Archive of Our Own ^beta

It all started on a Wednesday. There was nothing particularly special about that day, the weather was decent, not too cold but not too warm, and it was a regular school day for Jeongguk - at least, it started that way.

“There’s a new kid. I call dibs,” was how Taehyung greeted Jeongguk upon reaching their regular table in the dining hall.

Jeongguk raised an eyebrow, deciding not to make a comment about what Taehyung said - he didn’t know this new kid after all. “Well hello to you, too,” Jeongguk muttered.

“Oh, yeah, hi,” Taehyung grinned, pulling the box containing his lunch out of his bag. “Seriously though, Guk, his smile could compete with the sun for brightness.”

Jeongguk laughed. “You sure you just didn’t recognise Hoseok? He did dye his hair recently,” Jeongguk replied.

Taehyung sighed before starting to speak again with his mouth full of his sandwich. “No, it wasn’t Hoseok. I’m not blind,” he whined. “His name is Jimin.”

Giving his best friend a disgusted look for his lack of manners, Jeongguk replied, “Don’t we already have like three Jimin’s in our year already?”

Taehyung nodded. “None of them have a smile as nice as this Jimin though,” he said before taking another bite out of his sandwich. He was quiet for a moment before snapping his fingers suddenly as he remembered something, startling Jeongguk who had zoned out.

Jeongguk held a hand to his heart. “Dude, don’t do that you scared me.”

Taehyung giggled. “Sorry,” he said, not sounding the least bit apologetic. “I just remembered I didn’t do the homework for Park’s class. Can I copy yours?”

“You should do your own homework for once,” Jeongguk sighed even though he reached into his bag to get his completed homework out anyway.

And with that, Jimin was completely forgotten in their conversation.

—

Since Jeongguk had to walk past Taehyung’s house in order to reach school in the mornings the two had developed a routine where Jeongguk would knock for Taehyung and they would walk to school together. The walk only took ten minutes but they managed to discuss all sorts of things on their morning journey and this day was no different.

“You know Jimin? The one I mentioned the other day,” Taehyung started.

Jeongguk hummed and nodded so his friend knew he remembered and to allow Taehyung to continue.

“He’s pretty cute so I’m gonna convince him to go on a date with me,” Taehyung finished.

Jeongguk sighed. “You do this every single time a new guy joins our school. I don’t even know Jimin yet so you can have your dibs. Hopefully this time he’ll agree to a date, unlike the last three,” Jeongguk smirked, trying to rile his friend up.

With a gasp, Taehyung smacked Jeongguk. “They made a mistake not agreeing to a date. I’d be a great boyfriend,” Taehyung pouted.

“You have a boyfriend?” asked a voice from behind the two friends. The two friends had managed to reach the school without even realising as they were too immersed in their conversation. They both turned to see who had interrupted them to see a boy Jeongguk didn’t recognise.

Taehyung, however, must’ve recognised the boy as he broke into a huge grin upon seeing his face. “Hey, Jimin!” he greeted enthusiastically.

Jeongguk laughed. “So you’re the infamous Jimin that Taehyung can’t seem to stop mentioning,” he said, which earned him his second smack of the day.

The smaller boy smiled and suddenly Jeongguk understood Taehyung’s previous comment comparing Jimin’s smile to the sun. He radiated happiness with his smile - Jeongguk thought he could even compete with Hoseok for brightest smile. “I am that Jimin, you’re correct. It’s nice to meet you.” He bowed, still smiling.

“I’m glad I can finally put a face to the name. I’m Jeongguk, by the way,” he introduced, returning the bow.

“So abo-“ Jimin started before he was interrupted by the bell. “Oh, I should get going. See you guys later!” He hurried off down the hall with a wave.

Jeongguk turned to Taehyung. “You were right. He is cute.”

Taehyung tutted. “Bro code, Guk. Always remember the bro code,” he said before disappearing down the hall in the same direction Jimin had gone before.

