Chapter Text
Ding.
“Welcome!”
Two cups of ramen and a green tea are placed onto the counter, and Jungkook scans them diligently, keeping his eyes down.
“That will be 3100 won.” A bill and a coin are placed onto the counter. “I’ve received 5100.” He bags the items and hands them over with the change, giving his best smile and a small bow. “Thank you.”
The girl smiles back at him, her eyes slipping down to catch his name out of habit. “Thank you!” She does a double take, and peers a little closer. “Wait. Jungkook?” Jungkook blinks. “You’re not Jeon Jungkook, are you?”
His smile freezes. “Uh… yes?”
“Oh my gosh!” she squeals. “You’re the Jeon Jungkook that wants to fuck Kim Taehyung?!”
“What?!”
Standing at the entrance of the store is Park Jimin, who watches the exchange with a face looking like he’s just seen a bloody ghost.
--
~3 days ago~
Immediately when Jimin wakes, he feels his head begin to spin and the sunlight trying to stab through his eyes and ingrain itself into his brain for all eternity. He makes a gagging noise, but it becomes genuine when the dryness in his mouth makes his tongue latch onto the roof of his mouth. In short, Jimin feels like dying.
“Oh my god,” he groans into the void, and like the holy saviour a gentle hand lifts him up, despite his protests, and presses a bottle of water to his lips. He chugs it quickly, the bottle being pulled back in order to get him to slow down.
“How are you feeling?” When Jimin rubs at his eyes, he opens them to find his roommate staring back at him, face neither pleased nor surprised. He smiles sheepishly, the throbbing easing just a bit now that he’s gotten some water and sense into him.
“Kinda shitty. Did you bring me back yesterday, Yoongi-hyung?”
“I had to lug your heavy ass across campus, you piece of shit. Try not to do that again.” He drops Jimin, and the latter falls onto the bed with a thump and a groan.
“Thanks, hyung,” Jimin calls out in pain. He means it. His roommate had been vehemently against nightlife ever since they’d met, and yet when Jimin had told him he was probably going to a party on the other side of campus alone Yoongi hadn’t even hesitated before grabbing a coat and tagging along with him. Jimin vaguely recalls the other sulking on a couch all night, refusing company and taking drinks only to place them down on the table before him. Jimin makes a measly heart with two fingers in thanks, and Yoongi crosses his arms at him, a resigned look on his face.
“I have food ready, if you want it,” he says.
“Mm, maybe a little later. Thank you, hyung.”
Yoongi closes his eyes and nods. “...So,” he starts again. “Who’s Jeon Jungkook?”
The mention of his dongsaeng’s name rings a few alarms, and Jimin blinks away the oncoming exhaustion. “Um, a kid that I know. I think I’ve mentioned him to you a few times before.”
“Can I see a picture?”
Suspiciously, Jimin reaches for his phone wedged between the pillows, and scrolls through his gallery until he finds a normal enough selfie of the two of them, smiling happily with food in their hands. “This is him…” he holds the phone out for Yoongi to see, who peers at it in curiosity.
“Hmm…” the elder sounds after a while. “Yeah, I guess he’s hot?”
Jimin’s eye widen. “What did you say?” he asks. “Hyung, you like guys?”
“Don’t worry about my sexual orientation, Jimin-ah. Rather, do you remember anything you did last night?”
Oh no. “What did I do,” Jimin whispers, a hand already going to cover his mouth in horror. Wordlessly, Yoongi pulls his phone out from his back pocket.
“I got this footage from someone at the party. Don’t worry, I made sure to delete it afterwards.” He scrolls on his phone while Jimin waits in dreaded anticipation, and finally Yoongi takes a seat on the bed next to him, holding his phone out so they can both see before he presses the play button.
The video starts shakily as the very drunk Jimin of yesterday climbs up onto a tabletop, pushing away the other drunk man who had been there earlier.
“Whoo!! Confession number two!!!” someone screams from off screen, and a series of whoops and cheers ring out.
