Work Text:
Jungkook is going to kill Taehyung.
It’s decided, it’s set in fucking stone, Kim Taehyung will die a slow and painful death and absolutely nothing will save him, no Deus ex machina, nothing.
“See you tomorrow!” Hoseok, his new coworker— no, scratch that, his new partner, because apparently he just got employed at some sort of a cult— waves to him as he tries to sneak out of the cafe.
Jungkook pauses, sends him a smile and a nod, and walks out, exhaling loudly when he’s on the other side of the door.
To be completely fair, his first day at his new work wasn’t all that bad. It started out nicely enough, with his trainer, Hoseok, ceremoniously handing him a bag with Starbucks’ logo, filled with things he would need in the next few days. (Jungkook wasn’t one hundred percent sure because checking felt rude, but he was almost positive one of those things was a bottle of vodka. Which, very nice.) Hoseok showed him around the store, explaining how everything worked and what his duties would be, and it was going pretty well until Jungkook let it slip that he was actually thinking of applying to the store not even one bus stop away. Hoseok stopped walking so suddenly Jungkook nearly bumped into him, and turned around to stare at him with wide eyes.
“Galaxy? Please tell me you don’t mean them.”
“Why?”
“Even mentioning them here is… is legit forbidden,” Hoseok whispered, looking so serious Jungkook felt something cold run down his spine.
“But… we belong to the same company, right?” he asked, blinking slowly. “So we should be, like… friends?”
Hoseok’s eyes went even wider.
“Shh!” he lurched forward, slapping his hand over Jungkook’s mouth. “If Yoongi hears you—“
“Hears what?” came a deep, quiet voice that Jungkook knew belonged to, as his luck would have it, no one but Yoongi, their manager, himself.
“Nothing!” Hoseok yelped, moving his hand away but still begging Jungkook with his eyes to stay silent. “Nothing,” he added, twirling around to face Yoongi, who appeared next to them seemingly out of thin air. “I was just telling Kookie over here about how great our store is.”
“Is this about Galaxy? Because there’s one thing you should know about them, Jungkook.” Yoongi leaned closer, scanning him with the most suspicious expression Jungkook had ever seen on another human being. “They’re the enemy.”
“Uhh…” is all Jungkook managed to get out before Hoseok laughed, a little manically, and grabbed his wrist.
“Let’s go, I’ll explain to you later!” Hoseok said, pulling on his wrist until Jungkook allowed himself to be hauled away. “Phew, that was a close call,” he sighed, peeking over the corner to see if Yoongi was following them. Which apparently was a thing one should worry about here. “You’d be taking out trash for the rest of the month if he heard you.”
This was the moment the first hunch about Taehyung’s imminent demise appeared on the periphery of Jungkook’s mind. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally choked out a simple:
“What.”
“It’s, uh, kinda complicated,” Hoseok started, scratching the back of his neck. “but basically Galaxy is our nemesis. I know, I know,” he rushed to add, seeing the look on Jungkook’s face. “But we’ve been going at it since they opened, they took away some of our customers and we always get compared to them so there was some tension there, but with time it turned into a…” he waved his hand. “archrivals type of thing.”
“Oh, um… okay,” Jungkook said slowly. “It’s just… my friend works there.”
Hoseok cringed, his face scrunching up in a scowl.
“Oh shit. Maybe don’t tell Yoongi that,” he said, like there was a possibility Jungkook might entertain that idea after seeing his reaction earlier. “Out of curiosity, who’s your friend?”
“Kim Taehyung.”
“Oh.” Hoseok nodded, stayed silent for a heartbeat and then did such a spectacular double take Jungkook almost yelped. “Oh fuck, definitely don’t tell Yoongi. He hates that guy’s guts.”
It took Jungkook a good moment to connect those words to Taehyung, his best friend of many, many years and the most widely liked person he’s ever met. Then again, as his best friend, Jungkook knew that Taehyung could be a menace whenever he pleased so maybe this shouldn’t come as such a surprise to him.
