technology lab. Jungkook certainly couldn't tell her that he was already Namjoon's assistant (future brother-in-law privilege) either, or there would be too many questions.

So Jungkook was forced to keep the only exciting things in his life a secret. He knew it was important, he couldn't tell just anyone. If the secret got out, it would make him an easy target for anyone who wanted to go after the Avengers.

Their teacher eventually arrived a few minutes later, Jungkook sighed before pulling out his computer to begin class.

                                                               ~~~~~~~~

Jungkook has his badge scanned to unlock the secure doors to Namjoon's personal lab. It was a huge white room, probably the size of his home, filled with all sorts of advanced technology and scientific materials. He was focused on the huge touch table in the middle of the room when he stepped inside. His glasses hung on his nose as he probably programmed his new armor.

"Hyung !" called Jungkook with a big smile as he set his bag on a chair lying around the room.

Namjoon looks up and smiles too when he sees him, the faint glow of his artificial heart shining through his shirt.

"Jungkook, you're coming in early today."

"My last class was canceled." he replies, rolling up the sleeves of his sweatshirt to his elbows.

"I see, I'm just finishing programming my new armor, want to see?"

Jungkook nods enthusiastically before going to join him in front of the table where a hologram was forming above. The silhouette of the armor appeared after a moment.

"Woah, Hyung, did you add any new features ?"

"Yes, I upgraded JARVIS ( artificial intelligence ) and added new gadgets."

Jungkook's pink lips form an "o" as he presses the touch table with his fingers to explore the new features.

"Hello, Mr. Jeon." he hears the robotic female voice of JARVIS echoing around the room.

"She finally recognizes me ??" he asked in an excited voice to Namjoon.

"I upgraded her facial recognition."

"Woah, so cool, Hyung... Hello JARVIS!"

"Did you have a good day ?" the voice asked him, making Namjoon roll his eyes.

"Yes thank you, JARVIS."

Jungkook saw Namjoon wearing leather gloves before approaching a glass cage. He joins him, curious to see a new invention. Namjoon plunges his hand inside to pull out a small black spider with red spots on its abdomen.

"What's that, Hyung ?"

Namjoon gasped, obviously not expecting to have Jungkook behind him, and dropped the spider. A moment of silence passed as the two men looked at each other, eyes wide, trying to realize what had just happened.

"Oh my god, Jungkook !"

"What?" he looked at the billionaire with a confused look.

"That was my newest prototype! Watch your step, if you step on it, I assure you you're banned from this lab !"

Jungkook looked at him indignantly before looking down to try and find the insect. It wasn't really ideal because it was really small and probably moving around. So they both crouch down to look together.

"So what exactly is this prototype, Hyung ?"

Namjoon looked at him, his eyebrows furrowed as he hesitated to tell him. He already knew the younger man's reaction and he really didn't want that.

"Come on, please !"

"No, Jungkook. Do you want Jin to kill me ?"

"What ? Just to tell me about a prototype ? I remind you that I'm here to learn Hyung. And you know that Jin-hyung would never dare to hurt you."

Namjoon shows him the old scar on his cheek with his finger, raising an eyebrow. Jin had inflicted it on him by throwing a dagger in his direction when Namjoon told him at the very last moment that he was going on an ultra-dangerous mission to Ukraine.

"You kind of deserved that one though, telling him an hour before you left..."

"How many times do I have to say that I was so busy with the mission preparations that I barely had time to tell him ?"

Jungkook shrugged, and lowered his head again to continue his search.

"So? I promise you that your fiancé won't find out about this."

Namjoon had absolutely no faith in Jungkook's promises. God only knows how many times he'd been deceived. 

Oh no, he's using his puppy eyes...

Namjoon looked away so as not to succumb. He must not, he must not...

"Hyuuuung !" he heard him call with a whining voice.

"Okay ! Okay !"

Jungkook displayed his bunny smile finally satisfied by Namjoon's defeat. The latter sat down on the floor and began with a sigh:

"Well... I was watching a wildlife documentary the other day then I saw an interesting part about spiders. I wondered what it would be like if humans had the same abilities. So I tried to mutate a spider with radioactive rays to try. I failed for several months, either the spider did not survive the rays or the effects were not what I wanted. I also had to find the perfect spider for the role..."