—

It wasn’t until the next week that Jeongguk saw Jimin again. It was Monday, everyone’s least favourite day of the week, and it was Jeongguk’s final lesson of the day - two hours of English. Those lessons were Jeongguk’s least favourite of the week and seemed to alway drag on forever. With no friends in his class, either, it made them even harder to bare.

As Jeongguk was approaching the door to his classroom he briefly considered turning the other way and going home. It wouldn’t be the first time he skipped the class, but he was meant to be going to meeting up with Taehyung after school and he didn’t want to ditch his friend. With a sigh, Jeongguk pushed down the handle and entered the classroom. He started heading towards his seat, the one in the back corner where he attempted to hide from his teacher so she didn’t make him speak in front of the class, and noticed there was someone already sitting there looking out of the window. This was unusual as they were already partway through the school year and everyone had kept the same seats as they started sitting in.

As he got closer, the seat stealer turned to face him and Jeongguk was shocked to see Jimin there. “Hey, Jimin. You stole my seat I see,” Jeongguk greeted, only partly joking about his seat being stolen.

Jimin immediately stood up from the seat, apologising profusely and moving to the seat next to it. “I’m sorry! This is my first time in this class and I wasn’t sure where to sit so I just sat here.” He gave a sheepish smile.

With a smile, Jeongguk took his seat, now next to Jimin rather than having an empty seat beside him . “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I have someone I know to talk to now. Maybe getting through this hell will be easier now,” Jeongguk joked.

“Is this class really that bad?” Jimin asked.

Jeongguk nodded. “It’s the worst.”

“At my last school our worst lessons were always Chemistry. I swear our teacher was evil and hated everyone. If you made it through a lesson without being insulted it was a miracle,” Jimin said, which started a conversation between the two of them about evil teachers.

When the bell rang signalling the end of the school day, Jeongguk almost couldn’t believe how fast the lesson had gone by. Usually he was checking the clock every few minutes but with Jimin to talk to it seemed to fly by.

Eventually, Jeongguk started to look forward to his Monday afternoon lessons rather than dreading them and he and Jimin became friends through those classes. The only trouble with this friendship was that Jeongguk slowly started to develop a crush on Jimin. He knew he needed to get over this though - Taehyung had already stated that he had an interest in Jimin and Jeongguk knew to respect his friend, even if that meant he’d have to try and get over his crush.

—

Jeongguk later found out that Jimin lived down the same road as him, so Jeongguk and Taehyung walking to and from school together soon became Jeongguk, Taehyung and Jimin walking together. The three became inseparable and spent all their free time together.

It was one day during lunch that Jeongguk noticed that maybe Jimin wasn’t just being friendly towards him, but was flirting with him.

Jeongguk was exhausted on that day as he’d stayed up late texting Jimin so he was a little more grouchy than usual. He was surprised that Jimin seemed so upbeat and happy considering they’d both stayed up until the same time, but he decided not to question it. After all, Jimin was generally a cheerful person and maybe he was used to not getting much sleep.

Tired Jeongguk, though, made a lot of sarcastic comments, especially following things that Taehyung said, and whenever he did he noticed that Jimin would laugh really loudly and lightly smack him during his laughter. He never did this whenever Taehyung made jokes, though, just smiled and laughed quietly.

Jeongguk also noticed that Jimin seemed to compliment him whenever he could - both in person and when they were texting. Jeongguk could admit it made him feel good to receive so many compliments from Jimin but he also wasn’t sure how to take it.

Unsure how to really feel, Jeongguk tried to put his confusion and thoughts aside and focus on enjoying the rest of his lunch with Jimin and Taehyung before his next lesson, maths, which he wasn’t a huge fan of. Luckily, Taehyung was in his class but unluckily the teacher had caught the two talking instead of working one too many times and now they sat on opposite sides of the classroom. They still managed to get on the teacher’s nerves every lesson by talking too much, though.

When the bell rang signalling the end of lunch, the three said their goodbyes and Jimin headed off to his lesson in a different building than where Taehyung and Jeongguk had theirs.

