Work Text:
Yoongi and Jin are dating now.
That was a sentence Jungkook certainly hadn’t expected to ever read in his life. Frowning, he picked up the phone and looked at Jimin’s text that innocently stared him in the face.
Yoongi and Jin are dating now.
What? How?
He didn’t have to wait long for an answer; apparently Jimin was already waiting and ready to pounce.
Idk, Hobi just told me he was talking to Yoongi about getting a bf or smth
and Yoongi said ‘already have one’
When tf did this happen?
Who knows but we’re going to froyo in like an hour to interrogate Jin
yeah I’ll be there
With a deep sigh, Jungkook put down his phone again and looked at the still empty word document on his computer in front of him once more, before decidedly turning his back on it. College could wait if something as strange as Yoongi and Seokjin suddenly being a couple happened.
His phone made a terrifying screaming sound and Jungkook snorted. He had totally forgotten that Hoseok had put in a personalised notification for his texts.
Yoooo guess who’s dating
Yoongi and Jin
The fuck?
Jimin already told me lol
That fucking snitch I’ll never tell him anything first ever again
yeah good luck with that
There was no reply, from which Jungkook gathered that Hoseok had already contacted Jimin to yell at him a bit, which honestly was fine with him. If Hoseok yelled at Jimin he wouldn’t yell at Jungkook, and that was always a nice thing.
Stretching, Jungkook got up from his chair and groaned as he felt the blood rush back into his legs. He hadn’t even noticed how long he had spent sitting at his desk, but his protesting muscles sure made him regret every minute of it.
“This is the last time I do anything for college, ever,” he mumbled to himself before looking at the clock. He had about an hour before he had to meet the others at the Frozen Yogurt store, so it was time to consider his options.
Continuing to work definitely wasn’t one, and looking around his cramped dorm room Jungkook knew that he should probably clean up, but he didn’t feel like doing that either. Instead, he could either contact Yoongi alone and try to get some insider information to impress Jimin and Taehyung later (because if Jimin was going somewhere, Taehyung was going there as well, that’s just how it worked) – or he could go to the store early and try to get some freebies out of Seokjin before the cavalry arrived and annoyed the elder too much to give him anything.
As if on command, his stomach let out a loud rumble at the thought of free food, and Jungkook smiled. He always knew how to listen to his body and so he grabbed his jacket from where it was lying on the floor, slipped into his shoes by the door and went out. Interrogating Yoongi on his own was a scary thought anyways.
The walk to the store was a short one, and Jungkook strolled into the cosy little place only five minutes later. He held the door open for two girls leaving with their cups overflowing with sprinkles and fruits, smiling politely at them as they obviously checked him out and giggled. Once they were gone, he stepped inside and walked towards Seokjin, who was standing behind the counter, eating strawberries.
“Hey, hyung,” Jungkook said and stopped right in front of the other with a big smile and his eyes opened extra wide. Seokjin immediately squinted suspiciously.
“What do you want?”
“What do you mean what do I want? Hyung, can’t I just simply visit my favourite hyung who is working hard? Hyung?” Jungkook tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, smiling even wider and scrunching his nose a little bit. He could already see Seokjin’s resolve starting to falter.
“You just called me hyung four times in under a minute. There must be something you want,” Seokjin insisted.
“The only thing I wanted was to see you, hyung. I was sitting at home and thought, man, Seokjin-hyung is working the long shift all alone again today, he must be so fed up with all the girls coming in just to stare at him and order all the worst flavours, I should come in and distract him a bit.” At this, Jungkook paused for effect before huffing quietly and looking down at the floor. “But okay, if you don’t want me here, I guess I can leave again and work on that stupid Creative Writing assignment some more.” He moved to turn around, but before he could even lift his foot, the elder called out.
“Wait, Jungkookie, you know I didn’t mean it like that, stay here and keep your hyung some company, I love it that you thought of me. Come here, take some Froyo and sit down, of course I always love seeing your face!”
Jungkook suppressed a smirk before beaming brightly at Seokjin. “Thanks, hyung, you’re the best! I’ll take a big one, okay?”