"Months, you say? How come I never saw it ?"

"The experiment was in the main lab, not here, and another of my assistants was handling it. I decided to bring that one up since it was the most satisfactory result I had had so far. But I can see this was a bad idea..."

Jungkook made a small pout as he saw that Namjoon trusted another assistant more than him in this experiment. Still, he could have told him about it too !

"And so ? Did you test it?"

"My assistant volunteered as a test subject. We're still waiting for it to take effect..."

"Does that mean he'll become a superhero if it works?"

"Well, it's true that abilities like that could be useful to us..."

It was definitely a sign, Jungkook had to find that spider. It was his only chance to finally get rid of his boring life. Jungkook started to look for it again, more determined than ever.

30 minutes later, it was still not found. Jungkook let out a long sigh.

"Forget it, Jungkook, I already have the formula I can just implant it on another spider." Namjoon said to him sitting on a stool while sipping a cup of coffee from Hope World.

"Wait a little longer, Hyung." He said as he looked under a table. 

Namjoon raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the other's determination to find the insect.

"Why do you care so much about finding it?"

"Because you've worked hard to get here, I feel bad for slowing you down like this."

Even if that wasn't the only reason, Jungkook really meant it. He knew how stressed Namjoon could get when everything didn't go his way. Even if he looked calm right now, it would hit him later and he would lock himself in his office to try and catch up.

"I'm telling you it's okay since..."

"Found it!"

"Huh ?"

The spider was hanging from its thread as it tried to climb onto the table. Jungkook took it in his hand to carry it back to the cage.

"Jungkook ! Gloves !"

"What ?" He looked at Namjoon with a surprised look on his face before he felt a sting on his palm.

"Ah !"

He winced before almost throwing it inside the cage and looking at the burn on his hand with furrowed brows. Namjoon rushed over to him to pick it up and take a closer look.

"Did it bite you?"

"I think so..."

Namjoon closed his eyes with a sigh, obviously trying not to panic. Jungkook guessed his expression and asked:

"What ? Is it poisonous?"

"Well, the radioactive rays are in its venom so I guess if all goes well... You'll have this spider's abilities in the next few hours."

Jungkook's eyes widen at the statement. He wasn't really planning to put his plan into action now, he planned to wait for the results from Namjoon's assistant.

 "Seokjin will kill me..." Namjoon muttered as he let go of Jungkook's hand. 

This made the student laugh before he offered

"He doesn't have to know?"

"You know your cousin, he'll figure it out one way or another. We don't even know the effects of the venom."

Jungkook knew what Jin was like, he would figure it out if anything was different about him. Sometimes it was reassuring when he felt bad and when he needed to talk, sometimes it wasn't, because it was hard to hide something from him. Jungkook's lips formed a pout as he thought of a solution. He watched Namjoon return to his armor as he said :

"You can go home for today, I have a business meeting tonight so I'm leaving early too."

Even with the soft tone he was using, Jungkook could feel his frustration.

"Hyung..."

"Hm?"

"Sorry if I'm causing you trouble. I know you feel obligated because..."

He saw Namjoon's expression relax before he replied:

"Jungkook, the only reason I accepted you here is because I wanted to. Even though Jin and I are already engaged, it's true, I still want to prove to him that I can be a worthy man for him... but that has nothing to do with you. I think of you as a little brother so don't think I'm doing this for him."

Namjoon stroked Jungkook's tousled brown hair with a reassuring smile. The younger boy sighed in relief before returning it to him.

"Thank you Hyung, really. Well I'll be going then."

He pulled Namjoon into a brief hug before grabbing his bag and heading out of the lab.

It was already dark when he left the huge building of Kim Industries. It was still running while a good number of employees had night jobs inside. Jungkook headed for the subway station to get home to Queens. It wasn't exactly the safest part of the city, no this neighborhood was a nightmare at night itself. Namjoon offered them several times to come live with him but neither Jin nor Jungkook were really excited about leaving their home now. It was Jin's parents' house so there was some sentimental value. Jin would probably move in with him after making things official with Namjoon and Jungkook would go to his campus dorm. 