Yesterday’s Jimin, face flushed and dangerously staggering, raises his hand. “I have a confession!” he slurs. (From the back of the room in the video, Jimin can make out Yoongi trying to swim his way through the crowd of people, caution in his eyes.)
A chorus of “What is it?” “Say it!!” and “Yeaaahhh!”s ring throughout the room. Drunk Jimin hiccups, and he spins to a side and stabs at the air. The camera pans over to where one man is pointing at himself in amusement while he clutches a cup filled with unknown liquid. “Kim Taehyung!!!” Drunk Jimin screams from off camera. (Oh no. Jimin has a bad feeling he knows where this is going.)
“I--I want you…” A chorus of ‘ooh’s and suggestive words--”to fuck…” (“Oh fuck,” Jimin whimpers.) Taehyung, still on camera, looks absolutely red, eyes wide and waiting. “Jeon Jungkook!!!” (Jimin throws himself back into the wall with a scream. “Oh my fucking god!!”)
The room dissolves into a series of loud shouts, some of confusion and some of hooting. He can make out a few “Whoooaaa, who’s that?!?!” and an “Oh my god,” that someone near Taehyung mouths. Taehyung himself is speechless as people shove into him with teasing congratulations. He looks around, completely lost.
“You’re hot!” Drunk Jimin continues. More cheering. “Jungkook is hot! You can be hot together! You’ll have cute babies! I ship it!”
“Jimin-ah, get off!!” The camera pans back quickly to Jimin on the table as Yoongi launches himself towards it and tries to pull the younger down. Jimin continues to scream in protest, and boos ring out along the crowd as Yoongi struggles to clamp a hand over his mouth and get him to shut up.
“You can have hot--mmph--sex together! Jeon Jungkook!! Y University!!!! His name is Jeon Jungkook!!!!!!!!!” And that’s all Drunk Jimin gets to say before Yoongi yanks him onto the ground and he lies there, motionless. The rest of the party dissolves back into its previous chaos.
The camera tries to zoom in on Drunk, Unconscious Jimin, but it makes contact with Yoongi instead, and the last thing that happens is Yoongi grabbing for it, and what sounds like a scrabble as the phone is flung from one direction to another, before the video is cut off, and Sober, Horrified Jimin has tears streaming down his face in panic as he turns to grab onto Yoongi.
“Hyung what do I do?” he sobs, and Yoongi can only give him that blank, somewhat pitying look that he’s mastered.
“Please. Don’t cry, Jimin-ah, I really suck at comforting people.”
“I want to die!”
“If you say that again I’ll really beat the shit out of you.”
Jimin covers his face with two hands and throws his head back to take a deep breath. He releases it with a scream, and Yoongi leans away. “Everyone was drunk. They’ll probably forget it--”
“No!” Jimin hisses, cradling his head and huddling in the corner. “Do you know who what was? That was Kim Taehyung I was screaming to--everyone knows him, I--” he pauses to let out an angry sob, and Yoongi pats his shoulder awkwardly.
“It’ll die down eventually,” he suggests after a while. “You guys have parties every week. Something stupid happens every week.”
Sniffling, Jimin looks up at him in hope. “You think so?”
“Uh, well I…” Yoongi sees Jimin’s face about to burst into tears again. “Yeah yeah, of course. It’s a party, what do you do other than get drunk and be collectively stupid together, right?”
Jimin hiccups and aggressively wipes the tears away. “Y-you’re right,” he says, “I just have to survive the week. And then it’ll be all over soon, right?”
Yoongi, already done and wanting to end the conversation as fast as possible, nods. “Of course.”
Jimin nods to himself as the other gets up, saying something about food and whatever. “Okay,” he says to himself. “It’s one week. Can’t be that bad…”
--
Jimin met Taehyung like this.
It was a regular day, not too late but not too early, and he had been walking to his class with a ton of books in his hand because he was too lazy to put them all in his bookbag. His focus was on those books, consequently, making him oblivious to his surroundings.
Taehyung had been running from something, probably, he did not know what. And they slammed into each other, the books digging into Jimin’s stomach and splattering over the floor along with him and Taehyung, and the other had quickly made to apologize and offer a hand in help.