“Tae never really mentioned Yoongi,” he said, drawing his eyebrows together, trying to remember everything Taehyung has ever told him about the other store. “he just said Zodiac has the shittiest, most annoying manager he’s ever— oh, wait.”
“Yup,” Hoseok said with a half sour, half amused smile. “Yoongi got promoted like two months ago.”
And that, in short, was why Kim Taehyung had to die. All Jungkook wanted when he asked him about applying for a job was to maybe give him some pointers but no, Taehyung had to go and get him employed at a different store. To be perfectly fair, it wasn’t completely Taehyung’s fault, the interviewer told Jungkook they could assign him to other stores if needed, but Taehyung did not prepare him for that. In any case, Taehyung’s fate is sealed.
Then again, he deserves to at least know why he’s going to die, Jungkook decides, taking out his phone to send him a text.
You: better get started on your will
Taehyung’s answer comes just seconds later. Jungkook knows he’s at home today and he was probably waiting to hear how his first day at work went, and realizing that softens his cold heart a bit. But just a bit.
Tae: omg what happened D:
You: oh nothing
You: just
You: guess which store im gonna be working at
You: here’s a hint: they hate you
You: and by proximity ig they might hate me too
Tae:..... fuck
Tae: i’m so sorry, i had no idea they were looking for new people :((((
Jungkook sighs, slipping his backpack off his shoulder to rummage through it in search for his headphones. His fingers close around the fabric of the bag he got from Hoseok and then his knuckles bump against something solid, something made out of glass.
He zips the backpack and sends Taehyung another text.
You: there’s a chance you might be forgiven
You: if u go and buy tonic and limes
Tae: already on it!! <3
Jungkook smiles at the screen before shoving his phone back into his pocket. Maybe he’s overreacting, maybe this whole rivalry thing is blown out of proportion. Maybe everything will be just fine.
It took him one evening to realize just how wrong he was.
He’s been working at Zodiac for a week now and he’s been so focused on learning how to steam milk, memorize the recipes, and how to tame rude customers that he had no time to focus on the tug-of-war between his store and Taehyung’s. He was getting along with his partners pretty well, which came as a huge surprise to the shy part of his personality, but he guessed it had to do with how open and friendly everyone was. They all made him feel welcome, even if a few of them had a very special ways of showing it (especially Seokjin, who challenged Jungkook to a fight to the death over doing the dishes. It turned out that what he meant by that was a round of rock, paper, scissors and when Jungkook won, he made sure to stay after his shift and sit at the bar for a few hours, shooting pieces of the wrapper through his straw at Jungkook whenever he had him in his range). So yeah, maybe some of his new colleagues had unconventional ideas about befriending people but still Jungkook was so grateful that he decided to roll with it and invited Hoseok and Seokjin, the two coworkers he had a Friday closing shift with, out for a few drinks.
They took him to a local bar, a tiny but cozy looking place, and rained questions upon him as soon as they all sat down with their beers in one of the booths.
“So,” Hoseok started, taking a sip of his beer and leaning back in his seat. “How’s the barista life treating you so far, huh?”
Jungkook wasn’t sure if it was the combination of the anxiety of hanging out with them outside work for the first time or the exhaustion after a long, busy shift, but the alcohol went to his head in no time and before he knew it, he found himself telling them the entire story of how he decided to apply for a job and how he accidently got employed at the one store he wasn’t supposed to. Both Hoseok and Seokjin found it extremely hilarious and Jungkook couldn’t really blame them for that, even if thinking about Yoongi discovering his ties to Taehyung made him break out in cold sweat. Hoseok noticed the look of pure panic on his face, though, and he clicked his tongue, telling Jungkook the relationship between the two wasn’t always this strained.
“It’s only gotten truly crazy when Taehyung took over. He’s great at what he does, especially seeing as he’s not even certified yet,” he said, looking at Seokjin for confirmation and getting a nod in return. “and I think Yoongi is a little jealous, but don’t tell him that.”
“Is this really that serious?” Jungkook asked with a flicker of hope that went out as soon as Seokjin opened his mouth.
