Chapter Text
“Hyung are you alright?” Namjoon pours tap water for Seokjin. A rare service he’d ever done for his hyung who’s always up for making him hot pancake and ginger tea.
“Why Namjoon? Am I not allowed to stay in your apartment for a while?” The tap water Namjoon poured for him is gone in three big gulps. It has been 4 years since Bangtan’s debut and they all had saved enough money to rent their own apartment and Namjoon is happy with his studio apartment until Seokjin decides to crash and spreads negative energy everywhere.
“Yeah sure, you’re more than welcomed but… you’ve been staying here for three days. Is Jungkook gone for a conference again?” The rapper hesitates to cross over a beeline since his hyung is very edgy whenever he had a fight with his brother. As a brother, lover, housemate, and a commoner who’s weary towards the bling-bling lifestyle of a superstar, Jungkook always check on Seokjin 24/7 especially when Bangtan’s popularity is booming like crazy after their ‘Hwayangyeonhwa’ trilogy.
“Jungkook knows best when he’s expected and when he’s not.” Namjoon swears he feels his whole face bleeds, being thrown by daggers from Seokjin’s eye. Okay, they’re fighting.
“So what happens now? Come on hyung. I’ve been your Jungkook garbage bin for the last decade. I think I can handle anything now.” Seokjin’s stretched legs blocks Namjoon’s way and the younger doesn’t even spare a glance when he slaps the legs so that he could slump down beside his hyung and be his human anchor. As expected, Seokjin who is dependent on humanely contact, attacks Namjoon’s back in a lightning speed.
“THAT KID, HE CALLED ME A YOONGI-SLUT. YOU KNOW THAT MAGAZINE PHOTO SHOOT WE RELEASED LAST WEEK?! I KNOW IT’S A BAD IDEA!! AAARGHH”
Just a little flashback, last week, they released their photo session for a local fashion magazine. Namjoon remembers when they were paired with each other and the director paid too much attention at the chemistry shared between Jin and Suga. Rap Monster - J-Hope pair was an okay pairing but Jin-Suga pairing literally sowed pheromone all over the place. They’re once partner in real life, what do you expect? They’re compatible.
The worst part of the deal might be the fact that the photo where Jin yanked Suga’s half done tie with their nose almost touching was selected as the magazine’s cover and Suga, being the icon of Korea’s sexual fluidity, is gaining recognition for his apathetic malleable reaction in his self written songs. Their faces are literally everywhere.
“We’ve done a loadshit of photo shoots, why bother caring now?” Namjoon pats the back of Seokjin’s neck, calming the elder down.
“Because…” Jin’s voice is meek and faulty. “Because I accused him cheating first…”
“And did he?”
“He went to a conference in New Orleans with his professor! She’s young, she’s smart, she’s cool, and she messed up her room booking and they ended up sharing a room for three days, Namjoon! What do you think they were doing? Pillow fight?!” Seokjin throw punches on Namjoon’s back and it makes the younger snaps.
“OUCH! Stop it, hyung! You’re being paranoid! The point is, he’s the one telling you, right? If he did cheated on you, he wouldn’t even tell that he shared room with her. Come on hyung. You know better.”
“He called me a SLUT, Namjoon! He should be the one who knows better!”
“Life as a celebrity is 100 times riskier than an undergraduate student’s. Jungkook has every right to be weary.”
‘beep’ ‘beep’ ‘beep’ the sound of Seokjin’s phone vibrating breaks the brittle silence they share with each other. Maybe Namjoon has a point, but Jungkook called him a SLUT. Period. Seokjin takes his phone and swipes the screen only to find Jungkook’s caller ID going on and off periodically.
Speaking of the devil. Maybe he wants to apologize.
“Hello. What do you want.” Seokjin’s voice is flat, cold, and threatening. Namjoon rolls his eyes on the background. It’s been a while since he met the kindergarten Jin. A sulky brat with too much shoulder. He just wishes Jungkook a good luck.
[Hyung, come home.]
“Seriously? Not ‘sorry’?”
[Seriously, just come home. It’s urgent.]
