Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hoseok was not a person who eavesdropped. At all. So he really couldn’t explain why he was hovering outside Taehyung’s dorm-room door, listening to his roommate repeating lines to himself. Maybe it was his drama club president “suck-radar” going off, because he had to say, the kid wasn’t great. He had all the wrong pitch, was emphasising the wrong parts of the script, and he kept stumbling over his words, forcing him to start from scratch. Honestly, it was painful to listen to.

So when he knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a messy-haired freshman, the first words out of his mouth were: “Man, you’re terrible, but don’t worry, I’m here to help.” He shoved his way past the kid, flopping on to Taehyung’s disorganised bed and making himself comfortable. The kid stood in the doorway, face shocked as he watched the elder squirming to find a good position.

“Uh, excuse me, but who are you and why are you in my room ?” Hoseok was surprised that his voice was so deep. It gave him an uncomfortable flutter in his chest. He squashed it down and grinned.

“I’m surprised Taetae has never mentioned me, that brat. I’m Hoseok, junior, drama club president, your hope, your angel.” He placed his hand on his cheek, tilting his head mischievously. The freshman finally closed the door behind him, but didn’t move from where he was standing. “Taehyung has seriously never mentioned me? Jesus. We’ve only been friends for his entire college career.”

“I thought he was a sophomore?”

“Of course he’s a sophomore. But this stud you see in front of you was the unfortunate soul who was slated to give him his college tour on his first day. He and Jiminie, those two rascals, they caused so much trouble for me I nearly got suspended a week into their freshman year.” Hoseok eyed the younger, who still seemed tense. “So, what’s your name kid? And what got you stuck in here with that asshole?”

“I… uh. I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook. Um. They had no rooms left in the freshman dorms so they made me room here. Nobody else wanted me.” Jungkook trailed off, ducking his head.

Hoseok felt a flare of anger and pity. “Don’t worry, Taehyungie is one of the best kids around, he’ll have your back no matter what. And now, so will I."

Jungkook whipped his head up to stare Hoseok in the eye, startled. “But-But you don’t even know me?”

“Don’t care. We’re friends now. So the first thing we’re going to do is work on that script I heard you practicing. Show it to me.”

“Wait, you heard that? Oh god.”

“I’m going to hear it regardless. I’m the drama club president. That means you’ll be auditioning for me .” Hoseok chuckled, interrupted by the sound of his phone beeping. He checked it and groaned. “Sorry, I have to run. Tae has decided that Yoongi-hyung is his next target and the guy is not happy. But you know what? I’m going to help you. We’ll run lines before the audition, I’ll give you some pointers, show you some of my tricks of the trade. As my new youngest dongsaeng, it’s the least I can do.”

Hoseok didn’t stick around to see what Jungkook said. He had a music major to save.

...

The next time Hoseok and Jungkook crossed paths, almost a week had passed. He’d already asked Taehyung about his cute roommate a couple of times, receiving smirks and giggles from him, and then also from Jimin (because of course, Tae wouldn’t be Tae without spilling everyone’s secrets to his partner in crime). Tae had mentioned the younger being super busy with his extra classes (dance, music composition, and theatre on top of a million other classes? Was this kid Superman or something?), so he hadn’t been around the dorms much. Hoseok understood, he himself was in some extracurriculars, which meant a lot of the time he wasn’t around to watch his roommate snuggle with his own boyfriend.

So when he happened to get to the theatre department early to set up for his team meeting and found Jungkook waiting, scuffing his feet and wringing the script in his hands, the surge of excitement he felt shocked even him.

“Jungkookie-ah!” he called, grinning brightly and startling the younger out of his thoughts. Jungkook straightened, running a hand through his dark hair. Hoseok moved into the room, closing the distance between them. “Miss me already?”

Jungkook’s cheeks reddened. “No! I just… wanted to see if you were serious about helping me? With my audition?”

Hoseok watched the younger bite his lips nervously and glance away, as if fearing oncoming rejection. “Aish, Jungkook, of course I was serious. We should schedule some time when you aren’t busy rushing around like a miniature Clark Kent and we can go over your lines.”