Jungkook was already yawning when the subway stopped at his stop, he rubbed his eyes to chase away the tiredness that was beginning to gain them and got out of the vehicle. Even though Jungkook was always careful (he literally had a taser in his bag) on his way home, the ride was quiet this time. The majority of the criminals, muggers and others of that kind were in Queens, so Jin felt compelled to teach him how to defend himself. Learning martial arts from him was the first thing he did when he moved here. Namjoon often joked that Jin secretly aspired to make Jungkook his apprentice assassin. He didn't really mind, he liked to fight even if it was only with Jin or Yoongi. Jungkook took his key out of his pocket to unlock the front door and go inside. Jin was probably on call at the hospital tonight so he didn't expect to see him. He warmed up the dinner his cousin had left for him before taking a shower and going to bed.

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~

Jungkook loved Sundays. It was the only day of the week where he didn't have to worry about not hearing his alarm clock go off. God only knows how many times he missed the alarm clock ringing and had to run out of the house. But today he didn't have class so he could sleep as long as he could. Lounging in his soft sheets as the soft glow of the sun caressed his skin and the birds sang... Well, at least that's what he had planned.

"Jungkook-ah !" he heard knocking on his door.

He groaned into his pillow, frustrated that his plan was failing like this. He considered ignoring Seokjin until he got bored and left but reminded himself that the older man was a very persistent person so it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. He kicked his feet frantically against the mattress in frustration before getting up. He walked to the door and opened it to see Jin still in his hospital gown. His soft brown hair was neatly combed as usual, a few strands falling over his beautiful chocolate eyes. You could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes that barely managed to stay open.

"Finally, I thought you would never wake up."

"Good morning, Hyung..." he yawned as he stretched his aching body from being in the same position for hours.

"I'm hungry and have no energy, Kook-ah..." he heard his cousin speak with a very familiar pout.

Jin had just woken him up to make him breakfast... Jungkook realized with a deadpan expression. He sighed and left the room even if the idea of leaving him at the door and going back to bed seemed tempting. Jin was working hard for both of them (he didn't even have to do that now that Namjoon was here) so it was the least he could do. Jin followed him before slumping into a chair at the dining table.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Pancakes..." he smiled as he heard him mumble.

He began to take out the utensils and ingredients as Jin lay on the table, humming a familiar melody, surely a popular song. It was a quiet morning, the muffled sound of the TV reached his ears, Jin had probably just turned it on.

"Did you go to see Joonie yesterday?"

Ah yes, Jungkook had just remembered... he really had been bitten by Namjoon's radioactive spider... he was going to have some sort of... super powers? If it could be considered like that. He was excited, his dream had never been so close to his reach. Still, he had to convince Namjoon to make him a superhero if the results took effect.

"Yes."

He had just finished the pancake batter and began to put the pan on the fire.

"Jungkook uses butter for cooking." He heard Jin behind him again.

"Yes, I know, Hyung."

Jin hated cooking pancakes with oil, it was too greasy for his taste and he wanted to "keep his Greek god figure" as he was so fond of saying. He opened the fridge to take out the brick of butter and when he tried to let go of the latch on the appliance door, his hand got stuck.

"Huh?"

He pulled but his hand remained stubbornly stuck against the silver metal of the latch. He used his other hand for support and, damn it, he stuck himself too.

Oh no... That was one of the side effects of the venom, right?

He took a deep breath after a good minute of trying to free himself. He glanced at Jin who was too distracted by the news to see him with relief. He had to find a way to get out of there before his cousin noticed, he couldn't know, not now. But his movements were completely restricted, unable to get away from the fridge. He struggled on for a while but his arms began to hurt so he had to stop. A sigh left his pouting lips, he couldn't do it alone. It was a little hurtful to him because if there was anything Jungkook could be proud of, it was that he could handle any situation by himself.

"Hyung." He called out to Jin. 

He would find another way to appease Jin, he was ready for anything, he couldn't give up now that he was finally going to do it. But he could already guess what was going to happen, Namjoon and him were going to have problems...

Sorry, Namjoon-hyung...

"What are you doing ?" Jin looked at him with a raised eyebrow, confused to see Jungkook with his hands plastered uncomfortably on the fridge door.

"I'm stuck..." he muttered with an embarrassed look.

"Stuck ?"

Jin stood up to approach him, eyebrows furrowed.

"Can't you move your hands ?"

Jungkook shook his head, the older man grabbed his arm to pull, but it stubbornly stayed in place.

