Chapter Text
Jungkook and Taehyung had been friends since anyone could remember. They were basically inseparable, even through dreaded teenage years. They didn't know why people found this astonishing. They just enjoyed their company.
For a long time, they had an "Us against the world" mentality. It was just easier to remain close to each other. They were acquainted with other people, of course- but none as close than the other. Until they got. . . Well, Jungkook didn't want to say adopted, but they totally got adopted into a friend group by Namjoon in middle school. They were a year younger than the other people in the group (truthfully not a group, it was only three people at the time) but they fit in just fine. Whether it was a lack of maturity on the older boy's side or an abundance of maturity on the younger boy's side, no one could truthfully tell. Although they were a bit lonely for the last year of middle school, it was nice to have a circle of friends for once. It was nice to be excited for Namjoon when he introduced Kim Seokjin to the group, having found his soulmate. It was nice to sneak away from home too late at night and hang out in empty classrooms or parking lots, getting up to trouble and getting home before they were missed. It was one of those such nights that Taehyung felt his world shift, for no real reason.
They'd snuck out into the woods, something they'd been warned against for a long time. That was only because upperclassmen in the past had been working for a long time on a hangout spot, of course, but you didn't hear about these things until later on in life. The teenagers that had founded the spot had long since graduated, and the secret had kind of died out for a long time, leaving the spot to grow neglected and eerily quiet when Namjoon had stumbled acrost it. He'd dragged the others out to help salvage the spot, leaving it a good place for bonfires and "General tomfoolery- you know, teenage stuff." as Namjoon had proposed. So it became a regular meeting spot, and it only improved steadily as they managed to bring things out into the small clearing. It was a nice piece of forest. Not too many bugs, and if you walked far enough, you reached a river. They tended to swim out there less and less- it was harder to sneak back into a house soaking wet than dry. It was a fairly nice place to bring bikes, though they didn't do that often either. Jungkook was the only one who did it consistently, often bringing Taehyung on the pegs or handlebars to the meeting place. They lived rather close together, so they arrived together anyways. That stopped when Jungkook pulled a particularly sharp corner, throwing Taehyung off the bike arm breaking his arm.
After that, they settled for walking together instead.
"-and then, Jenna decided, "Hey, how about we throw shade at Yoongi for no reason" and I was like "BITCH NOT TODAY" and I may or may not have punched her." Hoseok ended his rant as Taehyung picked at his cast.
"He didn't, he just started yelling at her." Yoongi said, looking up from his phone.
"It was a verbal punch. Just as effective."
"I don't know, you've never felt Jungkook's rage after you steal his food." Taehyung piped up.
"You've never heard Yoongi go off." Namjoon pointed out. "That kid is still searching for a reason to live after the legendary scalping of freshman year."
"Ahhh yes, the legendary scalping." Yoongi pressed his fingers together in front of his face, staring into the sky as he recalled, with fondness, the time he absolutely snapped on a kid during lunch. The kid had deserved it, honestly. He'd been an unchecked douchebag to everyone for too long. Yoongi had actually rehearsed the speech for the entire year, never dreaming of actually bringing it out, but a shitty morning full of bullfuckery and shit-tasticness had left no room in Yoongi's day for Todd's (or whatever his name was) intense lunchroom douchebaggery. Yoongi could recite the entire ten minutes of uninterrupted roasts with receipts down to the last breath and syllable. It was an intense moment in his life, quite possibly the best one.
"I can't believe we missed that." Taehyung pouted.
"It was glorious." Hoseok sighed, a dazed smile as he thought back to the loud cafeteria.
"I should've recorded it." Namjoon added.
"Damn right you should've. You guys are always talking about it and I can't even imagine Yoongi actually going off on some kid in such a grand scale." Jin huffed.
"You can't?" JUngkook asked, disbelief washing over his previously spaced out features.
"Not really. I mean, I can imagine him snapping a one liner- Hell, I've seen him do that a few times- but roasting a kid for ten whole minutes? A bit too far on the extravagant scale for Yoongi."