‘click’ beep beep beep
“WHAT THE HELL?! DID HE JUST HANG UP ON ME?!” Seokjin’s disbelieved expression is epic. Namjoon holds himself very well by not laughing his ass off. Holly shit it’s really been a while since Seokjin overreacted at anything. His position as a vocalist in the rap heavy Bangtan doesn’t give him much room to disagree at anything. Namjoon’s cushion suffers for a while from Seokjin’s Gatling punches until sanity hits and makes him thinks that maybe something urgent is actually happening. Namjoon knows his hyung loves the kid too much to let him suffers alone so he doesn’t even ask for an explanation when Seokjin gathers his belonging and storms out of his apartment.
“Bye, hyung. Spare yourself from the makeup sex. We have practice tomorrow.”
***
“Jin-hyung!!!” Seokjin is startled when a pair of small hands greets him from behind his apartment door. A boy a quarter his size bumps his whole body hard enough to make Seokjin’s sunglasses slips down under his nose. The startled man blooms a nostalgic smile immediately after seeing the boy’s happy face.
“Sungha?! What are you doing here? Where’s mom and dad?”
“Mom and dad are making money and they told me that I get to stay with you!!” The 4 years old’s eyes are brimming with excitement. Apparently, the youngest Jeon-Kim has come to the age where he’s aware that his jin-hyung appears on the television in a daily basis. He saw him in music videos, reality shows, and commercial films. But nevertheless, being a celebrity or not, little Sungha always loves his oldest brother and got super attached whenever Seokjin came to visit.
Seokjin scans the room, finding his other little bro leaning against the wall with arms crossed. There’s a slight scowl on his forehead which makes Seokjin’s stomach lurches from something that might be a slight guilt, but no, he’s too proud to accept the silent affront.
“Hyung, I want to go to the zoo!” Sungha’s light chirp disturbs Seokijn’s brief contemplation, forcing him to spend every last drop of his affection at the ball of sunshine in front of him. Oh yeah, he still need details on this sudden ambush.
“Dad’s gone to a conference, mom tagged along. They came this morning and said they’ll take Sungha tomorrow. He asked for you nonstop so I had to call you.” Comes Jungkook’s voice from the other end of the corridor, sounding mature and composed, but lacking his usual passion. Seokjin flinches, definitely aware that Jungkook is still as pissed as he is.
“Oh.” Seokjin replies meekly. “Why don’t we stay at home playing video games, Sungha? I’ll make you strawberry pancakes!” He continues to the youngest. Public isn’t really Seokjin’s best friend right now. Not only he would attract crowds, but Sungha’s safety would also be questionable.
“But I wanna see leopards! They say they have leopards here!!”
Really Sungha? Leopards?
***
“WOAAAH!!”
The smell of animals and nature makes Seokjin grinds his nose, savoring the fresh smell of life without camera, make up, and electricity driven society. In his hand, Sungha’s little fist is shaking with excitement. Well, it worth the sacrifice then.
There are two things Seokjin regrets from this baby’s day out. First, he has to be as suspicious as a man with long coat, ball cap, sunglasses, and face mask to prevent getting caught by fans. He has to spend the entire morning convincing Sungha that he’s preserving his skin and he has a cold. The second thing is that Jungkook who’s following silently behind him like a bodyguard. Sometimes he feels the younger’s stare sending shiver down his spine.
“Look hyung, it’s a crocodile!!”
Sungha’s loud shout breaks his inner silence. Yes, it’s a crocodile. Seokjin had seen it maybe 17 times in real life and it’s not very interesting. But the man fakes an excited squeal. Fake. He is fake. He wonders if Sungha somehow senses his fakeness. Kids have good instinct.
Seokjin hears Jungkook coughs from behind, not sure what it really means but too hesitated to look back and see what happened. He let little Sungha drags his palm to a nearby bird cage, admiring the colorful strokes of natural beauty. Red, Blue, Yellow, it’s as colorful as Sungha’s smile. His smile? Seokjin takes a look at his phone screen and finds his reflection. Pretty and mass produced. Colorful? Dull.