“I think I’d rather be a Tony Stark, but yeah, I’d really like that. Thank you, Hoseok-hyung,” Jungkook said gratefully. Hoseok paused for a moment, watching him.

“Taehyung was right, you really are a huge nerd, aren’t you?” he laughed. Jungkook looked indignant at the statement but didn’t deny it. “Now, first things first - you should help me set up for the team meeting, since you’re here already, and you can perhaps sit in on it if you have the time. See how things run in the department, meet a few of the people you’ll become very familiar with if you get a part in one of our productions.”

The younger agreed enthusiastically, and they fell into a rhythm together. Not just in the theatre rooms, but outside - they discovered they had a spare few hours every Tuesday and Friday, and they both had their Sundays completely free, so they developed a habit of running through the script a few times before Jungkook either got tired of the criticism or Hoseok grew weary of trying to teach a stubborn freshman and they both decided to throw on a movie and eat takeout. They spent most of their time chatting away mindlessly until Taehyung came back to the dorm after his late night art class and flopped on to his bed, complaining if they continued to talk after he’d switched his light off.

...

It was three weeks before the official auditions. Hoseok was getting busier and busier each passing day, organising set builds and attempting to place final touches on the scripts they’d all been working on while also doing his best to keep up with his other classes. He was tired, so tired, and it was getting more and more difficult to try to teach Jungkook the right ways to read the script as the days went on. It was a Sunday when Hoseok’s patience reached the end of his limit. Jungkook was reading out the script for the fifth time, desperately trying to pitch where Hoseok told him to pitch, but for some reason, it just didn’t sound right .

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“What, what did I do? Was it okay?”

“To quote Hamlet, Act III, Scene II, Line 92… ‘No’.”

“Don’t pull that Shakespeare crap on me, Hoseok, help me!”

“I would, if your acting skills were worth helping. I’d be better off feeding a sandwich to a dead man for all the good it would do me.”

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed and he flapped the script in Hoseok’s direction. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Hoseok crossed his arms, mimicking Jungkook’s expression. “What it means, kid, is you suck .”

There was a pause in the conversation as Jungkook stared at him before the younger dropped onto the bed, bringing his knees up and burying his face in his script. Hoseok could see his shoulders begin to shake and he moved to take up the seat next to him - not so much touching him, only hoping his presence could possibly be a comfort. And then the thought hit him, that maybe his presence would do the opposite.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by Jungkook murmuring something, so he leaned in and asked him to repeat himself. Jungkook raised his head, showing Hoseok the beginning of tears in his eyes. “I can’t do this. I thought I could do this, I thought I could finally make someone proud and be good at something, at anything , but I can’t. I’m just a disappointment, I’m stupid for even thinking this was a good idea. You were right: I suck.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes. “Jeon Jungkook. Do you even hear yourself? You’re brilliant, you know. You’re so good at everything, it’s actually ridiculous. You have so many friends and you’ve got incredible grades and honestly? I don’t know how you keep up, but I’m proud that you’ve managed to do that as well as be a good person. Just because you’re not perfect at this one thing does not make you a disappointment.”

“You said teaching me was hopeless.”

“I was kidding, Kook. You’re better than I let on, but I don’t like my theatre nerds getting big heads so I like to keep them on their toes. Now, don’t let this feed your ego, but I have a plan, and I can bet my fine ass you’re going to get the lead role if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Fine ass? Really?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow, scoffing.

“Don’t deny it, Jeon. You know the truth.” Hoseok winked, missing the way Jungkook’s cheeks flushed. “Now, enough talk about my ass. Let’s get you that lead role.”

...

“Uhm… hy-hyung? Are you sure this is what you had in mind? I’m not… well. I don’t think this is going to work.”

“Kook-ah, stop being shy and come out here,” Hoseok called. The curtain to the dressing cubicle shifted a little bit and he saw Jungkook’s fingers grasping the edge of it.

“I just don’t exactly feel really comfortable like this. I don’t see where you’re going with it.” Jungkook’s voice shook a little bit, his knuckles whitening where Hoseok could see them. He sighed, rubbing his temple with his fingers.

