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“Hey babe, look at this!”
“Taehyung, I don’t need to see another picture or video of Yeontan, okay, I get it, he’s really cute and soft and stuff, but I need to prepare for this art history test.” Jungkook lazily flips through his textbook, casually studying the images before him and twisting his highlighter in one hand.
Taehyung sighs and sinks further down into his cushioned chair on the other side of the living room. “Okay first of all, you’re his second dad, you should always be excited for pictures or videos of your child. Secondly, that was not what I was going to show you.”
Jungkook just hums a little under his breath and reads more about Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948. Taehyung tended to get excited about the littlest things and Jungkook found that the best thing to do is to stay quiet and let him get it all out at once so all the enthusiasm doesn’t stay bottled up inside. “What is it then love?”
Taehyung leaps up out of his chair with all his endless energy and plops down right next to Jungkook on the couch. Jungkook is hardly affected by the sudden invasion of personal space and simply adjusts so that he can more comfortably accommodate his boyfriend leaning onto his side. Taehyung has his arms wrapped around Jungkook’s own, excitement radiating off of him in waves and Jungkook has no choice but to look up from his studies to meet his boyfriend’s expectant gaze.
“How do you feel about horses?”
Jungkook is momentarily confused; as far as he knew, Taehyung was supposed to be studying for his Calc III test, not looking at any sort of equine animals, but after dating Taehyung for a couple of months, he’s come to accept sudden changes in conversation like this. Taehyung’s brain just works a bit faster than everyone else’s and he can handle thinking about multiple topics at once. It takes Jungkook a second or two to catch up to him sometimes, but he’s slowly learning how Taehyung’s mind works with each passing day.
“Um, I think they’re fine animals? That one horse from Tangled is really cool I guess.”
Taehyung claps his hands together and his eyes light up like the sun. “Maximus? Oh I love him, did you know that he’s probably a Hanoverian? Well I mean, it’s never been like, confirmed or anything, but because of where the story takes place and how he looks and stuff, that’s what people say he is.”
“A Hano-what?”
“But anyways! My knowledge of Disney movies is not what I wanted to discuss. Do you want to learn how to ride a horse?”
Jungkook is honestly still stuck on how Taehyung knows so much about an animated horse, but he lets it go for now, on account of the fact that Taehyung is staring at him with sparks of eagerness scattered throughout his irises, and Jungkook knows that he could never deny his boyfriend anything. “Yeah sure, that sounds like fun.”
Taehyung squeals and gives Jungkook a peck on the cheek before grabbing his phone off of the coffee table. “Great, because I found these coupons from an ad on Instagram for a couple’s session on learning how to horseback ride. Twenty dollars off, what a deal!”
“That is a very good deal, could buy like twenty things off of the McDonald’s dollar menu with that.”
“Your body is a temple Jungkook, don’t feed it that trash.”
“You just downed two burrito supremes and three soft tacos from Taco Bell though?”
“Um, they were ‘fresco style’ so they were totes low-cal.”
Jungkook just scrunches his face up and sighs, turning back to his textbook. “So when would we go horseback riding then?”
“The coupon is only good for this weekend, so I guess we could go Saturday? Your test is on Friday right?”
“Yeah, three more days and then I won’t have to think about abstract expressionism ever again. I honestly don’t get any of these paintings, modern art is not my forte.”
Taehyung pats him on the back consolingly. “You’ll do great Kook! And then you’ll do great at horseback riding!”
Jungkook looks at his boyfriend and he’s smiling so brightly Jungkook can’t help but to press a quick smooch to his lips, and then his nose, and then his cheeks and eyebrows, and every little space in between. Taehyung falls back onto the couch with a giggle, and Jungkook follows, continuing his onslaught of kisses.
“Jungkook stop, I can’t breathe!”
“S’okay, I can perform mouth to mouth,” Jungkook says with a smirk, and Taehyung whacks him on the shoulder and rolls his eyes, but his lips are fighting a smile. Jungkook kisses him one more time on the mouth, then sits up, grabbing Taehyung’s hand along the way to pull him up with him. Taehyung’s hair is a little mussed, so Jungkook runs his fingers through the light brown strands in an attempt to flatten them down. Taehyung closes his eyes and hums, practically melting into a puddle right before Jungkook’s eyes.