“Yes, yes, you horrible gold digger, take a big one and do whatever you want, just don’t use those puppy eyes again,” Seokjin grumbled as he realised he had been tricked (again, for the sixth time now, Jungkook thought triumphantly). Seokjin stole another strawberry from the topping section, then plopped down at one of the few tables inside the store while Jungkook completed putting together the biggest Froyo that could fit into his cup.
Afterwards, he sat down next to the elder who shamelessly pulled out a spoon and started stealing bits of Jungkook’s ice cream – against which he couldn’t do anything, since Seokjin was the reason he had it in the first place.
So far, Seokjin behaved completely normal.
“Now, Jungkookie, you said you were working on an assignment before you came here? How’s it going?” Seokjin plopped another strawberry in his mouth, then he leaned back on the tiny chair and looked at Jungkook expectantly.
Jungkook swallowed around the spoon in his mouth and shrugged. “Well, it’s going, I guess. I have until next week to turn it in so I’m not too worried yet.”
“What topic is it about this time?”
“Love, again.” Jungkook rolled his eyes. “I think the prof recently got engaged or something, she’s really obsessed with all the love stories lately. I think she actually wants our final project to be about love as well, which is super annoying.”
“Have you talked to her at all? She’s the one who failed you on that last assignment, right?” The worry in Seokjin’s voice made Jungkook smile. He knew he could always count on his hyung to stand up for him.
“Yeah, she is. But it won’t work, some guy recently tried to talk about asexuals and aros in class and she just shut him up, saying that’s something virgins who aren’t attractive enough to score anyone made up. But like … in other words.”
“That’s unacceptable!” Seokjin looked angry now, his eyebrows furrowed and his cheeks turning red. “What a bitch, you shouldn’t talk to her, you should talk to the dean or something! Or rather, I’ll do it! She can’t treat my son like that, fail his assignments just because she doesn’t believe in his identity!”
“I’m not your son though,” Jungkook laughed, unbothered. Yes, sure, his professor annoyed him as well and he really would prefer not constantly writing about something he couldn’t understand most of the time, but he had done it for all of his time in college and he was used to it.
“Well, we don’t have to tell the dean that,” Seokjin said and winked, but then he got serious again. “But honestly, doesn’t it bother you? I know you hate writing about love and relationships constantly, and I get that you have to do it sometimes, ‘cause romance is a big genre in literature and creative writing, but you shouldn’t have to write a whole final about it.”
“I mean … yeah, sure, it’s kind of bothersome, and it would definitely be easier if I could write about anything else, but I’m usually trying to have a love relationship happening while the focus is still on something else.” Jungkook shrugged and continued “And for the feelings parts, I’ll just interview Taehyung or Namjoon again, they’re both pretty good at describing it. And I guess it’s actually good to be challenged, right? So thanks for your worries, hyung, but I can deal with it.”
Seokjin smiled proudly at that. “Okay, I’m sure you can. You sounded really mature there, Jungkookie.”
Jungkook rolled his eyes. “Oh no, anything but that. Quick, come over here so I can punch you.”
“Yah,” Seokjin said, reaching forward and snatching the frozen yogurt cup out of Jungkook’s hand. “Treat your hyung with some respect, you brat, or this will be the last Froyo you ever had!”
“That doesn’t sound very likely,” a voice behind the two suddenly said, and Jungkook knew without turning around that it was Jimin, with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“I feel like that’s a threat I’ve heard a thousand times and still, here Jungkookie is, with another freebie Froyo in his hands … or, well, Jin-hyung’s hands,” a deep voice answered, and then Jimin and Taehyung came into Jungkook’s field of view, who was currently draped across the table to try and take back the cup that Seokjin held high into the air. Jimin stepped forward, took it out of the oldest’ hands and looked down at it before frowning.
“Why do you have the worst taste in Froyos?” He sighed and gave the cup back to Jungkook.
“Also why are you here already? We said we’d meet you in an hour,” Tae added before pulling out two chairs from the table, sitting down on one.
Seokjin made an affronted noise. “You planned to meet up with them? I knew you didn’t come here just to see me! I am hurt, Jeon Jungkook, hurt,” he cried dramatically and pressed a hand to his heart.
Jungkook ignored him, instead grinning at Taehyung and Jimin. “Well, it’s not my fault you two decided you’d need an hour to make the five minute walk from your dorm to here. Should I guess what you two did during the other fifty-five minutes?”