“Oh shit, sorry man, I didn’t look where I was going!” He had the way of talking that sounded like he had a lot of friends and would easily be able to make more. From the genuinity in his concern Jimin had given him a smile.
“S’no problem.”
“Oh, hey! You’re in my lecture class, aren’t you?”
Yeah, Jimin’s seen him around. “I think so? With Professor Lee?”
“Yeah, yeah! I’m Kim Taehyung.” He stretched out a hand, and pulled Jimin up when he took it.
“Park Jimin.”
“Cool, Jimin! Is it okay if we become friends? Can I just call you Jimin?”
“That’s fine.”
“Taehyung-ah! Are you alive you idiot?” Someone had run up to him, and a swarm of them followed. Taehyung had laughed like it was a natural occurrence. “Sorry man, he’s always like this.”
“I’m not~” He turned back to Jimin. “You’re in our major, right? Since you take that class and all.”
Oh, he was. “Yeah. I’m a second year.”
“Wow, us too! We can study together sometime with everyone.” Jimin returned the smile.
“Sounds good.”
“Awesome, I’ll talk to you again soon? My paper is due in like seven hours and I have a paragraph written.”
“Ouch. Good luck.”
“Yup! Bye!”
Jimin had watched as the guy walked down the road, literally saying hello to everybody he passed. Some he waved with the same wide grin he had given Jimin, others who he probably knew better all received some form of handshake or unique callout.
(And when all his friends and his seniors and his juniors knew of Taehyung, that was when Jimin knew that he was a popular kid.)
--
Jimin met Jungkook like this.
It was late night, the quiet ones after most sensible people had retired to their homes, and Jimin was craving something sweet. Now, it was late night, so a larger part of him knew that snacks and most other sugary things were out of the running, but how can you blame him, a guy still going through the last of his puberty, if all he wants is a little bit of sugar after a long day of studying and playing and staying alive?
So he chose some tea, and walked up to the young looking cashier who had a look too polite for people working this kind of shift. Everything was going well, until the cashier had named the price and Jimin went digging through his wallet for the money.
And, like those sad cliches, he was missing one coin. Not even a big coin, but a measly 100 won that could make everything so much easier. Sweating nervously, Jimin had glanced back and forth from his empty wallet to the cashier, whose wide stare showed he’d figured out what was going on.
“Um,” Jimin started, face flushing, “I’ll just put this back--”
“Ah, actually, it’s okay, you can take it.”
“What? Really?”
The cashier’s smile was too pure for this world. “Yeah. We usually, uh, have a sale this late at night anyways. So it’ll be fine if you take it.” His saviour, oh kind angel. Jimin looked at his nametag to remember his existence forever.
“Thank you so much, Jungkook-ssi! I was really craving this. I’ll drink it well, thank you!”
“Please enjoy!”
Jimin had nearly skipped out the convenience store in gratitude. What a kind world this was! He’ll make sure to savor every single drop of this--oh he forgot a straw.
Already halfway down the block, Jimin turned back and was about to push open the door to the store again when he watched the cashier from before digging through what was probably his own wallet, before plopping a silver coin into the open register. Oh.
(Later on, Jimin returned and learned that Jungkook went to another university close by, just one year younger than Jimin himself.)
--
~The Monday after the party~
“Hi Jimin!”
Jimin looked up and wanted to bury himself into the ground right then and there, because Kim Taehyung stood above him with a smile. “Do you think I can sit here?”
“...No?” Jimin whimpers, and Taehyung’s face falls so fast he guiltily waves his hands in dismissal. “No, I was just kidding! The seat’s free, if you want it! Just, um…” Why. He’d tried to stay in bed today but Yoongi had yanked his blanket off and rolled him out of it with a strength much too strong for a man always lying down.
“If your parents paid any percentage of your tuition and you’re not sick then you are going to class,” he had said.
“I’m sick,” Jimin had tried. “Mentally sick. My heart is sick.” Yoongi had thrown Jimin’s bookbag at his face.