They stay there for a bit, textbooks and study guides forgotten on the coffee table, but Jungkook could care less about de Kooning’s women and Rothko’s rectangles, not when he has a real masterpiece already sitting next to him on the couch.
It’s a slow night at the yogurt shop. Jungkook is at his corner table finishing up some sketches and Taehyung and Namjoon are sitting on opposite sides of the cashier counter trying to see who can inflict more pain on their opponent by flicking them with M&M’s. So far, Jungkook has heard the biggest yelp of agony from Namjoon, but he thinks that’s just because Namjoon is a softie with the world’s lowest pain tolerance. There’s no way his boyfriend’s stick arms could’ve hit a piece of candy hard enough to have Namjoon yell so loud he disrupted the pigeons outside.
“Jungkook, didn’t you say Yoongi was going to come by so you guys could go grocery shopping together?” Taehyung asks, taking a break from his game with Namjoon, who is currently cradling his wrist that had just been struck by a particularly painful M&M.
“Oh yeah, he is, but he had a review session today with his professors so who knows how long that’ll take. He’ll also probably be in a pissy mood when he gets here, since they’ll probably tear apart his designs so just like, be ready for that.”
Taehyung hums and turns back to Namjoon, who has recovered by now and is ready to exact his revenge. “That boy is always such a sourpuss, he needs a little more sweetness in his life. Speaking of sweetness though, how are things going with him and Jimin? I miss that tiny little angel.”
“Um, don’t let Jimin catch you saying that he’s tiny,” Jungkook tells him. “But things are going surprisingly well. I’ve never seen hyung this happy in my life.”
“Of course things are going well,” Namjoon says, lining up his next shot for Taehyung’s right elbow. “Yoongi hyung is so soft for Jimin, he’d do anything for him. One time they came into the shop after a date and Jimin hurt his tooth on a frozen Reese’s Cup and Yoongi was about ready to sue us. There was actual murderous intent in his eyes, I swear.”
Jungkook just nods sagely, knowing full well that that is totally something Yoongi would do. He himself had witnessed a similar occurrence when he had accidentally opened up the door to their apartment a little too harshly and almost hit Jimin’s head with it, who had been kneeling in the foyer putting his shoes on.
The bell above the entrance to the shop chimes, and everyone takes a collective breath and braces themselves for a tornado of poison-laced words and deadly glares and side-eyes.
Only to be greeted instead with a gummy smile and rosy cheeks.
“Hello my fine young friends, how are you all doing on this wonderful evening?” Yoongi says, gracefully settling into the chair at Jungkook’s table.
Jungkook’s mouth is open in shock and confusion, and only manages to speak after a full twenty seconds of staring. “Um, we’re fine hyung, how are you doing? How was your review?”
Yoongi turns to Jungkook and claps his hands together, face lighting up with delight. “Fantastic! My professors really liked the work I’ve done so far and I don’t have to redo a whole lot of it. Unlike that know-it-all Daniel who has to redo half of his designs and rewrite his report.” Yoongi leans back in his chair and places his hands behind his head. “My horoscope was right, today was a day of good fortune and happiness.”
Taehyung speaks up from his spot by the counter, a bit of hope leaking into his voice. “So you would say that you’re in a good mood today then hyung?”
“Sure am,” Yoongi says, a grin spreading across his face and eyes closing in bliss. “I feel like I could do anything.”
“Could you do a double date with me and Jungkook?”
Yoongi’s eyes open a bit at this, and he squints at Taehyung from across the shop. “Me and Jimin? With you and Jungkook?”
Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Well obviously with Jimin, yes. Unless you’ve gone off and gotten yourself a new boyfriend. Which I can’t imaging happening with how whipped you are for Jimin’s ass.”
“Don’t talk about my boyfriend’s ass.”
Taehyung continues on as if he didn’t even hear Yoongi’s retort. “It’ll be a lot of fun, I promise. I’ve missed that sweet soft cherub, and it’s very rude of you not to share, I want a turn to play with Jiminie too!” Taehyung pouts, lower lip jutting out and entire body slumping down in an attempt to look pitiful.