“Oh please, no one needs to guess what we did,” Jimin scoffed. “We had a very fulfilling make-out-session and I’ll gladly do it again. That’s the stuff you do when you’re in a happy relationship, right, hyung?”
At the sound of being called out, Seokjin looked up from where he was hunched over Jungkook’s almost empty cup, shovelling frozen yogurt into his mouth. “What?,” he asked, spoon still hanging from his lips.
“We were just talking about stuff you do in a happy relationship and we wanted to hear your input. You know, as someone who is in a relationship?” Taehyung had a dangerous glint in his eyes, the one he usually got when he was about to psychoanalyse someone in a painfully accurate way (they had all fallen victim to it before).
Seokjin pulled the spoon out of his mouth and sat up straight again before shooting an angry glare at the three of them, lingering the longest on Jungkook – which, in his opinion, was completely unfair considering he hadn’t even said anything yet.
“So that’s why you’re here. Hoseok works fast, Yoongi texted me only like an hour ago to say he told him, and here you are already.”
“Aww, Yoongi-hyung texted you?” Taehyung pressed a hand to his heart and pretended to wipe away a tear with the other. Jimin kicked him under the table, before turning towards a bewildered Seokjin with a frighteningly sweet smile.
“Well, I’m sure you understand that we’re very curious as to how that happened. You’ve been roommates for years, why did you suddenly start dating?”
Seokjin shrugged and scratched his neck, a sure way to see he was uncomfortable. “We just … talked and decided to do it.”
“But when did you realise he holds your heart, hyung?,” Taehyung asked and Seokjin spluttered.
“He doesn’t ‘hold my heart’, what the hell? We’ve been together for three days – he doesn’t even hold my hand!”
“He doesn’t hold your hand?,” Jimin repeated, shocked. “That’s so sad, hyung!”
“No it isn’t! We both prefer having our hands in our pockets, what’s the problem with that?”
“Jimin and Taehyung hold hands all the time,” Jungkook pointed out quietly. “And so do Hobi-hyung and Namjoon-hyung. I think it’s like a universal couple thing.”
“First of all, fuck you for not calling us hyungs,” Jimin said coolly before turning towards Seokjin again, “second of all, he’s right though. Hand holding is amazing. Tae and I are doing it under the table right now.”
“Well then stop doing it, that’s gross,” Seokjin replied calmly before getting up from his chair right as the door opened and two people came in. “And if you could excuse me, I have work to do. Also get out of my shop if all you’re going to do is annoy me.”
“Wait!” Jimin reached forward to hold Seokjin back by his apron. “Before you go, when are you going to see Yoongi again? If you’ve been dating for only three days, you must be aching to see him again as soon as possible, right?”
“I’m good,” Seokjin said nonchalantly and tugged on his apron until Jimin let go. “And I’ll see him tonight after work, I guess. After all, we are living together.”
“Good enough,” Jimin muttered even though Jungkook could tell from his face that, clearly, it wasn’t good enough for him at all. The three of them got up as Seokjin started greeting the costumers with his overly-friendly voice and left the shop.
Once outside, the trio walked a few meters before Jimin pulled them to a stop by their arms. “Okay,” he said, “so this was completely not helpful and we haven’t learned anything at all.”
“Which probably was to be expected, since it’s Jin-hyung, after all,” Taehyung added, before looking at Jungkook suspiciously. “You talked to him before we arrived, was he any different then?”
“He really wasn’t.” Jungkook shrugged helplessly at the angry glare the couple threw at him. “I’m sorry, I tried to notice any differences but we just talked about my shitty CW prof and her assignments and he behaved exactly like he always does.”
“Oh no, what did she do this time?,” Jimin asked, immediately forgetting his evil glare.
“Nothing new since the ‘ace-aros don’t exist’ debacle, don’t worry.”
“I always worry when it’s about you and that bitch,” Jimin muttered angrily, before getting back to the original topic. “But seriously? If you talked about the assignment then you talked about love with Jin-hyung, how could he not have been different?”
“You heard the guy, he said very clearly he wasn’t in love yet!” Jungkook raised his hands to defend himself, since it looked like Jimin was about to pounce on him any second.