“Why are you so grumpy today?” Taehyung asked, poking Jeongguk in the cheek to annoy him.

Jeongguk swatted his friend’s hand away with a scowl. “I stayed up late,” he answered simply.

This got Taehyung interested - he knew Jeongguk didn’t just stay up late on a school night without a reason. “So you were talking to someone, then?” he guessed.

Jeongguk groaned. This was one of the moments when he hated that his best friend knew him so well. “Yes, I was talking to someone.” Jeongguk knew he was being secretive and blunt but he was tired and knew Taehyung wouldn’t take it personally.

“Fine, I won’t ask who then. Are they cute at least?” Taehyung asked.

“Very,” Jeongguk replied as they reached their classroom, heading off to their different seats.

—

Later that day, Jeongguk and Jimin were texting again and Jeongguk’s confused thoughts finally got solved.

jimin: hey guk?
jimin: can i ask you a question?

jeongguk: sure what is it?

jimin: uh well
jimin: i don't know if you noticed
jimin: but i’ve been trying to give you hints that i’m interested
jimin: so would you consider going on a date with me?

Jeongguk dropped his phone in shock. His crush just asked him on a date but he couldn’t even agree to it because his best friend had called dibs and he always respected the bro code. 

jeongguk: idk jimin
jeongguk: i dont know if im up for dating at the moment
jeongguk: what about asking taehyung?

jimin: oh okay
jimin: sorry for asking you
jimin: taehyung has a boyfriend though? 

Once again, Jeongguk dropped his phone in shock. Taehyung? Boyfriend? Where did Jimin get this idea from. Switching his chat to his one with Taehyung, Jeongguk started spamming his friend with messages.

jeongguk: TAEHYUNG
jeongguk: TAE
jeongguk: TAETAE
jeongguk: TAE ITS IMPORTANT
jeongguk: TAEHYUNGGGGG

taehyung: WHAT DO U WANT

jeongguk: why does jimin think you have a boyfriend?

taehyung: what
taehyung: idk i dont have a bf?????
taehyung: DID I JUST LOSE ALL MY CHANCES
taehyung: WHAT WILL I DO NOW

jeongguk: he asked me on a date and i said no because i know you wanted to date him so i suggested he ask you on a date and he said “taehyung has a boyfriend though?”

taehyung: HE ASKE DU ON A DATE?????
taehyung: WHY DIDNT U SAY YES
taehyung: WHAT ARE U DOING

jeongguk: the bro code?
jeongguk: you called dibs?
jeongguk: you want to date him?

taehyung: THE BRO CODE IS IRRELEVANT WHEN UR CUTE FRIEND ASKS U ON A DATE
taehyung: FUCK WHAT I SAID GO AGREE TO THAT DATE RIGHT NOW
taehyung: OR I’LL SEND HIM THE PHOTOS OF YOU FROM /THAT NGIHT/

jeongguk: dont you DARE
jeongguk: im going im going

Jeongguk’s heart was racing. He was able to date his crush when he’d had no hope of this happening and now it could.

jimin: guk?
jimin: where did you go?
jimin: i’m sorry if i upset you
jimin: or if i ruined our friendship

jeongguk: no you didnt ruin anything!
jeongguk: and i take back what i said im totally up for that date i thought youd never ask

jimin: what?
jimin: why did you say no then?

jeongguk: tae called dibs and you always have to respect the bro code

jimin: the bro code.
jimin: really, jeongguk?
jimin: i’m starting to regret asking you on this date

jeongguk: DONT REGRET IT
jeongguk: ILL MAKE IT THE BEST DATE EVER I PROMISE

jimin: i was kidding, but you’re cute
jimin: i’ll see you tomorrow at 7?

jeongguk: see you then <3

jimin: :) <3

Jeongguk grinned, holding his phone to his chest. He really hoped tomorrow would be the start of a beautiful relationship with Jimin. He couldn’t believe his crush liked him back and also wanted to date him.

With a smile on his face, Jeongguk went to sleep early that night, his last thought before he fell asleep being how fucking stupid the bro code really is.