“Oh, you have no idea,” he chuckled, tapping his fingers against the bottle. “One time they called to ask if they could borrow a partner for some event or something, and Yoongi listened to their whole speech, said, and I quote; tough luck, fuckers and hung up the phone.”
“But they got their revenge,” Hoseok added quickly. “See, the stuff for promotional products is available to order in limited quantities, so that often means we have to move it from one store to the other when one runs out. So in retaliation, Taehyung ordered the whole stock of pumpkin spice sauce and Yoongi had to beg him to borrow some once we ran out.”
Jungkook groaned, barely stopping himself from slamming his forehead against the table.
“I just wanted to make some extra money,” he whined, hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t sign up for some weirdly misplaced Slytherin versus Gryffindor AU.”
Seokjin and Hoseok cooed at him, comfortingly patting his shoulders.
“Well, besides the archenemies thing the job itself is pretty great!” Hoseok said, sounding almost apologetic.
“And the rivalry is kinda fun,” Seokjin added with a nod. “As long as it doesn’t get too far. We all just go along with it for tradition’s sake.”
Jungkook only grunted in response, still covering his face with his hands. He had a sinking feeling that tradition would do nothing but bite him in the ass.
It was only a week later when his prophecy came true.
Both he and Taehyung had closing shifts but Taehyung’s started half an hour earlier so Jungkook, being the great friend that he was, walked him to his store and stayed a little to meet his coworkers and chat. Taehyung let him even take a new drink that they weren’t supposed to make until the next week and the baristas were so nice and friendly that Jungkook almost started regretting not waiting until Taehyung’s store had an opening. He forgot all about it when he walked into his store and was greeted by Jimin, another coworker he got along with, throwing his arms around his neck and squeezing the breath out of him. He liked his store, even if he was still a little terrified of Yoongi and even if sometimes his shifts were so busy he barely remembered his own name. Sometimes it got so bad he needed to squint at the name tag on the locker for a few moments before it dawned on him it belonged to him.
“Newbie!” Jimin exclaimed, still on the verge of suffocating him. “Missed you!”
“Missed you too,” Jungkook croaked out and Jimin, finally satisfied, let go of him.
Jungkook coughed a few times, waving back at Hoseok, who was grinning at him from behind the register with his free hand. He took a sip to clear his throat and turned around, almost walking right into Yoongi. Yoongi had a habit of appearing behind Jungkook at the worst possible times so he should be used to that by that point, but seeing him appear out of thin air like a demon that just got summoned from hell still startled Jungkook every single time. He choked on his drink, nearly spilling it all over himself, but Yoongi, unfazed as ever, simply waited until he stopped coughing to nod at the cup in his hand.
“What is that?”
“Oh, I dropped by to see my—“ Jungkook started but then changed his mind mid sentence when he saw Yoongi squinting at the cup. “actually, you know what, I’m almost late for my shift.”
“No, hang on. I recognize that handwriting,” Yoongi announced, pointing an accusatory finger at Jungkook’s latte. “Jeon Jungkook, have you been fraternizing with the enemy?”
For a brief second Jungkook entertained the idea of asking Jimin to finish him off but in the end decided against it, taking a deep breath and looking Yoongi right in the eyes.
“Okay, listen,” he began. “Taehyung’s my friend, he actually told me about this job, I mean he wasn’t expecting me to work specifically here, but—“
Yoongi interrupted him, raising his hand. “No, that’s fine.”
For a few seconds Jungkook simply stared at him with his mouth open, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
“What? Really?”
“Yes.” Yoongi nodded and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “You can be my mole.”
Jungkook could faintly hear Hoseok groan “Oh, Jesus Christ” somewhere to their right but Yoongi ignored him, so all that was left for him to do is to say:
“Um… sure?”
Yoongi clasped his hands together, and there was a twinkle in his eye that made Jungkook think about fiery pits of hell again.
“Okay, so you know what Coffee Fridays are, right?”
Jungkook nodded. It was one of the very first things he’s learned. Every Friday each store in the city would hold special coffee tastings and seminars to encourage the customers to buy packaged coffee and show them new ways of preparing it to inspire and help them switch something up. At the beginning of each week, their supervisors would send a mass email outlining exactly how much coffee everyone sold and, as Hoseok explained to him during his first Coffee Friday, it was all fun and games until the management got involved.