Jimin tries to inconspicuously turn his head towards the wall, about to put his head down and pray for the professor to come soon.
“Did you do the reading for today?”
Wrinkling his nose, he slowly rises back and faces Taehyung. “I didn’t to be honest,” he answers, and Taehyung laughs.
“Yeah, how could he expect anyone to read over the weekend when there’s no test or anything, right?”
Jimin nods politely. The conversation continues in this fashion, fortunately enough, and Taehyung himself looks like he has no plan to bring up the events of three nights ago, that kind, understanding man. Jimin finds time passing by quicker than he’d expected, and soon the professor enters in his ten-minute-late glory, and class starts without a hitch. Halfway through the lecture and Jimin is diligently jotting down his notes when Taehyung leans in close to him, a hand covering his mouth and half cupping Jimin’s ear.
“So who’s Jeon Jungkook?”
Jimin rips his paper, hand trembling in horror. At the corner of his eye, Taehyung smirks back at him in wait.
“He’s nobody,” he mumbles back.
“But how can I make cute babies with him if you don’t introduce us?”
“Can you talk to me later please? I’m trying to take notes and I really need to pass this class.” Jimin’s an A-student. He probably needs a 60 on the final to get an A at this point. But Taehyung nods and moves away, and Jimin sighs, wiping at the sweat on his forehead. He begins subtly zipping up his bag ten minutes before the end of class and makes a mad dash out towards the entrance right when the professor announces the end of the hour, notebook and pen in hand and ignoring Taehyung’s calls of his name.
--
~The Thursday after the party~
“Jimin-hyung can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
“Do you know a Kim Taehyung?”
Jimin would have choked had he been drinking something. “W-why do you ask?”
Jungkook looks like he’s at wits’ end. “I have had countless people coming up to me or asking for me at school, and they’re all like ‘Oh, you’re that Jeon Jungkook! You like Taehyung, don’t you?’ And I have no idea who this guy is, but I saw one of them was wearing apparel from your college so I thought…” He deflates. “You know what, it’s not your problem, hyung. Forget I said anything.”
Oh, it’s Jimin’s problem, all right. It’s Jimin’s fault. He feels himself sweating. “Don’t...don’t worry about it, Jungkook-ah. I’m sure it’ll die down after a week or so.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook mumbles. “I mean, I don’t even know anyone at that university except for you! I don’t know where these weird rumors are coming from.”
Jimin’s face is blank, he hopes. At least Jungkook looks like he doesn’t suspect Jimin in the least. Now he feels even worse. “Someone must’ve just… said a random name, and it happened to be yours, right?”
“Yeah. How’d they even trace me to my school, though?”
“T-t-t-there’s no Jeon Jungkook in my university, I’m pretty sure!”
“Yeah, and mine is pretty close to here, too...you’re right. I’ll stop making a fuss about this. They’ll stop soon, right, hyung?” Jungkook gasps. “Jimin-hyung? You’re looking kind of pale. Are you okay?”
“I, um,” Jimin takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I just, forgot that I, uh, had something, to. Do, uh. I forgot, my hyung asked me to do, yeah…”
“Oh, you should go, then. You keep coming here like you have no life.”
“Yeah yeah, I should,” Jimin brushes off the insult and quickly slings his bookbag across his back. “I’m gonna go first, huh? See you soon, Jungkook-ah.”
“Yeah, bye hyung!” Jungkook looks to the side and blinks. “Ah, hyung, wait, your earphones--” he looks back up to see the door swinging back closed, bell ringing and no Jimin in sight.
--
The ship started as a crack pairing.
Taehyung was good-looking and he was nice. Jimin didn’t talk to him much but when their eyes met Taehyung would always give him a wave like he was excited to see him, and Jimin would return it with an actual genuine desire to. In lecture he wasn’t annoying and didn’t say much or call out to the professor and make him halt the lesson, but sometimes Jimin sat near him and would overhear the small conversations he and his friends had before and during class. Most of the time they were really funny, and all the time Taehyung was really sweet.
