Chapter Text
The plan is to go live at the company building. They’re going to address the article and just -- tell the truth, and deal with any backlash as it comes. It’ll be the first time in this whole ordeal that anyone other than Yoongi will know the whole truth of the situation. None of Yoongi’s friends, Jungkook’s parents, or anyone else actually knows the details of what brought the two of them together up to this point. And now everyone will know.
Jungkook has been awake since before the sun started to rise, unable to sleep, even with the press of Yoongi’s body behind him and his soft sleeping breaths a reminder that he’s there.
Now that the sun is rising, painting the sky in soft, warm tones of pink and orange, Jungkook is sitting outside, trying to let the cool morning chill calm his still racing heart.
He’s wrapped in a fluffy robe, a recent purchase from Yoongi that fits over Jungkook’s growing body. Still, when Yoongi wakes up, he comes outside to find Jungkook with a blanket in his arms, which he wraps around Jungkook’s shoulders before sitting down next to him.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Yoongi asks, whispering like he’s afraid that if he speaks too loudly, he’ll scare away both Jungkook and the sunrise.
“No. I think … we just have to get it over with.”
Yoongi hums, pressing his hands harder into the mug he’s holding, the steam billowing out from his coffee into the morning air around them.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t let anyone make you feel like we did, okay? Whatever happens, all of our friends are by our sides. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
Jungkook leans into Yoongi’s side, trying to believe him, trying to believe that everything will be okay, instead of so much worse.
They watch the rest of the sunrise together.
*
When they get to the company building - having entered through a below-ground garage entrance to avoid reporters as thoroughly as possible - Seokjin has a slightly manic look in his eyes.
“Do you two, perhaps, remember when I told you not to look at the internet?”
Yoongi apparently does not have the good sense to look repentant in front of his hyung.
“That article coming out had nothing to do with us looking at it. It just, y’know, was there.”
Seokjin groans, dragging his hand heavily down his face. Jungkook vaguely wishes he could sink into the linoleum floor under them. He feels nauseous, mostly for emotional reasons. Yoongi looks a little frumpled, standing next to him under the bright overhead lights of the little room they’re going to go live in. But still, pretty. Yoongi still looks pretty, always looks pretty really, as far as Jungkook is concerned, and as dependable as he always has been. He makes a move to chew on his thumbnail, a motion Jungkook recognizes, and Seokjin smacks his hand away before it can make it the whole way to his mouth.
“Do you both know what you’re going to say?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, much quieter than he means to, as Yoongi starts to bustle around the room, poking around at what has been set up for them.
“Just,” Seokjin sighs, “Don’t say anything that will make anything worse. I’m trusting you here, okay? We’re all trusting you. Joon and Hobi are under very strict instructions to stay home, otherwise they’d both be here smothering you two in affection.”
Yoongi, in the process of dragging two office chairs over to the desk they’ll be sitting at, asks, “Why are they banned?”
“Hobi keeps threatening to fight the reporters who have been camped out around the building. We’re trying to stop a current scandal, not drown this one out with a brand new one.”
Yoongi chuckles, though it sounds forced to Jungkook, who has gotten very accustomed to how Yoongi’s genuine laugh sounds like over the past months.
“You’re both going to be okay,” Seokjin says, his face and voice softening as he looks over at Jungkook’s wide, nervous eyes. “I’ll be in the corner of the room the whole time, okay? The company is behind both of you, we know you didn’t do anything wrong. Clearing up the misconceptions is the right strategy for this development.”
Jungkook and Yoongi sit down. Jungkook can feel himself shaking a little bit, nerves he just can’t push past. When Yoongi takes Jungkook’s hand, held tightly on Yoongi’s lap under the desk and below where the camera can catch them, Jungkook can feel him shaking too.
“Okay,” Yoongi says, breathing out slow through his mouth. “Ready, Jungkook-ah?”
“Yeah,” says Jungkook, “Ready.”
“Okay. Try not to focus on the chat or the viewer count or anything like that. Just -- try to focus on me. I'm here for you. We'll get through this.”
