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As soon as he heard the sound of jingling keys near their shared-apartment door, Hoseok was ready. He had his lecture all memorized and ready to go, he'd even practiced facials in front of the mirror while he waited. That is why, as soon as the door opened to reveal the subjects of his scathing discourse, his mouth opened, face schooled into the 'calm-before-the-storm' expression, ready to let the dam free; however, before he even had the chance to utter a single word, he was promptly silenced by Jungkook raising his index finger from his free hand in the international gesture for "wait a damn second".
"Okay, before you start lecturing me about why it took me so long to get back, why don't you help me haul Jimin's ass onto his bed first because he's really heavy and I carried him the entire way here and I don't think I could keep him up like this for another minute. So unless you want me to collapse right here, right now, which will end with you having to take care of two unresponsive bodies, I recommend you save the lecture for later and help me with my increasingly heavy problem first."
Hoseok's mouth closed with an audible click.
Against his better judgement, he swallowed the angry lecture on the tip of his tongue, instead opting to go to Jimin's free side and pulling the boy's arm around his shoulders. The two of them carried Jimin to his bedroom at the far end of the small corridor and unceremoniously dumped him on his bed, far too tired to care about his clothing at this point. Despite being deposited so roughly on the bed, Jimin quickly balled himself up, murmured something unintelligible and his entire body went still. Seconds later, light snoring could be heard.
The two of them just stared at the rise and fall of Jimin's body as they caught their breath before Hoseok turned to Jungkook. He was about to speak when Hoseok saw the look on Jungkook's face and decided to stay quiet for a few more seconds. The fond smile on Jungkook's face wasn't something he gave freely to just anybody.
However, as much as this little piece of information was fascinating, Hoseok had a whole speech prepared that he wasn't just about to waste because his two roommates were being cute. Instead, he called Jungkook out with a quiet "we should leave and let him rest" before steering the youngest, face now carefully blank, to the living room where he sat him down on the sofa and took the seat across of him.
Rather than look contrite as he should, Jungkook fully made himself comfortable, going as far as putting his arms on the backrest of the sofa, looking everything like he owned the damn place. Even when Hoseok raised his eyebrow, Jungkook only mimicked the movement, followed by a shrug as if he didn't just come back six hours after the agreed time.
“There really is no respect in this house,” Hoseok thought, somewhat indignantly. Time to rectify that immediately.
"So... what excuse do you have for coming back so late?" Hoseok leaned back as well. Two can play the nonchalance game.
"I have none."
A pause.
Hoseok felt his eyebrows twitch. Forget nonchalance, this boy was asking for it.
"Pardon me, did I hear that correctly? 'I have none'? Jeon Jungkook, after worrying me sick for the past three hours, look, I'm even greying prematurely because of you, is that really the best thing you can come up with?" Hoseok was not going to throttle the boy in front of him, no matter how much he deserved it. He wouldn't.
“You heard right, I have no excuses for being this late. It just happened.” Jungkook shrugged.
Okay maybe just a little throttle.
No no no, he didn't want to go to jail for this, it was not worth it. He’d have to settle with just some silent fuming.
They stared at each other, one look is steady and impassive while the other, not so much.
Finally, as if noticing Hoseok’s inner screaming, Jungkook sighed, looking for all the world like he was the one growing impatient with the conversation. Inner Hoseok screamed louder.
“Okay look, I’m sorry for coming back so late and I know we worried you. I admit, Jimin and I definitely lost track of time which is why I tried leaving as soon as I got your call. Only problem was that Jimin wouldn't budge,” Jungkook explained.
"What do you mean, he wouldn't budge?" Hoseok finally asked after a beat of silence. He was only slightly annoyed at this point. Truthfully, he’d been more worried than angry since the beginning. Given that the worry disappeared as soon as he saw the two of them safe and sound at the front door, it didn’t take long for the anger to quickly disappear as well, halfway through Jungkook’s explanation.
"Exactly as you think. As soon as I got your call, I started hauling him back, telling him that we had to head back. He just refused to move.“
—
"-min! Jimin! Come on, it's getting late, we gotta go." Jungkook grabbed Jimin's wrist and started moving towards the door. What he didn't expect was the resistance brought by Jimin's feet being firmly planted into the ground. Seeing how his companion wouldn't budge and just looked confused, Jungkook leaned in to shout right into Jimin's ear, trying to be heard above the pounding club music.
"We have to go, Hoseok's already calling to get our ass in gear. I don't want to be the one to face his wrath." As soon as he finished explaining, he renewed his efforts of dragging Jimin out through the nearest exit. Some fresh air will help them clear their minds.