"What the..."

He started again with more force.

"Ah, Hyung I already tried it doesn't work !"

Jin let go of him with a sigh. After looking like he was thinking for a moment, he asked with an exasperated tone:

"What happened in Namjoon's lab yesterday?"

Of course Jin would guess right away, it was the only place Jungkook could have looked for something so weird.

"Nothing Hyung, I just helped him with his armor." He lied without hesitation

Jin looked at him a deadpan expression, obviously not impressed by Jungkook's excuse as he waited for a valid answer.

"I'm serious, Hyung !"

"Jungkook, tell me or you'll never set foot there again."

The younger man looked at him with a shocked expression. Why were they both threatening him with that ?

"You wouldn't dare ?"

"Try it and see ?"

A grunt left his throat. Jin was really serious he knew. He wouldn't hesitate to put his threat into action... At Jungkook's silence, Jin raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips.

"I was bitten by a radioactive spider, his latest project, and now I think this is one of the effects..." he confessed, rolling his eyes

"What ? Namjoon used you as a test subject ? I had forbidden him to...!"

"No, Hyung ! It's my fault. He lost the spider because of me and it bit me when I helped him find it. Hyung had nothing to do with it..."

Seokjin smacked Jungkook on the head and he let out a grimace.

"How do you manage to stir up trouble everywhere huh ?"

Jungkook laughed because even if Jin said that, he wouldn't let go of him for anything.

"Is it my charm ?" He replies with a smile as Jin shakes his head in exasperation.

"Stay there, I'm going to call Namjoon to figure out something." Jin says as he heads to his room.

"It's not like I can move anyway !" Jungkook shouted to him as he went inside.

Well, he had broken his promise... Guilt was slowly starting to creep up on him as he had his eyes fixed on his slippers. He promised himself that he would do something to make it up to them with a determined nod of his head. His eyes widened as he felt his hands come loose. He pulled them away from the fridge as if he had just burned it and inspected them with a sigh of relief. They didn't look any different from yesterday, the redness from the bite was still there but it wasn't painful anymore.

"Hyung! It's okay, I've come off !"

Jin walked out of the room with quick steps, phone in hand.

"Really ?"

He threw his phone on the table and grabbed Jungkook's hands to examine them. He looked at the redness with a sigh.

"After all this time, you still haven't contacted Namjoon?"

Jungkook was already expecting to hear him yelling at him on the phone, honestly. 

"I've tried but he won't answer. Go get ready, we're going to see him."

"What? No, it can wait, you've been working all night, you should rest."

"Jungkook, you are literally infected with a bug and you want me to go to bed?!"

"Not a bug, a spider. Besides, this is Namjoon's experiment, he wouldn't have let me go like this if it was dangerous to my health."

"Like you said, an experiment, which has no concrete results yet so we have no idea what would happen."

"I trust Hyung!"

"So do I, Jungkook, but we can't risk anything deadly happening to you. So please?" he pointed to the door of his room as he spoke, eyebrows furrowed, obviously not accepting any negotiations.

Jungkook grunted but nodded before heading back to his room to get ready.

After showering and changing into a white sweatshirt and black ripped jeans, he joined Jin who had just finished too. He wore a beige sweater with red stripes and black pants, all traces of fatigue had disappeared from his face, while his pink lips shone with the gloss he had applied.

Jin had this obsession to always look perfect and flawless in public, a habit he had from his mother. Jin's parents were rich, appearances were paramount to them, they wanted to raise the perfect son. Then there was the bankruptcy of his father's business when Jin was 15 years old, his environment changing completely, moving to Queens, he only attended public schools. He was so angry with his father who sank into alcohol that he became a rebellious teenager, getting into trouble and having bad encounters. He and Jungkook met at that time, after Jin's mother wanted to reconnect with his mother. Jungkook thought Jin was cool with his piercings and his sweet but stubborn character. Jin thought Jungkook was adorable with his big, innocent, curious eyes. They were inseparable, they became like brothers with time.

The two of them got into Jin's car to head to Kim industries' building.

"Hello Mr. Kim." The receptionist greeted him with a falsely kind smile.

"Is Namjoon here?" Jin didn't really pay attention to her.

"Yes, but he has an appointment..."

"Thank you, Kristen."