“Yeah,” says Jungkook, looking at Yoongi's face, the face that has meant comfort for him for so many months. “Yeah. I can do that.“
*
Jungkook is so nervous and worried and a thousand other overwhelming things, and the first several minutes of the broadcast feel blurred together.
Yoongi gives the viewers a minute or so to roll in, quietly and calmly introducing Jungkook to the audience, telling the fans that are watching that he’s missed them.
“Okay,” Yoongi says. Jungkook can tell he's trying to look confident and earnest. Trying to get the audience to believe that truth. “I know you're all here to talk about what you might have seen. Let's get into it, okay?”
Under the desk, Yoongi squeezes Jungkook's hand. Jungkook squeezes back.
“Like I said, this is Jungkook. Recently, some pictures of us together were posted online, and as a result, someone we know posted terrible, untrue things about us.”
Jungkook nods his agreement. He's currently trying to look not terrified to the growing audience of millions of people. He's not particularly confident about the effectiveness of that attempt.
“It is true that I met Jungkook some months ago, and we became friends while he was in the hospital. But, we wanted to clear up any concerns that you all might have,” Yoongi turns slightly to look at Jungkook. “Jungkook?” he prompts, letting him know it's time for Jungkook to take over.
This made the most sense to them, trying to give Jungkook as much agency as possible, and show the world that Yoongi isn't some controlling monster.
“Hi. Yes. Um, I'm Jungkook, like Yoongi-hyung said. Um. If you read the article, I'm sure you're thinking a lot of things that are not true.”
Jungkook breathes out slow, loathes the things he's going to have to admit, but has to say them anyway.
“It's true that I dated Seo-Jun. What he left out of his article is the fact that he was abusing me for the majority of our relationship. I met Yoongi-hyung because Seo-Jun pushed me out of the car he was driving, and Hyung happened to be there and made sure I got to the hospital. We became close friends, and when I had nowhere to go after finding out I was pregnant and not wanting Seo-Jun to be in my life anymore, Hyung took me in. Hyung has been so kind to me, and I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Please don't believe Seo-Jun. He's not a kind or good person.”
Yoongi clears his throat.
“We also want to clear up the fact that Jungkook and I are not in a relationship. We are just friends, and friends help each other when needed. Jungkook’s child is not mine biologically, although I will continue to support both him and the baby as a friend, and hopefully a fun uncle,” Yoongi finishes with a chuckle.
Jungkook feels numbly overwhelmed by the comments rolling by, the litany of language and emotional reaction. He focuses on Yoongi, on the feel of his hand in his. Tries to ignore the pang in his chest when Yoongi says they don't have anything more than platonic with each other.
Yoongi begins to wrap up, Seokjin watching the two of them closely.
“I wanted to say thank you to those of you who have supported me and Namjoonie, and Hobi. We will continue to work diligently to earn that support. I'll talk to you all again soon.”
“Thank you for treating me kindly,” Jungkook says, with a bow towards the screen.
Yoongi reaches towards the screen and ends the livestream. The screen goes black in front of them.
*
Jungkook feels like he’s run a thousand marathons by the time they’re finished. With the live off in front of them, the little message saying they’ve been disconnected over a blank screen, Jungkook can see his eyes in the reflection in front of him, still wide with nerves, even though the scary thing has already gone and been done. He looks so tired, and Yoongi does too.
“Okay!” Says Seokjin from where he was hidden off camera. “I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about any of that and just want to go home.”
Yoongi groans.
“I’ll take that as an affirmative. Listen, the good news is that the responses we could see from the chat as you guys were live were mostly positive. Continuing to lay low is definitely a good idea, but I wouldn’t be too worried. People like you, Yoongi, and they know you’re not evil. Your and Kook-ah’s testimonials should take care of anyone who even started to think otherwise.”
Yoongi nods his head, hand still tightly holding onto Jungkook’s.
Seokjin moves to the door of the room. “We’ll keep an eye on the public’s response and keep you guys updated. We’ll probably have a more formal meeting with Yoongi, Joon, and Hobi about our next plan of action for the group when we have a better idea of what our next steps are going to look like. Really, really stay off the internet this time, okay? Really. I mean it, Jungkook.”