“God, you are useless, Jungkook, useless!” He turned away in frustration, but that was the moment Taehyung cleared his throat and when Jungkook looked at him, he saw the brunette with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Well, I wouldn’t say he’s completely useless, babe,” he said and Jungkook already feared what would come out of his mouth next. “Since, you know, maybe interrogating Jin-hyung didn’t help us at all, but there’s another party in this relationship that Jungkookie could get to talk.”
The second the others understood what Taehyung implied, Jimin’s face lit up with glee, while Jungkook frowned in horror.
“No!,” Jungkook said.
“Yes!,” Jimin said. Two hungry pairs of eyes turned towards Jungkook and he thought for a second that this must be how rabbits felt when they were cornered by foxes.
“Of course,” Jimin said, “why didn’t I think of this earlier? Jungkook, go to Yoongi-hyung’s studio, he’s definitely still there, and ask him about details. He was the one who told Hobi-hyung, he’s definitely gonna break once you pout at him!”
“No, what, why?” Jungkook staggered a few steps back, the two others following him as if they had smelled blood (they had, in a way). “Why should I be the one to talk to him? You two are the ones who taught me how to properly pout in the first place, you should do it! Also, you’re way better at getting information out of people!”
“You flatter us, Jungkook, truly,” Jimin said drily, “but you must understand that we can’t possibly talk to Yoongi-hyung about this.”
“It would just be way too weird,” Taehyung added. “His ex and his ex’s new boyfriend asking about his new relationship? No way, we’d never get anything out of him.”
Jungkook sighed, knowing that they were right, but he still tried to put up a fight. “C’mon, Jimin-hyung, you and Yoongi-hyung broke up ages ago, it can’t possibly matter anymore?”
“Jungkook,” Jimin said serenely, “don’t try using the hyung card on me now. Yes, we broke up a year ago and I understand that that might seem like an eternity to you. But it’s still weird to talk to him about relationship stuff. I didn’t tell him any details of how Tae and I got together, and he definitely wouldn’t tell me any details of how he and Jin-hyung got together. So, you’re our only way of getting that information. Now, stop being a baby and go to his studio, squeeze him out like a lemon and then report back to us, thank you.”
Once he was done, Jimin was so close to Jungkook that their noses almost touched, and the younger only gulped loudly before nodding. “Yes, sure, I’ll do it,” he whispered, “just please get out of my face.”
“Great!” Jimin smiled so brightly his eyes disappeared and he immediately stepped back, reaching for Taehyung’s hand. “I’ll expect a report immediately once you’re done, and please don’t disappoint me. I want to have as much dirt on them as possible before movie night tomorrow. Bye now!”
“Great,” Jungkook repeated darkly and watched as his two friends walked away, both with an obvious spring in their step that they always got when something had gone according to their wishes again.
He sighed as he turned around and started walking towards the university’s music building, where the studios that students were allowed to rent were located. When he was about five minutes away, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Yoongi to let him know he was coming. He had learned the hard way that otherwise the other wouldn’t let him in.
Yo, I’ll be at your studio in 5, pls don’t let me wait outside for an hour again
ok
Once he arrived at the studio, he quickly knocked and listened to the shuffling inside before the door got unlocked and Yoongi opened it. The other man, whose hair was newly black again as Jungkook noticed, stepped aside to let him in, then returned to his desk where he sat down and pulled a discarded blanket up against his shoulders. Jungkook walked towards the armchair in the corner and sat down with a grunt.
“Thanks for letting me in so quickly,” he said with a small smile and Yoongi snorted.
“I wasn’t doing anything important right now anyways. What do you want?”
Jungkook smiled internally. Seokjin had asked that earlier as the very first thing as well. The two definitely fit together.
“Oh, you know,” Jungkook said nonchalantly. “Just wanted to check in on you, how you are and stuff, you know, now that you have a boyfriend …” He ended the sentence like a question, glancing at Yoongi, who had gone still before he sighed and turned around to face Jungkook.
“Okay, first, you’ve never wanted to check in on me before, and also, second, you were the only one who never really cared about my relationship status, so I call bullshit on that. Who sent you?”
Yoongi didn’t seem angry to Jungkook’s relief, which was why he dared to say the next thing. “Jimin and Taehyung …”
“Okay, I probably could’ve guessed that. Hobi or Namjoon would’ve just come to me. I suppose you tried to interrogate Jin-hyung first?”