“Is he always like this?” Yoongi asks his roommate, and Jungkook just shrugs and responds with a small very much so, yes but his expression says that he doesn’t mind one little bit.
Yoongi sighs, turning back to Taehyung whose pathetic expression hasn’t changed in the slightest. “What sort of date will this be?”
“It’s a secret!” Taehyung exclaims, hands slapping together suddenly and startling everyone in the shop. “Well, Kook already knows, but that’s because he’s special.” Taehyung giggles and his eyes flit to Jungkook, who blushes deeply under his boyfriend’s gaze and mutters a small Tae, stop, while shrinking further into his chair.
Yoongi pretends to gag, and rolls his eyes. “Whatever, I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Jimin and I haven’t gotten a chance to do anything together in a while anyways, since I’ve been super busy with all these mid-semester reviews.”
Taehyung practically lights up like a firework and knocks his chair over as he bounds over to Yoongi to pull him into a very tight embrace that Yoongi looks like he’d much rather not be a part of. “That’s awesome hyung! Oh we are just going to have so much fun together, I know it!”
Yoongi pats Taehyung’s head awkwardly and just says, “I’m sure we will Tae.”
“I changed my mind, this is no fun at all,” Yoongi says from the backseat. Taehyung had somehow convinced Namjoon to let them borrow his car so he could drive the rest of them out to the horse ranch, and Yoongi’s mood had definitely dropped since the day he had agreed to the double date, even more so once Taehyung had announced where they were headed.
Jimin reaches across to pat Yoongi’s thigh gently. “Don’t be a killjoy Yoongi, I think this’ll be an enjoyable distraction from school work for all of us.”
“You only say that because you’ve actually ridden a horse before.” Yoongi gives Jimin a stony stare before returning his gaze to the window and crossing his arms stubbornly across his chest.
Jimin laughs, bright and bubbly; he’s used to his boyfriend’s sometimes sour attitude, and seems to make up for it by being even more high-spirited than normal. “Yes silly, and I know how enjoyable it can be.”
Yoongi just huffs and curls himself further into the door. Jungkook takes the opportunity to voice his support for his boyfriend’s idea. “I think it’ll be great to try and learn something new together. And it’ll be nice to be out in the clean, open air for a while.”
“I like the air inside my studio, thank you very much. It’s clean enough,” Yoongi responds.
“It’s constantly full of fumes from that industrial glue you guys use to put your models together. I wouldn’t consider that clean,” Jimin says. “I don’t think it’s even healthy for you guys to be trapped in there 24/7.”
“Excuse you, I am perfectly healthy and - ” Yoongi starts, but Jimin throws a look his way that tells him not to argue the point any further. “ - and I’m sure that getting some fresh air will make me even healthier.”
Jimin smiles, and Jungkook can see him in the rearview mirror lean over to peck Yoongi on the cheek before exclaiming, “That’s the spirit!”
Yoongi grumbles something indistinct under his breath and settles down a bit, obviously placated for the time being by Jimin’s kiss. Jungkook looks over to his own boyfriend sitting in the driver’s seat. Taehyung keeps getting distracted by all of the different signs and billboards lining the road, and Jungkook has to bring him back to his senses with a gentle touch to the arm before they veer too far out of their lane.
“Taehyung, when’s the last time you drove a vehicle?” Yoongi says after about the fifth sudden swerve of the car.
“December!” Taehyung replies cheerfully. Jungkook didn’t think that was too bad; it was only March after all, so that was merely three months without driving. “... of 2015.”
Jungkook hangs his head down and squeezes his eyes shut, grimacing at the fact that it wasn’t just a three month break from driving, it was a three year break, and Taehyung currently had his life and the lives of two of his best friends in his extremely unsteady and easily distracted hands.
Yoongi is positively affronted, and chokes out an indignant “December of 2015??” while making sure that his seatbelt is securely fastened, as well as Jimin’s.
Jimin is unaffected, smiling until his eyes nearly close, and says, “I think Taehyung here has done a wonderful job thus far and we should all trust his abilities.”