Seokjin finds himself taking a step back when he feels someone’s shoulder brushes with his. Jungkook.
Jungkook always loves animal and the sight of the all grown up Jungkook whistling back to the birds’ chirping is making his heart all squishy. Like a kitchen sponge after a harsh day at the restaurant. Seokjin couldn’t look away for a while. It’s a good thing that sunglasses rocks the way people see how he sees things so that he could pretend that he’s not ogling Jungkook for the last 5 minutes or so.
After surfing through the designed tracks, they end up at the carnivore mammal’s area. Several kids are busy being amazed and excited at the same time including Sungha. The glass window separating the hunter and the hunted is the only thing making Seokjin’s thin guts breathe with ease. So when a Leopard suddenly charges towards them with zero bad intentions, Sungha is squealing like crazy while Seokjin jumps miles to the back, bumping a poor boy with yellow T-shirt on. The man ends up apologizing to the boy’s parents awkwardly.
Albeit being as thin as Seokjin’s own guts, Jungkook’s chuckle can be heard. Seokjin tries hard not to let his own smile to bloom. His stupid ego is too damn thick, contrasting his moral fiber. But by the end of his mental complication, a subtle smile tugs the corner of his lips.
“ROAARR… GRRR”
The sound Sungha makes tickles the back of Seokjin’s memory. Where did he see something similar? The way Sungha imitates the lion roaring reminds him to a boy who was doing the exact same thing at Seokjin’s 14th birthday. The very same boy who is now snapping pictures of those big cats with his new DSLR camera.
Suddenly, Seokjin chokes on his own word, finding a huge need to drop his own ego. He has been setting his eyes on this boy for so long it’s not even funny. The eldest stays at his place seeing Sungha runs to climb on Jungkook’s shoulder. Both boys are equally thrilled as they take a funny selca with the leopards which makes people think they are at least only 3 years apart. Mentally, that being said.
By the end of his brief time travel, Seokjin couldn’t help but prompts a smile and takes out his phone, snapping the funny stance Jungkook is in at the moment, propping his little brother and holding his camera at the same time. Seokjin tucks his sunglasses under his nose and walks to them once Sungha asks him to join their brother-selca time. He places his arms on Jungkook’s shaky shoulder, letting the younger leans on him a little.
“Hyung, can you please press the button? I have to keep Sungha from falling down.” The younger says while being their human selfie stick. His other hand is busy supporting Sungha’s leg on his shoulder. Seokjin who’s standing behind Jungkook can’t quite see the look on Jungkook’s face until they appear on the display screen. It’s one of those rare moments since they’re together where Jungkook acts like a tsundere. A silent giggling from Seokjin’s side tears Jungkook’s attention.
“Hyung, it’s not funn-“
“Jin? OH MY GOD IT’S JIN!!”
A high pitched scream suddenly screeches and the three brothers jump at the sight of four girls who are furious seeing their idol out of nowhere.
“Don’t spare a glance. Just go straight to that booth. Don’t look back.” Seokjin turns his brothers in panic and guides them to look for a nearby restroom. Men’s restroom is a sanctuary whenever he’s being caught in public. While Jungkook follows his lead obediently, the 4 years old Sungha with his innocent judgment shouts:
“Jin-hyung who are they? Why they’re chasing us?”
“It’s really Jin!”
Suddenly, the girls multiply. Seokjin just discovered that girls are able to replicate themselves since there are at least 20 girls now approaching him from every direction with phones on their hands, ready to sneak a peek. If Seokjin is traveling alone, he could stay and have some of his photos taken while posing with his fans, but now he’s with his family. If the fans know about Jungkook and Sungha, just imagining their photos swarming around the cyber world and have their lives disturbed is enough to make him takes both boys’ hands and sprints when he reaches an intersection.
“JIIIN, WAIT A MINUTE PLEASE!” The girls’ light steps turn into a stampede as they realize their idol is running away. Desperate times need desperate measures. Seokjin is running out of idea when he feels Jungkook’s strong hand yanks him to the bushes. They three of them stay calm under the bushes and Jungkook is trying his best to persuade Sungha not to make any sound. Loud whines echo through the park until the disappointed fans decide that they need to stop. Once the commotion dies down, both Seokjin and Jungkook release their hold on Sungha’s mouth along with their sigh of relief.