“Galaxy’s results are much better than ours, and they won’t tell anyone how they get them. I need you,” Yoongi said, poking Jungkook’s chest to drive the point home. “to find out their secret.”
Jungkook considered this for a second and he’s so, so tempted to tell Yoongi to give it a rest, but then he remembered that Yoongi was looking for broadly defined volunteers who’d stay after hours to do some deep cleaning and his loyalty vanished in a blink of an eye.
“Yeah, of course, sure, no problem!” he agreed quickly.
He spent most of his shift wondering how he should approach this subject with Taehyung but because he got home without a solid plan, he decided to simply go for it. He waited until Taehyung cuddled up to him on the couch and made sure to pet Taehyung’s hair for a reasonable amount of time before bringing up the mission Yoongi has given him.
He was expecting Taehyung to snort, maybe roll his eyes, but Taehyung got heated. It was never easy to get under his skin so Jungkook got a little taken aback, staring in silence as Taehyung jumped to his feet and started circling the room, huffing under his breath.
“What a goddamn goblin!” he hissed, finally stopping in front of the couch and glaring at Jungkook like it was all his fault. “I can’t believe he’d do this! Actually, no, you know what,” he said when Jungkook opened his mouth to reply. “I completely believe it, him trying to steal our ideas— that is just so him, you know?“
“Tae,” Jungkook began slowly, taking Taehyung’s hand in his and squeezing it. “Please, I just don’t want to clean the bathrooms for the next year. Please?”
He sent him his best pout, knowing just how weak Taehyung was for that, and sure enough, Taehyung’s angry frown turned softer.
“Ugh, fine,” he sighed, allowing Jungkook to drag him back onto the couch. “You can tell him…” he trailed off, staring into distance. Jungkook knew this look, it was Kim Taehyung’s signature I’m about to bullshit my way through this so watch closely look, and he braced himself for whatever ridiculous thing Taehyung was about to spew.
Taehyung took a deep breath and put his hands on Jungkook’s shoulders, steering him so that they faced each other.
“We rinse our machines into the cups,” he announced.
Jungkook groaned, shoving his hands away. “You’re just making fun of me!”
Taehyung gasped like the mere suggestion that he might be lying was offensive to him. “Am not!” he said, slapping his hand over his heart. “I’m one hundred percent serious! Obviously we don’t dump a bunch of chemicals into our coffee, but just a touch makes the flavor richer, more intense!”
Jungkook scoffed, getting off the couch and marching into his room, waving dismissively when Taehyung called after him. He didn’t believe a single word that came out of his best friend’s mouth, but he still relayed the message to Yoongi the next day. All he earned in return was a long, blank and horrifyingly silent stare but at least Yoongi dropped the idea of making Jungkook his secret agent, which Jungkook was more than grateful for.
For a while Jungkook found himself between a rock and a hard place. Even if Yoongi no longer required his (subpar, if he had to be honest) services to try and take his rival down, he still kept wary of Jungkook, almost as if he was suspecting he might be a double agent. Taehyung, on the other hand, swore not to complain about Jungkook’s supervisor, which meant that narrowed his eyes and made faces whenever Jungkook started talking about work. He had to maneuver and choose his words very carefully not to bring either of them up, which wasn’t exactly easy to do.
And then, a few weeks into the impasse, the impossible happened.
It was an ordinary evening and Jungkook was lying sprawled across his couch, with his head in Taehyung’s lap. Some action movie was playing on their TV but since Jungkook had already seen it countless times (Taehyung loved rewatching his favorite comfort movies over and over again and frankly, there were only so many times Jungkook could pay attention to Die Hard 3), he was scrolling through his Facebook, looking at the photos Jimin insisted everyone added to their group chat. He wanted to print them out and hang them on the lockers, because, according to him, that was way more fun than simple name tags. A message from Yoongi popped up and Jungkook chuckled under his breath when Yoongi’s face appeared on his screen. He had no idea Taehyung was peeking at his phone until he stirred beneath him and asked in a strangely flat voice:
“Wait, so that’s him? Yoongi?”