Taehyung beams and sits up straighter. “Thank you Jimin! I will make sure to get us there safely, no worries fam, I will not let these coupons go to waste!” He nods and focuses his eyes forward, but it isn’t long until his attention is diverted and he shouts out, “Ooh look cows! Kookie aren’t those little calves the cutest!”
“Yeah Tae, super cute, but maybe we should look straight ahead when we’re driving,” Jungkook says, eyes darting from his boyfriend next to him, to Yoongi’s panicking expression in the backseat, and then to Jimin’s calm smile directed out the window.
“Right you are Kook!” Taehyung exclaims, tightening his grip on the wheel. “Safety first, safety second, cool cows third.”
Eventually they get themselves to the horse ranch all in one piece, after a couple near misses with cars traveling in the opposite direction, and a few more exclamations about various random animals from Taehyung.
They’re greeted by a man dressed like an actual real cowboy, ten gallon hat, boot spurs and all, who introduces himself to them as Rich Stone. Taehyung leans closer to Jungkook and whispers in his ear, “Do you think that’s his real name?”
Jungkook shrugs as Rich leads them to the stables so that they can pick out their horses. Taehyung almost immediately gravitates towards a pearly-coated Palomino and his face brightens as he starts to stroke the horse’s mane.
Rich seems to approve of his choice. “Ah, good ole’ Sugarbolt, she’s a real sweetie that horse. Really good for beginners too, you’ll like her.”
“I think I already love her,” Taehyung says, staring into the horse’s eyes.
Jungkook finds himself walking towards a dapple gray horse in the stall across from Sugarbolt’s. The horse seems a little shy at first, awkwardly shifting from hoof to hoof, but seems to calm down as Jungkook offers out an apple Rich had handed him.
“Kalypso is a good horse too,” Rich tells him. “He’s a little shy right now because he’s relatively new to our ranch, but his last owners said he’s very gentle and that he just needs a little time to get used to people.”
Jungkook smiles and nods, turning back to where Jimin and Yoongi are still lingering in the middle of the barn. “Do we need to ask them if they have mini horses here for you Yoongi?” Jungkook snickers, never one to give up on an opportunity to make fun of his roommate.
Yoongi shoots him a death glare with narrow eyes and pursed lips. “No thank you, do we need to ask them for little kid stirrups for you, since you’re such a baby?”
Jungkook scowls and turns back to gently petting Kalypso. “Don’t be mean hyung.”
“You started it,” Yoongi says, sticking his tongue out at his roommate behind his back.
Jimin steps in before things can escalate. “Alright children, let’s stop this nonsense so we can get to learning okay? Yoongi, find a horse please.”
Yoongi huffs, but turns to survey the remaining horses in the corral. He side-steps over to the horse in the stall to his immediate left, probably because it’s the closest. “I choose this one.”
The horse whinnies quietly, and Rich saunters over, running a brush along the horse’s back to calm it down. “Cleo here is a bit sensitive, so you’ll have to be patient with her. She’s a lovely horse, but can sometimes get spooked really easily, just be really calm around her.”
Yoongi bites his lower lip, but nods, and takes the brush from Rich when he offers it over.
Jimin meanwhile has already placed a saddle on a chestnut colored horse at the end of the barn, which apparently comes as a surprise to Rich, who warily tells Jimin that the horse, Firebolt, can be particularly feisty and a bit difficult to work with. Jimin just shrugs and when Yoongi asks him later why he stuck with the horse even after Rich had warned him about it, he just tells him, “It’s got the same name as the broom in Harry Potter, hyung, I had to ride him.”
After all of the boys had gotten helmets to protect their noggins and were given a quick safety talk from Rich, they’re led out into a small fenced in area to practice the basics of horseback riding. There, they met Rich’s friend Ryder Meadows (“Jungkook, these names can’t be real,”) and then they split off into two groups for more personal instruction.
Jungkook and Taehyung head to one side with Ryder, who tells them about the basic commands they may need to know and how to handle the reins properly. Jungkook catches on quickly, like he does with most things, and he’s almost annoyingly good at it, according to Yoongi, who shouts at him from the other side while he’s atop his own wary-looking horse.