“Jungkook. You’ll see what I’m talking about if you come out here. I’m dressed and ready. I’m waiting on you, and I don’t exactly have all day. It’s Monday, which means I’m meant to be holding a drama club meeting in an hour. So if you could kindly hurry up , that would be great .”

He heard a shuffle of movement, and then the curtain swung away to reveal the freshman in all his glory. The ruffled dress was tight around his shoulders, low enough to show his collarbones (Hoseok did not drag his eyes along them, he’d deny that), and short enough that he could see the bright red and gold edges of the younger’s briefs poking out the bottom. Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

“Iron Man underwear? I know Tae said you were into it… but I didn’t know you were obsessed.”

Jungkook’s cheeks turned bright red (something Hoseok was beginning to notice happened fairly often… and he enjoyed seeing) as his hands moved to the hem of the dress, attempting to tug it down, only serving to show more of his chest. “Sh-shut up, Hoseokie!”

“Awww, you called me Hoseokie, how cute! My little dongsaeng Jungkookie!” Hoseok cooed, raising his hands to squish the younger’s cheeks only to have his hand slapped away. He laughed brightly. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Let’s get started, shall we?”

The pair strode to the middle of the stage, Jungkook awkwardly adjusting the dress every other step, and picked up the scripts Hoseok had prepared earlier.

“Now, you remember what we’re doing, correct?”

Jungkook grimaced. “Yeah. I’m playing the female lead and you’ll read out the male lead so I can attempt to follow how you do it.”

“No, Jungkook.” Jungkook frowned, face flitting with surprise. “There’s no ‘attempting’ here, I know you can do it, just follow my lead and you’ll be the best by far on that stage. I’m not drama club president as a junior for no reason.”

Jungkook nodded, clearing his throat and beginning to recite the lines of his character. Hoseok watched him, his deep voice resonating through the empty auditorium as he read the lines off perfectly, inflecting where it needed it, making the lines his . He was so immersed that he very nearly missed his cue - that is, until Jungkook turned to look at him with a question in his eyes and he realised he was waiting for Hoseok to speak.

“Is this really what you want? This is the life you wish to lead?” Hoseok said, staring Jungkook down. Jungkook stepped closer, until Hoseok felt the dress brushing against him.

“Is that what you think of me, oppa? That I wish to forget you, remove you from every fiber of my being until you’re nothing but a speck of dust in the galaxy of my thoughts?”

Hoseok lowered his eyes and turned away. “I do.”

He felt Jungkook’s hand on his arm, turning him back to face him. “That is not what I want. That was never what I wanted.”

“Then what do you want, Minseo?”

“Junhyo… I want you.” In that moment, Hoseok didn’t feel like they were in character anymore. Jungkook’s eyes tugged at him, and he nearly leaned in, the warmth of the younger’s breath mingling with his before he remembered where he was and jerked backwards, tearing himself out of Jungkook’s grasp.

“That was… great. Really good. Wonderful job, Kookie. Just… do that in the audition and you should be fine. Yeah. You’ll be great.” He backed away, nodding absentmindedly, missing Jungkook’s eyebrows narrowing at him. “Okay cool, good job, let’s pick it up again tomorrow!”

“Hyung… you said we have an hour!”

Hoseok’s heart hammered in his chest and he was surprised it didn’t echo in the hall. “I have to… go. Yeah. Go. Bye Jungkook!” Without looking back, he totally didn’t run past all the empty seats and out the doors. He kept walking until he found himself in an empty corner of the courtyard and he stopped, using one hand to hold himself up against the wall, the other holding his chest. Oh no.

...

“Hey Tae, is there something wrong with me?”

Tae glanced at Jungkook from his spot on his bed before flipping to the next page in his comic. “You mean apart from your unhealthy obsession with Iron Man and Timberlands? And the fact that you wear like… no colours? Ever? And that you and Jiminie always gang up on me? Or that you constantly kick my ass in Overwatch? Or-”

“Okay, thanks hyung, I get it.” Jungkook waved his hand in dismissal, making Taehyung snort and place his comic down, adjusting the glasses sitting on his face.

“Kookie, I’m kidding. What’s this about? What’s going on?”