Jungkook craned his neck to glance up at him. Taehyung was studying Yoongi’s selfie with such gravity he wasn’t even blinking. “What, you’ve never seen him?”
“No, I started my training like two months ago so I haven’t been invited to any management stuff.” Taehyung snatched Jungkook’s phone out of his hand and zoomed in on Yoongi’s face. “This is very, very interesting. The plot thickens, one might say.”
Jungkook scrunched up his nose. “But you work, like, across the street from each other.”
Taehyung finally unglued his eyes from the screen to look down at Jungkook with a cheeky smile.
“Yeah, but if we need something from each other we just send errands boys like you.”
Jungkook growled, seizing his phone back and shoving it into his pocket. Taehyung ruffled his hair playfully and wiggled from under him, jumping to his feet.
“Anyway, I have a very important date in the morning so I’m gonna go catch up on my beauty sleep!” he announced, stretching his arms over his head. “See ya!”
Jungkook hummed in response and fished his phone out of his pocket to open the group chat again. Taehyung disappeared in his bedroom and by the time Jungkook woke up a few hours later, he was already gone. It took Jungkook by surprise because Taehyung’s refusal to become a morning person was so advanced he even made sure to only take afternoon classes and shifts, but he used this rare opportunity of being alone at the apartment to do a quick workout before taking a shower and heading to work.
The store was already crowded and he could see his friends struggling to keep up with the orders so he snuck up upstairs and quickly changed into his uniform. The moment he closed his locker, the door creaked open and Hoseok’s head popped up in the gap.
“One of the enemies came over,” he whispered like he was telling Jungkook something so secret sharing it might get him killed. “Your buddy. He has a follow up meeting with Yoongi and they haven’t left the office since…” he looks at his watch. “Whoa, since seven. That was three hours ago.”
Jungkook blinked at him, surprised by this revelation. He knew that Taehyung’s certification date was getting nearer and that he had to meet up with a few managers who were already officially certified before that, but surely Taehyung would mention if he was supposed to have one of those meetings in Jungkook’s store and with Yoongi of all people. Hoseok must have got something mixed up. “That’s, uh… great, I guess, but I still have to take my float.”
“Oh right.” Hoseok’s head disappeared and then he swung the door open. “Here, come with me.”
They maneuvered their way around the crowds over to the tiny room that doubled as the office and part of their storage, but when they got there, Hoseok stopped suddenly, staring at the closed door. Jungkook climbed onto his tiptoes, wondering if he forgot the code and was trying to remember it, but then Hoseok glanced at him over his shoulder.
“I can’t hear them,” he whispered. “Can you?”
Jungkook frowned, instinctively holding his breath. He could hear customers talking at their tables and the sounds of cars honking out on the street, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hear a single thing coming from the office.
“I don’t think so.”
Hoseok hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin with his fingers and squinting at the door.
“How attached to Taehyung are you?” he asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s quiet. Deadly quiet,” he said with emphasis. “So I’m asking in case they murdered each other and we’re about to stumble upon their lifeless bodies.”
Jungkook considered this for a second.
“If they killed each other, would that mean we’d get the rest of the day off?”
Hoseok beamed at him.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he announced and quickly entered the code, pushing the door open with his shoulder. He jumped into the room like he was expecting to really see dead bodies lying on the floor but Taehyung and Yoongi didn’t seem to be anywhere close to killing each other. Quite the contrary, Taehyung was sitting at the desk and Yoongi was pointing at something on the screen, standing so close to him that for a brief second Jungkook thought he was hugging him from behind.
Yoongi straightened up but not fast enough for Hoseok to miss how his face was inches away from Taehyung’s ear, and for a moment they stared at each other in a way that made it obvious to Jungkook there was some telepathic discussion going on between them. Jungkook coughed loudly and awkwardly waved at Taehyung.
“Hi, dude.”
“Kookie!” Taehyung’s face lit up and he swiveled the chair around to look at him. “How are you? Slept well?”