“Stop showing off!”
Jungkook just laughs and turns his attention to Taehyung, who must be some kind of horse whisperer or something, since he’s leaning forward and murmuring encouragements in Sugarbolt’s ear and slipping her more than one carrot, which has her whinnying happily. Jungkook also thinks Taehyung looks particularly adorable with his little helmet sitting crookedly on his head. Then again, Jungkook always thinks that Taehyung looks adorable, but seeing him interact with the horses have just upped the cuteness factor tenfold.
Over on the other side of the field, Rich seems wary about helping Jimin settle into the saddle on Firebolt’s back, since he’s so tiny and the horse could easily toss Jimin off if he really wanted to, but Jimin is calm and composed and is soon riding circles around everyone else, back straight and confident, bright smile and round cheeks on full display. Yoongi is surprised he hasn’t already turned into pudding and slid off his own horse by now; after all, there’s only so much of Jimin’s cuteness his heart can handle.
Rich claps his hands together, clearly impressed by Jimin. “Wow, you ride really well!”
“It’s not just horses he can ride really well,” Yoongi mutters under his breath, and Jimin hears him as he trots on by, shooting him a glare and mouthing the word behave , before thanking Rich for his kind compliment.
Yoongi meanwhile is still struggling to figure out how to hold the reins in his clammy hands. He’s nervous to say the least, and Cleo must sense that because she’s snorting out hot air and shaking her head while stomping her hoofs repeatedly. Rich gives Yoongi some advice, to relax and to not let the horse feel his anxiety, but it’s hard for Yoongi, who’s never just sat on a real living animal before, and he doesn’t quite know what to do with his body. He’s just trying to not make a fool of himself in front of Jimin again, not after their disaster of a first date when he tried to dance.
Eventually, Yoongi gets Cleo to walk forward a few steps, and even succeeds in getting her to turn in the direction he wants, and stopping when he pulls on the reins gently. Rich must think that that’s good enough to consider Yoongi to have mastered horseback riding because he quickly announces that they’re all going to go on a real ride to the bluffs overlooking the beach and honestly, Yoongi is not ready. But he tries his hardest to seem excited for it because Jimin’s smile is practically splitting his face in half he’s so excited and Yoongi never wants to be the reason that smile disappears.
They start off their ride through the woods surrounding the ranch, Ryder leading them and Rich bringing up the rear, all of them navigating their horses on a well-worn path surrounded by patches of wildflowers and bumbling bees, tall overarching branches shadowing them from the warm sun above. Yoongi honestly really enjoys nature, as much as he tries to deny it in hopes that he can avoid going outside and exercising (now that, he does hate). It’s just that it’s so different from what he studies in school, where everything is about buildings, buildings, buildings, and man-made materials that try to mimic nature but rarely succeed. Yoongi likes nature because it lets him get out of head for a while, let go of the worries about his thesis that are looming over his thoughts like dark clouds. He feels at peace for the first time in a while, and he’s not sure if it’s because of the clean air, or because Jimin keeps looking back at Yoongi every so often with a smile so soft Yoongi doesn’t even realize he’s riding an unpredictable horse anymore.
After about twenty minutes or so of riding in the woods, the trees start to thin out and they find themselves atop a cliff looking out over a never-ending ocean, waves crashing gently on the shore and the sharp tang of salt water heavy in the air.
They pause to take pictures and to really soak it all in; it’s not often that the four of them get to really experience something like this. They’re all so involved in their independent studies that they never really get the chance to get out of their academic bubbles, stuck on their college campus. Yoongi sneaks a few snapshots of Jimin when he’s not looking, side profile illuminated by the sun, making him look even more golden and lovely than usual.
Jungkook and Taehyung are also taking various selfies, taking turns pecking each other on the cheek and pressing down on the shutter button. They take a break so that Taehyung can skim through the shots they’ve taken so far, and that’s when it happens.
Yoongi is busy being entranced by Jimin, who’s leaning down to whisper something in Firebolt’s ear, when suddenly, the chorus of Red Flavor by Red Velvet blasts through the silence and peace, disrupting everyone from their individual reveries.