Just by hearsay Jimin had learned that Taehyung loved dogs and children and took care of his family like no other. The guy had a thing for Gucci even though he couldn’t afford any of it. He liked painting and photography and music and saxophones and did all of it but mastered none. He liked thinking weird things and sometimes didn’t sleep until five in the morning, and Jimin liked him well enough. He deserved someone amazing to love him.
Jungkook was good-looking and he was a dork. Jimin talks to him a lot and he was shy when they’d first met but over time had opened up and now cracked jokes and did stupid things like parkour and sending him memes in the middle of his night shifts. He works a-fucking-lot to try and help his parents and is always nice to his customers whether they thank him or chuck trash on the floor. Sometimes Jungkook liked to pat Jimin’s head and throw shade at him with innocent eyes but every time Jimin visited he offered to discount a drink and secretly paid the rest of the price when he thought Jimin wasn’t looking.
From hanging with Jungkook, Jimin saw that he would look at dogs trotting outside with a lovesick expression and would makes funny faces whenever children entered so he could see them smile. He danced and maybe took a few pictures in his free time, but was hella good at everything else. He dabs three times in a second and turns everything into a competition when he feels like it, and he’s the same age as Jimin’s little brother back in Busan. Jimin loves him so much, and wants the world to give him a person that could bring him out of his shell and make him laugh without restraint. Jimin wants for Jungkook someone free and able to do all the things the younger wants but is afraid to do, someone who is on his wavelength and can converse with him using just their eyes, someone who laughs so loud Jungkook will laugh along with them and love so strong Jungkook will love along with them.
Strangely enough, his mind went to Taehyung first.
I mean, Taehyung and Jungkook didn’t know each other, but two sweet good-looking men, am I right?
And the more Jimin thought about it, the more the two personalities just seemed to click. Taehyung is outgoing and loud but he is also passionate and genuine, and Jungkook was quiet at first and prefers to stay in and keep to himself but he’s ambitious and wholehearted. It’s the kind of opposite but similar dynamic that only soulmates would have! It made so much sense!
And one night as he laid there in bed while Yoongi snoozed away, the ship name Taekook popped into his head, and he was gone.
And he kept thinking about it from then. Instead of his own, he would doodle their names under an umbrella in his notes during class before scratching it out in haste, or looking at couple drinks with a wistful expression and going ‘Ah. Taekook would like to try that (probably).’ Taeguk was Thailand. They were a country!! A country of love!!!
Just imagine how they’d meet. Maybe it would be one of those cliche Japanese manga scenes like he’d met Taehyung through. Taehyung would bump into Jungkook and everything would go flying and they’d apologize to each other and accidentally reach for the same thing and touch hands. And then they’d look into each other’s eyes and fall in love at first sight because wow, they’re both so good-looking and their smiles are so kind.
And Taehyung has such a nice deep voice imagine him melodically calling Jungkook’s name and the younger ignoring him and trying to push him away while actually liking it. And Jungkook’s eyes are so big so imagine them filled with love and unblinking adoration as he watches Taehyung cooing over a puppy at the park on one of their dates. Or imagine Taehyung, always so touchy-feely, sliding up to Jungkook and the younger not minding it even though he doesn’t really like being touched because it’s Taehyung and Taehyung can mess with his ears or squeeze his arms and he wouldn’t even care heck he’d even snuggle closer to Taehyung just because he loves him and OH MY GOD THAT IS SO CUTE.
Jimin would kick his blankets in excitement, squealing until it hit the floor, and Yoongi would pause his computer and stare across at him like he was crazy. And he would be right because Jimin was crazily shipping his friend and a classmate together and he wished for their happiness more than his own he. LOVES. TAEKOOK!
--
~The Friday after the party~
Jimin wakes up with a groan and a stretch. He just loves waking up without the alarm on Fridays, when he only has two classes, past noon, and a weekend up ahead. Looking across, Yoongi’s bed is made and empty like it usually is at this time, and Jimin reaches over for his phone, unlocking it when he sees a missed call and an unread message, both from Jungkook.