“Jungkook-ah. You can let go.” Seokjin’s plea prickles Jungkook’s hand which is resting on his waist for a reason that is nonexistent. The younger retreats his hand quickly, cursing his unconsciousness for clinging to the love of his life whenever he has the chance to.
“hyung, your face is red. jungkookie hyung, yours too.”
The close proximity barely contains room to prevent their body heat to mingle with each other’s. Jungkook snorts. His red face isn’t something people usually see in people with steady relationship for almost 5 years.
“Smarty pants.” He ruffles Sungha’s hair and the boy slightly purrs.
“But hyung who are they? I thought they know you. I heard them say your name.”
The three of them crawl out of the prickly bushes and Seokjin immediately dusts off Sungha’s red cardigan from the remaining branches. By doing so, he hopes he could take his eyes off of his other younger brother who’s now busy securing the place from left over fans.
“They’re people who are always supporting hyung.”
“So why did you run away?”
“Erm, because they don’t know you. They’ll do anything to know who you are. Hyung don’t want them to bother you and Kookie hyung.”
“Well hyung I don’t mind. I’m gonna be on tv, right? My friends are going to see me!” Sungha prances excitedly.
“But I mind! I don’t want to share you and Kookie hyung with them! I want you all for myself! Do you want them to come with us every time we go to the zoo?” Seokjin fakes a determined pout, hoping that it’ll help convincing Sungha that fans aren’t always angels. Granted, the frown on Sungha’s forehead slowly dissipates into thin air. As if he understands how it works, the younger then shouts.
“No! I only want to go to the zoo with you and Jungkookie hyung! Mom and Dad can come too.” Sungha’s bright smile makes Seokjin’s own smile blossoming beautifully. Now full of color.
“Good kid. Now let’s go home. It’s getting late.”
The three boys continue their late afternoon walk to Seokjin’s car. As they pace over a soda vending machine, Jungkook continuously steals glances at his glowing brother. He’s actually aware that he’s being over aware at his brother after their recent argument. At the end of their walk, after a long ass cold war they have been doing, he manages to muster.
“Hung, you’re good with kids.”
“How do you think I managed to stay alive being your brother and not get killed by raw emotion?”
“Smarty pants.” Once again, Jungkook chuckles, now slipping his fingers under Seokjin’s crooked ones.
***
“Did he fall asleep?”
Jungkook leans on their bedroom entrance, hair wet and disheveled with his baby blue towel drapes around on his shoulder loosely. It’s only a matter of time until Sungha grow up and ask why they only have one bedroom while the other room is basically transformed into Seokjin’s closet. The elder looks up at the intruder, stomach lurching in a familiar way. He stops stroking Sungha’s hair and makes sure that the boy stops retelling stories of how he met Mr. Leopard and how he’ll brag the photo to their parents.
“Yeah.”
Seokjin has been active in the entertainment industry for almost 5 years already and he doesn’t know how this boy who’s just coming out of the toilet wearing only torn black shirt and a pair of boxer which he usually wears for at least 4 days in a row manages to outdo celebrities who are ready for their comeback stages. Maybe it’s love? Yeah, maybe.
“Hhhh… Jungkookie, will you come here?”
It’s been awhile since Seokjin sits on his bed and he notices that Jungkook had changed the sheet into his favorite. He pats the empty space beside him. The younger one comes closer but he’s not taking that seat, instead, he stands right in front of Seokjin who’s looking up so that they’re having their first ever multi-second eye contact after three days.
Seokjin sighs for the thousand times that day and hesitantly reaches for Jungkook’s hand.
“I’m sorry…”
“For what?”
“For being a dick.”
“Good. You don’t have any idea how much they called me gay because I didn’t want to touch the ladies when we went to a strip club. And why do you think I didn’t touch them?”
“Because of me?”
Seokjin questions.