Including poor Cleo, who is so spooked by the sudden disturbance that she bolts down the bluff, Yoongi still riding along on top of her, hands scrambling to grab ahold of the reins that are whipping along in the wind fiercely. He’d dropped his phone when Cleo had abruptly taken off, but he doesn’t really have time to think about that when he’s currently struggling to calm down both himself and his runaway horse. He tries to remember the things that Rich had told him during their training, to remain calm and to stay composed, except his heart is beating so loudly in his ears he can’t even hear his own thoughts.
The bluff isn’t that steep, or that high up above the shore, but it’s enough to make Yoongi panic and think about how dangerous of a situation he’s in, and he can feel his old anxiety clawing its way back up his throat. He honestly feels like he’s about to pass out, but suddenly, he hears hooves stampeding down the bluff behind him, and, very faintly, the sound of Jimin’s voice calling his name. Yoongi tries to turn his head to look for his boyfriend, but the motion makes him even more unsteady in his saddle, and he quickly focuses his attention on trying not to fall off.
Cleo somehow makes it all the way down to the beach below, and the wet sand slows her down a little bit, enough to allow Jimin and Firebolt to catch up to them.
“Pull on the reins Yoongi!” Jimin shouts, but it’s hard to hear him over the rush of the wind blowing past Yoongi’s ears, and the sound of the pounding waves. Yoongi just looks at Jimin with wide eyes, all the blood drained from his face and he shakes his head in confusion.
Jimin decides to just take the initiative, reaching over to grab the reins in his hand, pulling them harshly to the right at the same time he tugs on the reins of his own horse. They turn around together in a circle while Cleo calms down, Jimin calling out strong ‘Ho there!’ s every so often. Yoongi is slumped forward in his saddle, breath coming out in short pants, eyes unfocused and glazed.
Once the horses have stopped completely, Jimin jumps off of Firebolt and makes his way quickly to Yoongi’s side, helping him down from the saddle so that he can sit on the ground.
“Hey, Yoongi baby, look at me? You’re okay, you’re okay, we just had a little scare, that’s all, everything’s okay now.”
But Yoongi can’t seem to focus on anything, he hears Jimin’s words but they don’t register in his brain, and his eyes are looking past Jimin, drifting between the waves and the clouds.
Jimin takes one of Yoongi’s hands in his, massaging circles into the skin, trying to get Yoongi’s heartbeat to slow down. Jimin’s other hand goes to Yoongi’s forehead, where he pushes Yoongi’s hair back and rubs his cheek with his thumb. “Come back to me baby, I need you to breathe. You’re here with me okay? You’re safe here with me. You’re having a panic attack, but it’s okay, you can get through it, we’ll get through it.”
Jimin places Yoongi’s trembling hands against his sternum, getting him to feel the movement of his breaths going in and out of his chest, encouraging Yoongi to breathe with him slowly. Eventually, Yoongi’s breathing regulates, and his eyes slide over to connect with Jimin’s, but his mouth is still gaping open like a fish and his tongue is dry like sandpaper.
“Hey baby, there you are,” Jimin says tenderly.
“Ji-Jimin, I - “ Yoongi starts, but Jimin laces their fingers together and presses a soft kiss on Yoongi’s knuckles.
“Take your time baby, take all the time you need.”
They sit there a little while longer, long enough for the rest of the party to pull up next to them, although thankfully, all of them recognize what’s going on and try to maintain their distance. Jimin continues to help Yoongi calm down, getting him to ground himself in reality instead of in his anxious thoughts.
Once Yoongi feels okay again, he nods at Jimin, who helps pull him up to his feet, and they walk over to the others hand in hand.
Yoongi clears his throat awkwardly, embarrassed that so many people had to see him like that, especially when he hasn’t had a panic attack in years , but he’s only met with gentle smiles and kind eyes. Taehyung looks especially guilty.
“I’m sorry hyung, I was trying to open up my picture gallery and I accidentally opened up my music app instead, it’s my fault.”
Yoongi grimaces, but relents, knowing that it was just an accident and Taehyung didn’t mean to do it. “It’s okay Tae, everything’s fine now.”
Taehyung continues to pout, but Jimin smiles at him and tells him that it’s really okay, that they’re all moving on and there’s nothing to worry about.