[11:30 AM]
Hey hyung, you forgot your earphones yest so I’m bringing them to you now!
Jimin shoots up, fingers flying as he texts the younger back.
[12:13 PM]
Thats ok man ill come over myself after!!!
He gets a reply really quickly.
[12:14 PM]
It’s cool I only have two morning classes today and work at night so I’m coming over already lol
Shiiiit! Jimin dials the other’s number, tripping over his feet as he tries to get up and claws for some clothes in his drawers. “Hello?” Jungkook answers from the other end.
“Where are you right now?” Jimin asks quickly, shrugging out of his flimsy white shirt and painfully trying to get another over his head with a phone pressed to his ear.
“Like five minutes away. I’m coming to your dorm, hyung. I know I should’ve gotten an answer first, but you don’t have classes this early and if you’re still asleep then I’m doing you a favor anyways.”
“Oh my god just stay where you are right now and don’t move! I’ll come to you instead!”
“I’m crossing the street right now, hyung.”
“You know what I mean!”
“What’s with you? I can just come over, it’s no biggie. I see your dorm building over there. Just get dressed and come out. Are you somewhere else?”
“No--no I’m in my room okay I’ll come down right now, just wait right there, okay?” He throws a quick goodbye to the younger before chucking his phone onto the bed and rushing to pull a pair of jeans onto his legs. Grabbing his phone again, Jimin rushes out of the room, nearly forgetting his key before he grabs it at the last second, and dashes to the stairs. He’s down three floors when he looks out and sees Jungkook hanging by a nearby bench, twirling what seems to be Jimin’s earphones in his hand as he scrolls through his phone.
Jimin sighs. At least it looks like no one is hounding the younger yet. Yoongi was right when he said the hype would die down after a week. He makes up his mind to take his time going down when he catches a familiar figure heading closer.
It’s Taehyung, walking with a friend back to the dorm after a class, probably. Frozen, Jimin watches as Taehyung’s friend jumps in recognition and points over at Jungkook, still oblivious. He says something, and Taehyung stands still for a bit before smiling and heading over. Jimin begins sprinting again.
By the time he reaches the outside, Taehyung is already too close for him to intercept the two, and so he changes direction and dashes behind a nearby tree instead, close enough so he can hear them. Jimin pokes his head out.
“Hi!” he can hear Taehyung say, and Jungkook looks up in response. At least Taehyung is loud.
“...?” Jungkook’s voice is a little more quiet and his back is facing Jimin, but knowing the other he’s probably returning the greeting with a confused one of his own.
“You’re Jeon Jungkook, right?”
Jimin watches as Jungkook doesn’t move for a bit, watching Taehyung, before jumping up, neck turning red.
“Yes!” He screams, loud and clear. “Yes, my name is Jeon Jungkook, and no, I do not want to fuck Kim Taehyung, I don’t even know who Kim Taehyung is, so stop bothering me and making these weird accusations!”
“I’m Kim Taehyung.”
Jungkook freezes again. Jimin strains his neck to lean forward. “O-oh,” he says, the red traveling to his ears. “Uh. I...that is…”
Taehyung’s eyes catch Jimin’s, and he smirks while the latter pales. “I’ve been hearing a lot about you too, you know.”
“What? From who?” Jimin shakes his head and presses his palms together to beg.
“Oh, here and there.” Thank lord!!
“Well… can you please put a stop to these rumors? I don’t know who all these people are, but they keep coming to me to ask about you.”
Taehyung laughs, sheepish. “Yeah, I don’t know why they’re making a big fuss about this. I’ll tell them, I promise.”
“Um, okay.” Jungkook sounds like he has no more words to say. “Thank you then.” Taehyung snickers.
“But since we’re at it and I met you anyways, let’s become friends!” He offers a hand. “Nice to meet you~.” Jungkook looks down, and after a second grabs it. He sounds like he’s smiling, and Jimin can’t help but cover his mouth to hide his squeal.
“Okay… nice to meet you, too.”
His ship just sailed.
----