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It's 2010 (just barely, just for a few minutes longer), and it's good not to be alone for the New Year, in this dingy and intimidating dorm.
When Hoseok tries to say thank you, Yoongi winces and cuts him off.
"I was planning on coming back early anyway," he says gruffly, in a way Hoseok is already starting to be suspicious of, after only a few days' acquaintance. He shoves the chicken closer to Hoseok without looking, and says, "Come on, eat up, okay?"
Hoseok looks at him, maybe longer than he should, and thinks: if I were a girl, I'd probably be falling for him.
It's 2012 and Yoongi gives Hoseok a blowjob after dance practice, after all the other boys are already gone. Hoseok doesn't tell Yoongi it's his first, but he thinks Yoongi probably knows anyway.
They don't talk about it after, and it doesn't happen again. It doesn't change anything between them, not really, Hoseok doesn't think. They don't need to talk about it, when they're both on the same page, when they both know exactly how hard they're working, how tired they are, how much is on the line, how much they rely on each other--
The only thing that's different is that once in a while, on the rare occasion that he's got both privacy and energy at the same time, Hoseok will replay it in his mind again. That, and occasionally when he looks at Yoongi, he'll think if--. But he always cuts himself off again before the thought can go any further.
It's 2014 and sometimes Hoseok thinks the lines between all of them are starting to blur. Maybe he'll wake up one morning and he'll be Seokjin instead, or he and Jungkook and Jimin will have melded into one super-dancer. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night with someone else in his bed, and it doesn't faze him; he just rolls over, tucks in close, and falls back asleep.
They're all in each other's space all the time. There's no distance between anyone, constant skinship. Sometimes Namjoon looks over at Hoseok and Yoongi like he thinks he knows something, but Hoseok doesn't know why. Hoseok's affectionate with everybody, climbs over Jimin and Taehyung all the time, cuddles with Jungkook. He loves all of them.
He and Yoongi hold hands, they hug, they play dumb games to make each other laugh. Sometimes when the anxiety, the stress, the everything, starts to build up too much, Hoseok will come and sit and rest his head on Yoongi's shoulder, and--it'll calm things, somehow. He'll sit there and close his eyes and breathe and listen to the quiet sounds of Yoongi playing on his phone or working on his laptop and he'll feel better.
Whatever Namjoon might think any of that means, Hoseok has no idea.
It's 2016 and they're so busy, moving and moving and moving, not a second to stop to breathe. Yoongi releases his mixtape, this fiery intense vulnerable slice of himself set free into the world, and it's as if he breathes easier afterwards, straightens up like a weight's been removed. Hoseok practices the dance for his intro over and over and over again, practices until he collapses, just to get it perfect--and if it's not perfect, if he can never be perfect, it's good, he's proud. A new album, another comeback, a world tour next year--
It's a lot already. It's even more when Yoongi pauses one night, when they're snuggled together on the couch, gives Hoseok a long and searching look, and leans over to kiss him.
Everything always goes so fast, but the kiss feels like it slows time down again. Slow motion, something sweet and stretchy. It doesn't feel like a surprise. It feels easy, feels right, feels comfortable. Feels like Yoongi being the same steady rock he's been from the beginning, that unshakeable central point, friend and brother and more, more, more.
Oh, Hoseok thinks, how long have I wanted this without realizing it?
When the kiss ends he asks Yoongi the same thing, but Yoongi only snorts and says, "Probably about as long as I have."
It's 2018 and all Hoseok can do is giggle as Yoongi continues on his apparent mission to press kisses over every square centimeter of Hoseok's face.
"Stop moving," Yoongi murmurs against Hoseok's forehead, "you're making this difficult," but it only makes Hoseok laugh harder, and squeeze Yoongi's shoulders. "Come on, Seokseok, let me congratulate you properly."
Hoseok rolls them over, until Yoongi's the one on his back and Hoseok's above him, pushing him down into the bed. Hoseok can kiss him then, no joking around, simple and easy.
"I feel congratulated," Hoseok says, slipping his hand into Yoongi's and twining their fingers together.
"Your standards are too low," Yoongi says.
"Well, I love you, so they must be pretty high," Hoseok says, and when Yoongi scrunches up his face, all Hoseok can think is happy, happy, happy.