Jungkook spared Taehyung a single look, realised he was in ‘therapist’ mode, and immediately backpedaled. “Nothing’s wrong. Hyung, I didn’t mean anything by it, everything is fine.”

“Jungkook.” Goddamn psychology majors! The firm tone in his voice demanded the younger’s attention, making him sigh. “Is this about Hoseokie-hyung?”

“What. No! Hoseok? I don’t know him.” Jungkook busied himself with his suddenly very fascinating composition notebook. The bed dipped as his friend slid into the space next to him, wrapping an arm around Jungkook’s middle and resting his cheek on his forearm, looking up into his face. “Hyung, it’s nothing.”

“Kook. I know something’s going on. You’re good at hiding your emotions, I know, but Hoseok is not. People can see something’s happened with him from a mile away. And as far as I’m aware, none of the rest of us did anything, and you two have been getting closer, so… tell me what happened.”

His resolve melted away and his teeth worried at his bottom lip. “I think… I like him?”

“No shit!” Taehyung laughed, making the younger smack the back of his head.

“No, I mean… romantically. And I almost kissed him the other day and it’s been really awkward since? He’s barely spoken to me and he made up an excuse to get out of our usual practice on Tuesday and is there something so wrong with me that he wouldn’t want to kiss me?”

He felt Taehyung shift, and suddenly the older was in front of him on his knees, his hands holding Jungkook’s shoulders and forcing him to look up in surprise.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. And you know what? Hoseok likes you too. You’re both so stupidly into each other that it’s kind of vomit-inducing. Everyone else can see it, and honestly, they’re all going to be shocked that neither of you has made a move yet. So make a damn move and help me win the bet I have on you doing it first!”

“ You what? ”

“We have a bet on you. But let’s move past that, you should make a move. The auditions are in a couple of weeks, right? We’re going to get you the lead role and your man.”

“Please don’t call him that.”

“Too late, Jungkookie! I’m calling Jiminie!”

Jungkook’s hands swiped at nothing but air as Tae danced off the bed and out of reach. He put his head in his hands, groaning. What have I gotten myself into now?

...

Fifteen days passed by - fifteen days in which Jungkook and Hoseok barely saw one another, Hoseok giving out the flimsiest of excuses but Jungkook still couldn’t say no, fifteen days in which Tae and Jimin spent their time whispering with their heads together but outright refused to let the younger in on what they were planning, fifteen days of pure frustration. Jungkook kept himself busy with classes. He spent most of his free time either in the library working on compositions, the dance studios practicing routines, or in his dorm room, reciting lines to himself (although he had to admit, it didn’t feel right without Hoseok).

Fifteen days passed until he was in the auditorium again, hiding in the very back seats as the drama club set up the stage, listening to Taehyung and Jimin’s plan and wringing his hands.

“It won’t work! I haven’t practiced anything! It would have been way easier if you’d just told me two weeks ago so I could work on it!” Jungkook was protesting in a harsh whisper, the beginnings of a fluttering panic starting up in his chest. Jimin placed a soft hand on his shoulder, his thumb rubbing comfortingly.

“Kookie, that’s the point. We all know how you get with reciting lines. But you said it yourself, you’re better if you haven’t practiced. So just go up there… and do it. You’ll be okay, trust us. And if you aren’t… well. We’ll be back here, and we can go get icecream or go to the gym or whatever it is you like to do.”

Jimin’s soothing voice calmed his nerves the slightest bit, allowing determination to poke its head through and take hold of him. He gritted his teeth and nodded. “Okay.”

The older two grinned in tandem, eyes shining. Tae placed a hand on the shoulder Jimin wasn’t holding. “Go get your man, Kooks. You got this.”

Jungkook grimaced at Taehyung. “God, stop calling him that.”

“Never. Off you go!” With a mischievous smirk, Tae shoved him out of his seat, making him stumble into the aisle. He strode all the way to the stage before he glanced back at his friends, seeing them give him two encouraging thumbs up each, and then he cleared his throat, catching the attention of the crowd of people in front of him.

“Hi! I’m Jeon Jungkook, I’m here for the audition?” he said, managing to speak without stammering, despite all the thundering his heart was doing in his chest. Someone tall and lanky stepped out of the crowd with a welcoming smile. He recognised Park Chanyeol, drama club’s vice-president, from the few meetings he’d sat in on.