"I didn't mean for it to get so big, I think people just wanted to hear him get his ass handed to him no matter what ex basketball player looser did it." Yoongi shrugged.
"No no, it wasn't just that." Hoseok sat up from where he'd been slouching in the folding chair he'd stolen from his garage. "That was some Rap God bullshit you pulled. It was captivating. Breath taking. Best film of the year according the game informer and polygon."
"I can recite Rap God." Yoongi mentioned.
"So can I, bitch, you're not special."
"Of course you can, Jungkook. You're good at fucking everything." Taehyung pushed Jungkook in the shoulder with his good arm. Jungkook pushed back.
"We should do a rap battle between you two." Hoseok grinned.
"Nope." Yoongi immediately declined.
"Why not? You scared?" Jungkook asked, a challenging grin on his face.
"Scared I'd school you so fucking hard you'd start crying in front of your boyfriend."
"Hey, Taehyung is not my boyfriend. He's my brofriend. No homo." Jungkook turned and fist bumped Taehyung.
"No homo, bro."
"ALL THE HOMO!" Hoseok exclaimed. Namjoon poked at the fire with his walking stick.
"We get it, Hoseok, you're gay." He replied calmly.
"So are you."
"I know. I never said I wasn't."
"I'm gay too." Jin volunteered.
"You two are boyfriends, Jin."
"I know, isn't it a-GAY-zing?"
"Ohhhhh my god, don't fucking start, I'm begging you." Yoongi groaned, tilting his head back all the way back so that his baseball hat fell to the dead leaves behind his chair. The others, however, were laughing. Taehyung grinned along, the other's laughter too pleasant of a sound not to, but his eyes were caught by the profile Jungkook cast, the orange-yellow light of the fire illuminating his open-mouthed grin as the others bantered in the fake-angry way they tend to do. Taehyung wished he had his camera with him- or maybe that he had a photographic memory and steady hand, so that maybe he could draw the scene in great detail later. For a second, he all but forgot how to breathe, his eyes running over the fine details of his friend's face. That was all he was, a friend, with a soulmate out there somewhere. Taehyung shook his head, looking down to his lap. He must be tired or something.
"Is Tae good, or-"
"TAEHYUNG ARE YOU DYING?"
"He's probably falling asleep, he doesn't stay up often." Jungkook's voice was the one that really brought Tae back to earth as he poked him.
"Fuck off, Kook." Taehyung grumbled, opening his eyes. He'd, apparently, drifted off for a few moments.
"Aww, but I don't wanna." Jungkook pouted, poking him again. Taehyung smacked at his hand.
"Stop that."
"Want me to walk you home?"
"Fuck off, I can walk home all by myself. I just don't want to." Taehyung frowned.
"Still saying, you two should get a room."
"Okay, Yoongi, you get one with Hoseok first."
"I can imagine that, actually."
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM JOON, WHAT THE FUCK?" Yoongi, an outraged look on his face, prompting laughter from the group.
"Yoongi isn't my type. He's too grumpy."
"Oh, yeah, thank Seok. Assface."
"He's only grumpy because he cares."
"Fuck you too, Jin."
"You guys are so loud." Taehyung complained.
"Agreed." Jungkook nodded.
"No, you started it, don't act innocent."
"I am wounded, Tae. You wound me. I thought we had something special." Jungkook sniffed fakely.
"Awww, bae, you know I love you~." Taehyung cooed jokingly.
"Please don't tell me you used the term "Bae" I really don't need a reason to beat the shit out of someone on this fine summer night." Yoongi said, finally retrieving his hat from the dead leaves.
"I sure did." Tae giggled.
"That's it, I don't care if you're crippled anymore. Three a.m. behind the Denny's, bitch, you'd better fucking be there." Yoongi growled.
"Awww, gonna buy me pancakes? So nice. . ."
"I hate you so much."