“Okay, Hyung,” Jungkook says, mostly looking at Yoongi instead. Cataloguing his face.
“Okay, I’m going home now. Let’s get together for dinner sometime soon, okay? All seven of us.”
“Sure, Hyung,” Yoongi says, although he’s mostly looking at Jungkook, too.
With Seokjin out of the room, Yoongi squeezes Jungkook’s hand one more time before letting go.
“Are you ready to go home?”
“Yeah, Hyung. More than ready.”
*
Jungkook knows he’s being too quiet on the drive home.
It's not far, but they're stuck in traffic, having left the building during rush hour. They're currently at a standstill, Yoongi's quiet music playing over his car speakers. He's tapping along to the beat on the steering wheel with his fingers. It's making Jungkook especially aware of the silence between them.
In the standstill, Yoongi turns his body to look at Jungkook, concern furrowing his brow. It makes his face look all scrunched. The sight makes the ache in Jungkook's chest worse.
“Alright. What's up, Kook-ah?”
“What? Nothing.”
Yoongi squints. Jungkook squints back, their staring contest going nowhere until Yoongi has to break it to inch the car forward in the traffic.
He has both hands on the steering wheel, still looking ahead, his face illuminated by the sea of red brake lights in front of them.
“Listen. I know you're upset about something. And I also know there's a lot to be upset about, right now. I just want to know what it is, specifically. I hate it when you're upset, Kook-ah. I want to fix it if I can.”
“I'm not upset about anything.” Jungkook asserts, fully knowing he's lying through his teeth.
“Yeah, okay,” sighs Yoongi, fully knowing Jungkook is lying too, “you don't have to tell me.”
They do eventually break out of traffic, the headlights around them blurring as Jungkook resolutely looks out the window and not at all at Yoongi.
He's being -- unreasonable, probably. He feels like he's being unreasonable. But the ache in his chest refuses to go away.
When they're parked back at home, Yoongi gets out of the car and makes his way over to Jungkook's side before Jungkook has even unclipped his seatbelt.
Yoongi opens Jungkook’s door.
“Can I help you out of the car? You and the baby?”
Jungkook bristles, emotions rising to the surface before he can even think to tamp them down.
“Why? I'm just your friend. It's not your baby.”
Yoongi's eyes are wide, startled, his hands still where they were rising to help Jungkook a moment ago.
Jungkook bursts into tears.
“Whoa, what? Jungkook-ah -- what happened, honey?
Jungkook - annoyingly - hiccups. He feels ugly and stupid, childish in ways that are making him frustrated with himself. It's not fair, none of it is fair.
“I don't know. I don't know Hyung. I'm sorry. I don't know.”
“Kook-ah--” Yoongi looks stressed. More stressed than he’s looked all morning, actually. It's like he's unmoored without Jungkook on the same page as him.
“I don't know what to do, honey. Whatever it is we'll fix it, but you have to tell me what's wrong. Please?”
Jungkook unclips his seatbelt and leans forward until his upper body is out of the car. Yoongi catches him, his arms around Jungkook's upper body, being a trooper, really, in the amount of Jungkook's body - and baby - weight he's supporting.
“It's okay,” soothes Yoongi, smoothing his hands up and down Jungkook’s back as Jungkook clings to the back of Yoongi’s shirt. “How about we go inside, sweetheart, and maybe we can figure out what’s wrong.”
Jungkook, with his face tucked into the side of Yoongi’s neck and his emotions running wild, nods miserably, sighing into the warmth of Yoongi holding him.
*
Yoongi won't stop hovering nervously once they're inside.
Jungkook is wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, the same one Yoongi had brought him in the morning, which feels like a thousand years ago now.
Jungkook sighs and pats the sofa next to him.
“Come sit, hyungie.”
Yoongi sits. He does it stiffly, unsure. Jungkook hates that he’s made Yoongi unsure.
“Kook-ah. Can you tell Hyung what’s wrong?”
Jungkook plays with his hands. Twisting them in front of them.
“You said we’re friends.”
Yoongi cocks his head to the side, obviously confused.