“Hey Jungkookie! You seem to be first here, and we’ve almost finished setting up, so you can go ahead and jump on the stage if you’d like? Give us a few minutes and we’ll get ready for you. Do you have your script with you?”

Jungkook glanced around, seeing all the eyes on him, and swallowed hard. “A-actually, I was wondering… could I maybe perform something… of my own? I’ve been finding the script a little difficult to read under pressure and I think I could perform better with something original.”

Chanyeol raised a single eyebrow. “Let me consult the others, but I don’t see why not? It’ll be something new.” Jungkook nodded, and Chanyeol turned. That’s when he caught sight of Hoseok’s puzzled face before the other students blocked his field of vision. I hope Tae and Jimin are right… or I’m going to strangle myself with the damn curtains.

“You’re good to go, Jungkook!” Chanyeol called out. The younger nodded, and made his way to the stage as the remaining students cleared off, settling themselves into the front few rows of the auditorium. Chanyeol, Hoseok, and another student Jungkook vaguely remembered from meetings took up prime positions right in the centre, eyes on him. He tried to read Hoseok’s face, but for the first time since they’d met, he couldn’t figure out what the older was thinking.

The lights beat down on his face, making his brow sweat. But he just closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and started what he came to do. When he opened his eyes, they locked with Hoseok, who was staring straight at him, like he was trying to open up his soul.

“I kinda need a partner for this, if that’s okay?” The three leaders nodded. “Okay, great. Hoseokie-hyung, can you come give me a hand?”

Shock, panic, and something Jungkook couldn’t identify flitted across the elder’s face. Chanyeol quietly cackled in his seat, slapping Hoseok’s shoulder in a way that made Jungkook think he may be in on the plan (something that may or may not have been confirmed with a ‘sneakily’ shared glance between Chanyeol and Jimin). Hoseok reluctantly left his seat, shuffling through the crowd and heading for the stage. Jungkook felt fine until he was standing right in front of him, watching him with something akin to wariness.

“Just… stand there, I’ll speak, and you just be… there.” Hoseok nodded in affirmation, his eyes conveying confusion. Jungkook steadied himself before he grabbed Hoseok’s hand, palm to palm, and looked into his eyes. “Hyung. When we first met, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment. You, the bright and bubbly and cool drama club president, listening to me, nerdy, awkward freshman, awfully tearing apart the script you guys worked so hard on. And you barged right into the dorm room and told me we were now friends. You have no idea how much I panicked once you left!”

“Jungkook-”

The younger was quick to place his free hand over Hoseok’s mouth, making him whimper in surprise. “We spent weeks agonising over the script. I honestly thought I was going to screw it up, and that in the end you’d get tired of me and you’d give up. But you stayed. You stuck by my side and helped me and told me I was better than I made myself out to be and you told me I was good enough. Did you know I was going to kiss you that day? On this stage, standing right where we are now, I was ready to kiss you, and that scared me because it made me realise how much I wanted you, and then when you ran away… I realised that of course you didn’t want me, you always said I was good enough but I never really was.”

Hoseok fought his way out from under Jungkook’s hand, wrangling the two of them until he held both of Jungkook’s arms in his own hands, looking into his eyes, his own blazing with anger.

“Don’t you ever say that again, Jungkook. You’ve always been good enough. I ran away because I was terrified of what it meant. It meant that I’d spent years pushing away everyone but I’d let you in, this bumbling freshman kid who couldn’t inflect a script for the life of him, and honestly… it made me angry with myself, for letting that happen. I’ve spent two weeks wanting to go back to that day and do it right.”

Jungkook and Hoseok seemed to have forgotten where they were amidst their revelations, because a loud “just kiss already” startled them from their reverie. They both turned and saw Tae and Jimin sitting next to Chanyeol, the three of them looking like cats who ate the canary. Jungkook looked over at Hoseok, and almost laughed out loud at the redness of his face.

“I’m not the one blushing this time, hyung,” he teased. Hoseok turned to him and rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, brat,” he muttered, before tugging Jungkook into his arms and finally, finally , kissing him.