Jungkook nodded. “But he didn’t tell us anything except that he’s not in love with you and that you don’t hold his hand.”
“I sure as fuck would hope he wasn’t in love with me, we’ve been together for three days, that would be crazy,” Yoongi deadpanned. “And as for the handholding thing, we both like having our hands in our pockets. That’s our thing.”
“It’s a …. cool thing, I guess?”
Yoongi smiled at that. “Thanks, Kook-ah, you don’t need to try. But seriously, I don’t know why you’ve come here. What did you hope to find out?”
“I don’t know,” Jungkook whined. “Jimin-hyung got really scary and demanded that I come here. He seems really invested in finding out how you got together and stuff so … couldn’t you just tell me? So I can text him and not be terrified of what he’ll do to me if I disappoint him?”
“There’s really not much to tell,” Yoongi said and shrugged. “We had a talk three days ago and decided to date. All of you guys were always on our tails, forcing us to go on dates with random people and shit, because you were oh-so-worried about us, and I quote, dying alone and unloved. Now we’re dating and you’re still not happy.”
Jungkook winced at the accusatory tone in Yoongi’s voice. “I guess it just happened kind of … sudden?”
“Relationships always happen kind of sudden. All of us were surprised as fuck when Namjoon and Hoseok started dating. And I still remember everyone’s shock when Jimin and I went on our first date. Honestly, the only time literally no one was surprised was when Taehyung and Jimin got together. Jungkook, you don’t give a shit about any of this relationship drama, you don’t need to be here. Just tell Jimin I told you to fuck off, he’ll be expecting it.” At that, he smiled at Jungkook ruefully before turning around again to face the computer screen, a definite conversation-ending sign.
Jungkook sighed before pushing himself out of the armchair. “Okay then, if you don’t want to talk about it at all …”
“I really don’t know what you expected,” Yoongi snorted. “When have I ever talked about my feelings before, why the fuck would I change that suddenly?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jungkook conceded. “But it’s always worth a try. See you at movie night tomorrow, hyung.”
“See ya,” Yoongi said, distracted, and that was the last Jungkook heard before he closed the studio door behind him.
Once out in the hallway, he pulled out his phone to text Jimin. Better to do it now and rip of the band-aid than to keep him waiting, expecting results.
Hyung won’t talk at all
Just says he doesn’t understand why no ones happy
Since everyone always told them to go on dates
Now they’re dating and it’s not enough for anyone
Useless asshole
Hey, that’s mean, I tried
I meant him, kookie.
Ik you tried, I’m not angry at you
phew
lol
Anyways we’ll get more out of them tmrw
then we’ll have hobi-hyungs help as well
lol good luck
With that out of the way, Jungkook pocketed his phone again and started making his way back to his dorm. It was probably time to despair over his empty word document once more.
The next day was a Friday, and therefore a very chill day for Jungkook. He only had one afternoon class about 19th century literature, but that was always great for sleeping even more, and afterwards he had his usual session at the cheap college gym with his friend Yugyeom and some others. Once he was done with that, he was usually hungry, comfortably exhausted, and ready for movie night and dinner at whichever hyung’s place had been chosen the last time. Today, it was Hoseok and Namjoon’s turn.
Jungkook got there right on time at 7 PM, and his stomach had the perfect timing to grumble right as Hoseok opened the door for him. The dancer, whose mouth was already opened for a cheery welcome, looked at Jungkook’s face in confusion, then down at his stomach, then burst out laughing.
“Guess someone’s hungry,” he giggled before stepping aside to let Jungkook come in and take off his shoes.
“I’m dying!” Jungkook complained and Hoseok laughed even more and patted Jungkook on the head. “You seriously need to learn how to feed yourself, Kookie. But c’mon, you know where the food is. We have warmed up Kimchi from my mum’s latest visit, warmed up Kimchi from Joon’s latest trip home, and warmed up pizza from our last trip to the store.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Jungkook said and almost sprinted inside the small apartment towards the kitchen, from where the delicious smells of Kimchi and pizza mixed together and filled the whole space.