“What? In the livestream? Yeah, we are friends, aren’t we?”
Jungkook shakes his head, frustrated.
“You said we’re friends. You said you want to be a fun uncle.”
The confused look doesn’t go away. Jungkook is so frustrated, the swing of emotion making his body absolutely exhausted. This day has been so long and so hard.
“I’m sorry, Kook-ah, I don’t understand what’s upsetting you. Can you - can you explain what you mean, more, please?”
Something snaps, a dam holding back all of the words Jungkook isn’t supposed to say. They come spilling out.
“I just. I - I think you're pretty. I think you're pretty, and you're nice to me, and I want to spend my life with you. But we’re friends. You said we’re friends. You said it’s just platonic, what we have. It’s not anything else. You don’t want anything else with me.”
When Jungkook sneaks a glance at Yoongi, the shock on his face makes Jungkook’s heart plummet in his chest, down, down, down.
“Kook”, Yoongi says, trying to catch Jungkook’s eye, like he wants what he’s about to say to stick in Jungkook’s mind. “What did you want me to say? That I love you? That every time I imagine the rest of my life, you’re right there with me? That I think of your baby as my baby, too?”
Jungkook’s eyes fill with tears again. He can feel them slipping down over his face, over the apples of his cheeks. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Sweetheart. I couldn’t say those things to the world. They’re for you. They’re for us. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It would be my honor to help you raise your perfect baby, to be your baby’s dad. All our friends tease me, y’know. They say I’m nesting, that the domestic life suits me. Hell, Jungkook, they call me dad to tease me. I want you. I want your kid, too.”
Surely it’s too good to be true. Too close to what Jungkook has wanted, and they’ve never even gotten close to saying out loud.
“You said it was platonic. You said that.”
“Jungkook. It’s not just platonic. I love you. I love you so much, honey.”
Jungkook lets the words sink in, lets them soak deep into his bones. He lets himself believe, a tentative kernel of hope.
“Oh,” he says, “Oh.”
“Yeah”, Yoongi replies back to him, a smile on his face, the first one in what feels like a lifetime, even though it’s only been a few hours, “Oh.”
*
Jungkook wakes up to an empty bed.
Yoongi's side is all rumpled. His side of the sheets is pulled back haphazardly, and his pillow is on the floor. It looks like he all but tumbled out of bed.
After pulling himself to his feet - said feet and back protesting against the movement - Jungkook waddles himself around the top floor of his home, on the lookout for Yoongi but unwilling to venture down the stairs to look for him.
It doesn't take long to find him.
Jungkook pushes open the door to what was previously his room (It’s really just a nursery now, with Jungkook sleeping in Yoongi’s room every night and the two of them just referring to it as their room) Jungkook finds Yoongi on the floor. He’s surrounded by the shreds of a cardboard box and a scattering of packing peanuts, an instruction manual held close to his face. In front of him is a half-constructed crib, one of the ones they picked out together online at least a month ago.
It feels silly, in retrospect, to have imagined that Yoongi ever meant anything other than forever, all the times they talked about the future. This baby is not Yoongi’s biologically, but this Yoongi, sitting on the ground in the early morning, muttering about confusing instructions, is all dad. He’ll be a great dad, the perfect picture of domestic contentedness.
Jungkook lowers himself to the ground.
Yoongi smiles at him as soon as he notices him, a bright thing, a happy thing, as light and quietly full of joy as the morning bird song outside.
“Hi, pretty,” Yoongi greets him, his voice all morning raspy. “How’d you sleep?”
“Hmmm, good. Better when you’re there.”
Yoongi’s blush, all pink like morning light, makes Jungkook so, so delighted, bubbles fizzing and popping in his heart.
Jungkook just can’t help it, leans forward until Yoongi catches him - a mirror of Yoongi’s comfort when they got home the night before - and kisses him. It’s a soft thing, and Yoongi’s responding kiss is just as soft.
When Jungkook draws away, Yoongi’s blush is still there. So is Jungkook’s delight.
“Hey,” Yoongi whispers, “Are you happy?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
Yoongi leans his forehead against Jungkook’s.
Oh, good. Me too.”