“I had no idea you were working today,” Jungkook said, his eyes moving between his friend and Yoongi, who was still locked in a silent debate with Hoseok and whose face was getting more and more red with every second.
“We literally talked about this last night.”
“No,” Jungkook said slowly. “You said you had an important date, which is why you needed your beauty sleep— Oh,” he finished awkwardly when Taehyung started frantically waving his hands behind Yoongi’s back.
“Come on, Tae,” Yoongi finally growled, grabbing his laptop and nodding at the door. “Let’s go somewhere where we won’t be disturbed.”
Taehyung sent Jungkook a cheerful grin and followed Yoongi outside. Hoseok simply stood there like a statue, staring at the closed door until Jungkook cleared his throat, bringing him back to reality. Without a single word, he spun around and opened the safe to hand Jungkook his float, and even as he waited for him to count it, the look of mistrust wouldn’t leave his face. Jungkook could almost hear the cogs turning in his head, but bringing up whatever it was they just saw was the very last thing he wanted to do. Especially when he had an inkling no one, not even Yoongi himself, noticed the pet name.
He didn’t say anything either when he walked into the kitchen the next morning to find a bunch of homemade cookies stuffed into his lunchbox with a note share with your friends! :) attached to the top. He simply took the cookies with him to work and followed Taehyung’s instructions, feeling a little confused and very amused.
“That’s so Romeo and Juliet of him,” Hoseok sighed dreamily when Jungkook pushed the cookies him towards him. “Star crossed lovers, working in rival stores and yet. And yet! Finding ways to support each other.”
“Wait, you and Taehyung are together?” Yoongi asked with his hand frozen above the lunchbox.
“What?” Jungkook drew his eyebrows together and shook his head. “No, he’s my friend.”
“Oh, yeah, okay.” Yoongi said, reaching into the lunchbox. He picked up a cookie and brought it up to his face, looking at it with narrow eyes as if he was expecting that Taehyung laced it with poison.
“ Yeah, okay?” Jimin echoed his words back at him. “Yoongi, I don’t recognize you!”
“Yeah,” Hoseok piped up, squinting at Yoongi suspiciously. “And why are you so interested in Taehyung’s love life all of sudden?”
Yoongi huffed loudly but there was a hint of pink on his cheeks that wasn’t there just moments before. “I’m not, shut up.”
“Yeah, sure you’re not.” Hoseok rolled his eyes.
Yoongi ignored him, grumbling something under his breath, and then took a look around. Finally his gaze landed on the pastry case and Jungkook could swear a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes. He raised his finger and pointed at the case so quickly he almost poked Seokjin‘s shoulder.
“You ran out of espresso brownies, go get some fresh ones.”
And without another word, he turned on his heel and power walked away, only slightly below running speed.
Ever since then, Yoongi began to avoid the topic of Jungkook’s roommate like the plague. He still complained about Galaxy and their ways of running things, but somehow Taehyung’s name no longer left his mouth as often as previously, and especially not surrounded by colorful if slightly aggressive adjectives. Jungkook didn’t comment on it, even if he did notice that when he and Taehyung were at home and the conversations turned to Yoongi (which happened more and more often), the look on Taehyung’s face was much softer than the usual fury that the mention of Jungkook’s supervisor usually brought out. His coworkers showed signs of noticing the changes too, if one of the conversations Jungkook overheard was anything to go by.
(“Do you think he’s sick?” Hoseok asked, scratching his chin and watching Yoongi from the other side of the bar.
Jimin hummed, glancing at their manager over Hoseok’s shoulder.
“Or maybe the tension and stress finally caught up to him and he’s gonna go American Psycho on our asses?” he offered, lowering his voice to a whisper.
Seokjin shook his head. “No, I’m genuinely concerned. He hasn’t talked shit about Galaxy in, like, two weeks. I actually marked it in my calendar. It doesn’t feel right.”)
Everything culminated on one Friday morning, only a few days before Taehyung’s certification. Jungkook barely managed to get past the batwing door and behind the bar, when the sight of his coworkers huddled together in a corner and whispering to each other left him with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He quickly tied his apron and walked over to them, listening to their hushed conversation.