“Yeah.” It was when Jungkook motions his palm to pull Seokjin up when the older got his breath caught. They’re not even a meter away from the sleeping ball of innocence but Jungkook’s lips taste so nostalgically delicious it doesn’t help Seokjin from falling further into the kiss.
People say waking kids up is just as hard as getting them to sleep. Seokjin just spend one good hour putting Sungha to sleep while Jungkook gave up and went for a shower instead. As if rewarding himself for doing a great job in babysitting, Seokjin lets Jungkook handles him the way he has been doing for years. However to his dismay, Jungkook pulls himself from the kiss and leaves a trail of kisses on Seokjin’s forehead instead. Now that Jungkook is only one centimeter away from his brother, manhandling him is getting easier and Seokjin loves the dominant Jungkook.
“And I’m sorry too. I’m late by half a decade to be jealous towards you and Yoongi-hyung.”
“Yah, good to know.” Seokjin whispers, nuzzling on Jungkook’s neck like a cat wanting to be feed. Yes he misses this warmth so fucking much. Seokjin continues nibbling on Jungkook’s collarbone, earning soft muffles until his eyes catch a glimpse of an old cupboard box. “Wait.”
Seokin leaves the clueless Jungkook abandoned. He busies himself with a bunch of old documents until he spots a certain piece and shoves it on Jungkook’s face. On the yellowing paper, the lines made by the 9 years old Jungkook form a sight of two smiling boys with one leopard on top of them, also smiling. It’s Seokjin’s first ever birthday present from his brother. It’s funny that at least ten years ago he thought that this might be Jungkook’s last present for him but now, he could have one cabinet full of presents given by his baby brother. Clothes, dvd player, umbrella, ukulele, and many other evidences that show Jungkook is bad at choosing presents.
“Remember this?”
“Why do you still keep it hyung?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Seokjin pinches the bridge of Jungkook’s nose and crawls to stick the old piece of paper to the wall. “Tomorrow we’ll shop for frames. Now sticky tape would do.” Seokjin claps his hands together, feeling content at his half assed room decoration.
Jungkook, however, feels something heavy crushing his chest. He absolutely forgot what Seokjin had given him for his first birthday present. And even if he does remember, that particular treasure had gone to the drain and no longer in his possession anyway. Seeing Seokjin’s heartfelt smile towards his childish painting, Jungkook slips an arm around his brother’s waist and hugs him from behind.
“I’m sorry hyung. I forgot what you gave me for my birthday.” Jungkook closes his eyes and buries his nose on Seokjin’s neck, smelling the raw fragrance of musk and pine scented perfume mixes with each other.
“That’s fine. To tell you the truth, I kinda forget myself.” The man chuckles. If he’s remembering things right, it might be a sketch book or something but he’s not sure. He’s too busy catching feeling and savoring Jungkook’s hungry kisses on his neck. He slings one hand to the back of Jungkook’s nape and runs his fingers through the soft hair there.
“Call my name.” Seokjin lets out a needy moan when Jungkook’s hands roams lower, still taking control from behind.
“Jin…” Jungkook moans Seokjin’s name as the other man grinds backwards, rubbing their hips together, completely missing the issue that Sungha is just one step away from them. “Aaahh… Dad is soooo going to kill us.”
“Like when he found out he had another baby boy.” Seokjin giggles.
“Oh hyung, what a turn off.”
“You brought him first.”
“Okay, lets be fair. I’d bring mom too and we’ll wrapped this up.”
“Whatever you say, baby boy.” Seokjin says hungrily while leaving love bites on Jungkook’s collar. He lets out a surprised yelp when Jungkook suddenly lifts him up bridal style and strolls outside the bedroom.
“Same words different effect. Now that’s quite a turn on. Where do you prefer, princess? living room, bath room, or the kitchen?” Jungkook bites back a moan when Seokjin sucks on his neck and leaves a red mark along with a popping sound.
“Wherever you like. Just be considerate, I have dance practice tomorrow.”
“You’re leaving marks everywhere and I can’t even leave one on you huh?”
“The consequence of dating an idol, honey.”
“You’re sneaky.”
“But you love it.”
“I do.”
~END