"Ehhhh? Where we goin'?" Jimin slurred, finally letting himself be dragged.
Rather than deign the question with an answer, Jungkook simply led them away from the mass of squirming bodies on the dance floor. As they neared the exit where it was considerably less crowded, Jimin suddenly pitched forward with a bright laugh to wrap his arms around the one Jungkook was using to drag him out causing the younger boy to stumble slightly at the sudden push.
Jungkook glanced to his side where Jimin was happily nuzzling his arm before quickly looking away with a silent curse and praying to whatever entity up there to give him the self-control he needed to keep his hands to himself. Jimin was, with a lack of better words, defenseless, and no matter how adorable he looked, face flushed from the numerous shots he did as well as the hours of dancing, Jungkook would not do anything. No matter how much he wanted to fix the mess of pink hair and just card his fingers through it, Jungkook would not do anything. Even if Jimin was clinging into Jungkook's arm like a koala, Jungkook would not do anything. Even if Jimin's lips looked more kissable than usual, Jungkook would not do anything. So rather than test the limits of his self-control, he quickly led them outside, all the while keeping his hands balled into fists at his side to keep them from acting on his unconscious thoughts.
Somewhere, six feet down, Freud was having the time of his life.
As soon as the cool night air hit them, Jungkook took a deep steadying breathe. It was still hot outside but nonetheless cooler than it was inside the club. At his side, Jimin shivered, the sweat on his body already cooling down, and he let out a confused noise.
"Huh? Why're we outside?"
"I told you, we're going home," Jungkook repeated, although not impatiently.
"But-"
—
"Okay... So even if it took you thirty minutes, you managed to coax him out in the end. Still doesn't explain why it took you 3 hours to get back when we live half an hour walk away from the club. It would've maybe taken you one hour tops if you factor in dragging Jimin's unconscious body," Hoseok argued.
"Sure, if it were only Jimin's unconscious body, I would've returned earlier. I just happened to meet some complications on the way."
"Why? Did he want to go back to the club? Was he too drunk? Wait, don't tell me you were almost mugged?" Hoseok asked, alarmed, already looking for signs of injuries on the boy in front of him.
"Nah, nothing like that." Jungkook shook his head, a small smile on his lips. Such a drama queen, Hoseok was. "Jimin didn't want to go back to the club. When I repeated that it was time to go home, he just laughed and wouldn't budge."
—
Halfway home, sweating from the additional body weight at his side, Jungkook huffed and sat Jimin down on the curb, himself leaning against the street light as he gulped in lungful after lungful of oxygen, scarce in the hot humid air.
As his breath quieted and the only thing that could be heard in the empty streets was Jimin's tuneless humming, Jungkook chanced a glance towards his drunk companion. Jimin was swaying from side to side with his eyes closed, his arms carefully tucked near his chest.
"Why are you so opposed to going home? I know you can walk on your own." Jungkook found himself asking, curiosity getting the better of him.
His question was met with a soft laugh and a glance from crinkled eyes.
"Haha, you're funny Jungkookie!"
"I don't see what's funny," he said. He was smiling, he realized all of a sudden. Jimin's happiness was infectious. "It's a legitimate question."
"Well, Jungkookie, you see," Jimin waved his hands about exaggeratedly, as if half the explanation would be in the movements.
"I think that the whole idea of 'home' is just a socially constructed idea y'know? I just think-" A hiccup. " I just think that a home's somewhere you should feel the most 'at home' right?" At Jungkook's amused nod, he continued. "Like somewhere your heart tells you that you belong." Each word was punctuated by a jab towards Jungkook's chest. "So if we followed my definition and we really should because I like mine a lot better than the dictionary one..."
Suddenly, his unfocused gaze whipped to the side to stare at Jungkook for a few seconds before beckoning him closer. Jungkook complied easily enough and suddenly, Jimin was all up in his personal space. Jungkook shivered.
Without a care in the world, Jimin leaned in conspiringly, voice lowered in what he probably assumed was a quiet murmur when in reality, it was much closer to very loud whispering.
"It's silly of you to make me go home."
—
Hoseok was confused. “So... he was so drunk he couldn’t even tell where home was?”
“Not quite. It's just that according to him..." Jungkook trailed off as he glanced towards the direction of Jimin's room. His face softened into the same helpless smile he had on earlier, as if the simple memory of whatever it was, was enough to make his entire being glow with uncontainable fondness.
—
"You're right here, aren't you?"
—
"...he was already there."