They slowly make their way back to the ranch. Yoongi doesn’t dare get back onto Cleo again, opting instead to walk beside Jimin who’s leading Firebolt by the reins. They don’t say much and Yoongi is glad; he doesn’t really want to talk about what happened, just wants to walk quietly in Jimin’s presence for as long as he can.
When they get back to the stables, Rich and Ryder both apologize profusely for the behavior of their horse, offering them a coupon for a free session, which Yoongi graciously declines. He doesn’t think he’ll be getting back on a horse any time soon.
The four of them pile back into Namjoon’s car, a bit of an awkward silence settling in the air, until Yoongi says, “I can practically hear you guys feeling sorry for me, I’m okay, really. Can we just go get some food or something? I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
And Jimin laughs heartily, telling Yoongi to have more decorum, to have some sort of decency, and just like that, everything is right again. Taehyung snorts from the driver’s seat and Jungkook just rolls his eyes at how absurd his roommate is.
“I know a cool cereal cafe, where you can get whatever kind of cereal you want. They even have the discontinued brands, like Oreo-O’s and French Toast Crunch,” Taehyung offers. “And yes, they do have almond milk for you Kook.”
So they make their way to the Cereal Killer Cafe, where Yoongi gets a bowl of Lucky Charms and purposely avoids all of the horseshoes, which makes Jimin giggle so hard he drops his spoon multiple times and has to keep going back to the counter to get a new one. Taehyung spoon feeds Jungkook, and almost scoops up some cereal from his own bowl before realizing that his Apple Jacks are drowning in whole milk and not almond milk.
After they’re done eating, Taehyung drops Yoongi and Jimin off at Jimin’s apartment, before heading back to his own apartment with Jungkook.
Yoongi takes Jimin’s hand once their inside and their shoes are off, leading him over to the couch in the living room so they can spoon on the couch and cuddle.
“Thanks for today,” Yoongi mumbles into the back of Jimin’s neck.
“It was Taehyung’s idea, you should be thanking him,” Jimin says, stroking Yoongi’s arm where it’s wrapped around his waist.
Yoongi huffs and burrows his face deeper into Jimin’s soft sweater. “No, not for the date, I meant thanks for… for what you did when… when…”
He stops, not really wanting to address what happened, but knowing that he should. That he should tell Jimin that stuff like that doesn’t normally happen, that he’s not normally that unstable.
But Jimin, of course, is an angel, and Yoongi seems to have forgotten that in his panic. “I’ll always be there for you hyung, no matter what. It’s okay that you have panic attacks like that sometimes. It doesn’t make you seem weak or anything to me at all. You’re okay.”
“I just thought that I was over it by now, that I was able to control myself. I worked so hard for so long to be able to control my emotions and thoughts, to not let them get the better of me, to not be overwhelmed. I mean, you saw how I never got scared in that corn maze where we met, I don’t get scared. I shouldn’t get scared.”
Jimin rolls over so that he can look Yoongi in the eyes. “Hyung, it’s okay to be scared sometimes. You were in a dangerous situation and your reaction made sense. Trying to get a hold of a runaway horse is a lot different than dealing with scary clowns that pop out at you in a cheesy corn maze where there’s no real danger. Please don’t beat yourself up over this.”
Yoongi exhales, wanting to protest, but knows that Jimin would never let him win. “Okay Jiminie,” he says, closing his eyes and bringing Jimin even closer to his chest. “I believe you.”
Jimin presses a kiss to the underside of Yoongi’s jaw. “Good.”
They’re disrupted by the opening of the apartment’s front door, Hoseok barging in and whirling himself around like a hurricane before he sees them and starts complaining about how their love is gross and he doesn’t need his pure eyes defiled like this. Jimin yells back that he knows the type of porn that Hoseok has saved on his laptop, there’s nothing pure about him, to which Hoseok sputters incoherent nonsense in response, and then stomps back to his bedroom and shutting the door loudly behind him.
Yoongi laughs and his heart feels free, safe and loved, and suddenly, he’s very glad that he agreed to go on that stupid double date that day in the yogurt shop.