Taehyung, Seokjin and Namjoon were already standing inside the kitchen, filling their plates. They all looked up as Jungkook entered and greeted him with a smile before focusing back on the food. Jungkook’s friends had their priorities sorted, just like he had.
“Where’s Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung?,” he asked while starting to pile up food on a plate, noticing the absence of the two shortest members of their group (no, he would never stop mentioning that).
“Jiminie’s in the bathroom,” Taehyung answered just as “I’m in the bathroom, hiya Jungkookie!” was shouted from the general direction of the bathroom.
“Cool,” Jungkook snorted before turning to Seokjin expectantly. His oldest hyung noticed Jungkook, as well as the others, looking at him, and seemed startled. “What?”
“Where’s Yoongi-hyung, hyung?,” Jungkook repeated his question.
“How should I know? He probably forgot the time in his studio again?”
Namjoon and Hoseok exchanged a quick look, one of those couple-y ones where Jungkook never understood how they could exchange that much information with it, then Hoseok spoke up. “Didn’t you talk today about when you’d get here or something? Jimin and Taehyung arrived together.”
“Good for them,” Seokjin replied, unbothered. “They always arrive everywhere together. But I came here from home and Yoongi’s probably gonna come from the studio, so it wouldn’t have made any sense to meet up beforehand, seeing as that would’ve been a huge detour.”
“I guess ….,” Hoseok said hesitantly, but Seokjin interrupted him. “No, you know. Now, all of you, stop being weird, please, it’s making my skin break out.”
“Everything that bothers you is making your skin break out,” Taehyung pointed out with a giggle and Seokjin pointed at him with a humorous glint in his eyes. “Exactly, so stop bothering me.”
With that, he turned around and walked inside the living room, where he plopped down on the best corner of the couch, his overly full plate cradled to his chest like a baby.
A few seconds later, a knock sounded from the door. “That’ll be Yoongi-hyung,” Hoseok said and walked towards the entrance, opening it to let a disgruntled Yoongi in.
“I was already halfway here before I remembered I had forgotten to turn off the synthesiser and you know how the janitors control that shit and the department revokes your rights to a studio if they notice you left them on because of some fire hazard shit? So I had to run all the way back there and now I’ve run way more today than I ever wanted to and also I’m hungry so you better have some good fucking food,” Yoongi started ranting the second he pushed around Hoseok inside the apartment, throwing off his shoes and jacket and decidedly walking towards the kitchen, sidestepping Jungkook and Taehyung who were on their way to the living area.
“Hello to you too, welcome to my house,” Hoseok said while following the other, who simply grunted. “I wouldn’t call this literal closet a house, but okay. Namjoon, kindly step the fuck aside, you’re standing in front of the food. Also, do you have alcohol?”
“Wow, lovely to have you here, hyung,” Namjoon said with a snort, but stepped aside nonetheless. “You arrive, push my boyfriend, insult my home and order me around, I’m so thankful.”
“You’re welcome,” Yoongi replied before grinning up at Namjoon. “Alcohol?”
“In the fridge. Just bring the whole pack, okay?” With that, Namjoon left the kitchen to join the rest of the group in the living area, spread out between the oversized couch and two armchairs.
Yoongi came out a little bit later, with a plate of food and a six-pack of beer, plus a can of coke that he dropped off on Taehyung’s lap before looking at the seating arrangement to see where he could fit.
As of now, Hoseok and Namjoon occupied the armchairs while Seokjin, Jungkook, Taehyung and Jimin were huddled up on the couch. Jungkook looked to his left, where Seokjin seemed unbothered and wholly concentrated on his food, then to his right, where both Taehyung and Jimin tried to tell him something with their eyes and head movements.
Jungkook stared at both of them blankly for a second, before he understood and sighed quietly . “Hyung, do you want to have my place? I can sit on the floor,” he offered and slid off the couch, thus freeing the space next to Seokjin.
Yoongi stepped over him and sank down onto the couch. “Huh, thanks, Kook-ah. What’d you do that for?”
“Oh, you know, they’ve taught us in middle school to offer your seats to the elderly,” Jungkook replied and already expected the hit to the back of his head that followed. “Brat,” Yoongi grumbled.
“But obviously,” Hoseok piped up, “Jungkook also wanted to give you the chance to sit next to your boyfriend, who is also there, in case you haven’t noticed.”