"Wait Mr. Kim!"

Jin took Jungkook's hand and led him into the elevator without looking back. The younger man sighed as he was used to his cousin walking around the building as if he were the president himself. Well, Namjoon had asked his employees to treat him like one... He was really doing anything for Jin, it was infuriating. Because of this, many people accused Jin of being with him for his money, and his love for expensive gifts only made things worse. But Jin being Jin didn't care about rumors at all, nor did Namjoon so it wasn't that big of a deal.

They arrived after a while at the top floor, the one reserved for Namjoon. His office, his laboratory and the living room where he held his meetings were located there. The lounge was empty, so Namjoon's guests must have left already. Jungkook took out his badge to open the doors of the lab. Namjoon was inside, white shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, tie loose around his neck, blond hair neatly combed. His eyes were focused on the tablet in his hands.

"Namjoon." Jin called to him in a dry tone, arm already crossed over his chest.

Jungkook knew he would make things worse if he tried to intervene so he just pulled a chair towards him silently and sat down. Namjoon's eyes left the screen of his camera and landed on Jin, a happy smile appeared on his lips showing his dimples. Jin's lips trembled as he resisted to return it. He had to stay serious, not give in.

"Jinnie!"

"Don't 'Jinnie' me." He said as he approached.

Namjoon looked at him confused as his fiancé approached with great strides, causing him to back away until he sat down in his chair. Jin was now towering over him with his big shoulders and frowning eyebrows, and Namjoon was slightly nervous.

"Is there a problem?"

An incredulous laugh left Jin's lips and he pulled a gun out of his pants and stuck it against Namjoon's forehead. The action was so quick and controlled that neither he nor Jungkook had seen it coming. It was crazy how such an empathetic and good-hearted cardiologist like Jin had the habit of not hesitating to pull his gun against someone. His fiancé moreover...

Oh no, here we go again... Jungkook rolled his eyes

"Put the gun down, Jin." said Namjoon perfectly calm.

"I really want to shoot you in the head right now..."

"You wouldn't dare.

"Oh? Watch me."

"Can we talk about this?"

"Of course I'm here for that."

"Then put it down and we can talk."

"Namjoon."

"Jin?"

"You let Jungkook get bitten by a radioactive spider?"

"It was an accident."

"An accident? Namjoon, I remind you that Jungkook is your responsibility."

"Ahem, I'm old enough to take care of myself, I remind you." Jungkook couldn't help but remark.

The couple glared at him before resuming their discussion as if he wasn't there.

"Ithad fallen, we had to find it, Jin!"

"That's not the point, the damage is already done. Heal him."

"What?" Namjoon and Jungkook say at the same time.

No, no, no.... This couldn't happen...

"Hyung!"

"Jin-ah, it's not like I can find a 'cure' just like that, you're talking like it's a disease."

"Namjoon, Jungkook can't live with something like that inside him."

"Why not?" Asks the concerned one with furrowed brows.

"It's dangerous, there's no telling what might happen." Jin turned his head to answer him.

"But, Hyung said it could be useful to the Avengers and..." began Jungkook before being interrupted by Jin.

"What? Namjoon? I told you not to give him false hopes."

"I just explained my experience to him." Namjoon replies with a sigh, obviously already exasperated with the two of them.

"Why don't you want me to become a superhero, Jin-Hyung?"

Jungkook stood up to ask him, his fists clenched as he tried to keep his cool.

"I already told you, it's too dangerous and I promised your mom I'd protect you no matter what, Jungkook.

He was tired of being treated like a child. He was 19 years old, for God's sake!

"I'm an adult, Hyung, I have the right to make my own decisions!"

"But it's too risky for you!"

"I'm aware of that thank you very much! That's hypocritical coming from you, you're part of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I have years of experience!"

"You have to start somewhere, right?!"

"That's enough, both of you!" Namjoon's voice rang through the room, interrupting the cousins with a gasp.

"Jin. Put it down. Your gun. Now." He then addressed his fiancé in a firm tone.

The ex-assassin obeyed without another word, a little disconcerted because it was rare for Namjoon to get angry like that.

"We'll sit down and settle this like adults, yelling at each other won't get us anywhere. Understand?"

The two nodded even though they were still pissed at each other before sitting down around the holographic table.