“This is… this is like seeing the sun set in east with my own two eyes,” Jimin said, the tone of his voice bordering on pure astonishment. “I think he’s smiling.”
“Holy fuck,” Seokjin whistled. “this is incredible.”
“What’s going on?” Jungkook asked, for a second redirecting their attention to himself.
Hoseok grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer, nodding at the table slightly hidden from their view by one of the coffee machines. “Taehyung came over for his last follow up and… well, look for yourself,” he finished with a sweeping, theatrical gesture. Jungkook leaned on the bar, bending himself in half to catch a glimpse of whatever was going on at the table. All he could see was Taehyung and Yoongi sitting next to each other and talking, stacks of papers and notes laid down in front of them.
He leaned back and turned to his coworkers, who were staring at him expectantly, waiting to hear his opinion.
“Huh.” he said, raising one of his shoulders in a half shrug.
Seokjin snorted. “Really, that’s all you have to say?”
“Well, I mean,” Jungkook gave him another shrug. “Were you expecting him to knock Tae’s teeth out?”
Seokjin bit his lip, contemplating those words but Jimin took Jungkook’s side.
“You’re right, he’s been strangely docile around Taehyung lately.”
“If this is a part of some long game he’s got going on, I’m gonna quit, I’m serious,” Seokjin snapped, throwing his hands up into the air.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jungkook saw Taehyung and Yoongi walk to the front door. Taehyung was holding his papers and notebooks in his arm and he was still immersed in conversation with Yoongi, who was carrying what Jungkook recognized to be Taehyung’s backpack.
“Wait, this is. This is fucking weird,” Hoseok said, watching as Yoongi helped Taehyung stuff his things into the backpack.
“I know, right?” Seokjin sighed heavily. “It feels like I woke up in the wrong timeline.”
Jimin gasped suddenly, grabbing Seokjin’s arm.
“Guys, guys!” he hissed, pointing his finger in the direction of the front door.
Taehyung and Yoongi were no longer talking, they were hugging. Taehyung’s arms were wrapped tightly around Yoongi’s neck, his face was hidden from Jungkook’s view but at least he had a front seat to the flurry of emotions that passed through Yoongi’s face as he, slightly shyly, put his hands on Taehyung’s hips.
Jungkook had no idea how long they were watching them and the utter silence behind the bar was so absolute that when Seokjin clapped his hands together, Jungkook nearly jumped out of his skin.
“That’s it, kids, pack your bags,” Seokjin said in a booming voice. “Everyone go home, the simulation is beyond repair.”
By the time Jungkook gets to the store, the party is already in full swing.
The first hint about the party came to him only a week ago, in form of a six pack of beer stuffed haphazardly into one of the fridges that nearly knocked him out when he went to grab his lunch. He knew that his coworkers’ attitude towards alcohol at work was… lax, to say the least, but a six pack seemed like too much, so he asked Hoseok about it the first chance he got. That’s how he learned that each year, the company’s Christmas party was hosted by a different store and this year was their turn. Officially, it was supposed to be nothing more than a civilized get together, but Hoseok informed him that once the higher ups were gone, things would get much more intense. He, Jimin and Seokjin spent the last few days raving about how great those parties were and how crazy they could get, so he arrives at the cafe with his heart filled with hope and excitement.
There are some people he doesn’t know smoking outside near the door and they nod at him in greeting when he unlocks the door and slips inside, shaking the snow out of his hair. He hears Hoseok’s laughter and the muffled sounds of music and conversations coming from upstairs so he heads up there, shrugging off his coat and throwing it onto the pile on one of the armchairs.
He freezes at the top of the stairs. The entire floor is so crowded that it takes him aback and even though he barely recognizes anyone, somehow that doesn’t make him anxious. He climbs onto his tiptoes, craning his neck, and spots Hoseok, Jimin and Seokjin sitting at the other end of the room, next to one of the tables that were pushed together to make more space. He pushes his way over to them, apologizing to the strangers he bumps into, and flops down onto one of the chairs.
“Kookie!” Hoseok yells, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer. His face is already flushed and Jungkook laughs to himself when he notices the empty glasses and bottles in front of him. “You made it!”
“Sure did.” Jungkook grins, waving back at Seokjin and Jimin.
“Before you make yourself comfortable, we have a mission for you,” Seokjin says and nods at the storage room. “Go fetch us some raspberry syrup, this beer is undrinkable without it.”
“Why me?” Jungkook whines, already getting off his chair. “And don’t you think Yoongi won’t like it?”
“Ah.” Seokjin rolls his eyes. “He’s been missing since the beginning of the party so what the eyes don’t see…”
“Plus,” Jimin pipes up, reaching up to pinch Jungkook’s cheek. “You’re still the newbie, you have to listen to us.”
Jungkook shakes his head with a groan, but he obediently walks over to the storage room, again mumbling his apologies at the strangers in his way. He opens the door and steps inside, blindly patting the wall to his right in search of the light switch. He grumbles under his breath and groans when he finally finds the switch and the light blinds him for a fraction of a second.
He immediately starts wishing it blinded him for longer.
Taehyung and Yoongi jump apart like they suddenly got burned, but there’s no mistaking the way Taehyung’s hair is sticking up in a few places and how Yoongi’s shirt, missing a few buttons, is practically slipping off his shoulder. Jungkook’s eyes slowly move over their flushed and equally horrified faces, the red marks on Yoongi’s neck and Taehyung’s unbuckled belt.
“If you need me,” he speaks up in a weak voice, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. “I’ll be outside, getting drunk.”
He scurries out of the room and slams the door closed behind him, marching back to the table and snatching Hoseok’s drink out of his hand.
“Hey!” Hoseok protests, watching with a frown as Jungkook throws back his drink and then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I was gonna drink that.”
“Trust me, I needed it more than you.”
“Did you at least get the raspberry syrup?” Seokjin asks, pouting at his beer.
“Nope,” Jungkook answers, reaching for his glass, but Seokjin simply swats his hand away and moves the beer out of his reach. “But I solved the mystery of Yoongi’s whereabouts, so at least there’s that.”
He hears the unmistakable sound of the storage room’s door creaking open and braces himself with a deep breath. Sure enough, a few seconds later he feels a tapping on his shoulder and when he turns around, he sees Yoongi standing behind him and avoiding his eyes with fierce determination, his face beetroot red.
“Can I, uh, talk to you for a second?” he mumbles and Jungkook can’t help but to grin so wide his cheeks start to hurt. He allows Yoongi to lead him away from their friends and raises his eyebrows when Yoongi finally musters up the courage to look directly at him.
“If you tell anyone about this—” he starts but Jungkook interrupts him, waving his hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ll kill me. Now get back there, Tae looks like he could use some more kisses.” he says, nodding in the direction of the storage room. Taehyung is standing in front of the door, bouncing on his heels, looking like innocence personified. Even when his eyes meet Jungkook’s, he doesn’t even have the decency to blush, he simply breaks into a bashful smile. Jungkook notices that his t-shirt is inside out but decides not to comment.
Yoongi rubs his arm, pretending he doesn’t see who Jungkook is looking at. “Okay, well,” he says, shuffling his feet. “Anyway. Yeah. Never mind.”
He takes a step back but then Jungkook stops him, a question suddenly popping into his mind.
“Can I just ask,” he starts when Yoongi turns around to face him again. “When did… this begin?”
And it’s as if a switch has been flipped. The look of embarrassment disappears and a smirk, one that never failed to make Jungkook’s skin crawl, appears on Yoongi’s face. Jungkook feels a horrible hunch that this was the wrong question to ask.
“Remember when Taehyung came over for the follow up and we had to find a place where we wouldn’t be disturbed?” Yoongi asks, his smirk growing even bigger and more terrifying. “Well, let’s just say your flat is very quiet. At times. Speaking of,” he adds, already walking towards the storage room. “I wouldn’t use your couch until you get the covering cleaned.”
Jungkook lets out a whole string of curses but they get drowned out in Yoongi’s cackle.
It’s set in fucking stone, Kim Taehyung is going to die.