At that, Jungkook quickly looked up to see the reaction of the couple in question, but their expressions remained completely unchanged.
“Oh, I noticed,” Yoongi said nonchalantly. “He’s eating, everyone on the planet would notice those noises.”
“Fuck off,” Seokjin replied with a full mouth, not even looking at the others, and Yoongi laughed.
“Can we finally start the movie now?,” he said then.
“Not yet,” Hoseok decided and leaned forwards. “You’re in my home, you have to answer some questions first.”
“Not that again,” Seokjin suddenly groaned and judging from Yoongi’s expression, he agreed to that statement.
“Yes, that again,” Hoseok insisted. “Two of our best friends suddenly started dating out of nowhere, we absolutely deserve to get at least some information.”
“But there’s really not anything to tell,” Yoongi insisted. “There’s no grand romantic love story like you and Namjoon had or anything. We literally just talked about relationships during breakfast a week ago, complained about how you always bother us to find the one or at least someone, please, hyungs, got the idea to maybe try out dating each other, and decided to give it a go.”
“Okay, that’s a good start,” Hoseok said with a smile. “Now, how exactly did you give it a go then?”
“What the fuck?” Yoongi looked at Hoseok exasperatedly. “We went on a date, decided we didn’t hate it, kissed, decided we didn’t hate it, and that was that. We fit, it’s chill. He still lets me do my shit, and I let him do his. He doesn’t smother me, which is all I want, but you’re actually kind of smothering me right now, so stop it.”
With that, he leaned back and exchanged a quick look with Seokjin, who smiled slightly and nodded. Hoseok leaned back again as well and also exchanged a look with Namjoon (so many looks, Jungkook could hardly keep up, Jimin and Taehyung were probably exchanging looks right now as well) before grinning at Yoongi. “That was all we wanted to hear. We’re happy if you two are happy, hyungs.”
Yoongi and Seokjin both mumbled quiet thank you’s and Jungkook turned towards the television, expecting to finally get to see the movie, when a small voice piped up.
“You mean he doesn’t smother you like I smothered you?” Jungkook looked up so fast he almost got whiplash and was greeted by Jimin’s hurt expression and Taehyung glancing between his boyfriend and Yoongi worriedly.
It got really quiet suddenly as everyone looked at Yoongi, even Seokjin. Yoongi just sighed. “Jimin, not this again, please.”
“Why not?” Jimin looked angry now and leaned forwards to look past Taehyung at Yoongi. “And also why are you saying again like we’ve been over it a thousand times?”
“Because we have!”
“No, we haven’t!” Jungkook flinched at the raised voices and noticed everyone doing the same. “Every time I wanted to talk to you about our break-up or really anything regarding our relationship you cut me off and shut me out, just like you did while we were still actually dating! This, right now, your explanation of why you’re dating Jin-hyung is the closest I’ve ever gotten to know how you really felt about us, so excuse me for being a bit angry!”
“Hey, anger is a good cue,” Seokjin spoke up suddenly and thereby interrupted Yoongi who looked like he had been about to give Jimin a piece of his mind. “Does anyone know what the difference is between an angry circus owner and a Roman barber?”
Everyone groaned, either loudly or quietly, but Seokjin continued unperturbed. “One is a raving Showman, the other is a shaving Roman!”
He immediately broke out into squeaky laughter, and after a second, Jimin joined in, even though it was decidedly quieter than usual. Taehyung chuckled slightly, as did Hoseok, and Namjoon rolled his eyes before picking up the remote control. “As bad of a pun that was,” he said (“Hey, that was an amazing pun, you buffoon!,” Seokjin shouted between hiccups of laughter), “it was also an amazing cue for the movie. So please, let’s stop talking about unpleasant things, and instead eat and drink and enjoy The Greatest Showman.”
Jungkook didn’t have to be told twice, and so he wiggled around on the carpet until he was comfortable, leaned his head against Taehyung’s leg, picked up his plate and started stuffing down his pizza while the intro of the film began to play.
Once the movie was over (and Jungkook had secretly wiped away his tears before Hoseok could turn on the lights again), Jimin and Taehyung bid their goodbyes pretty fast, both with cheery expressions on their faces but still noticeably subdued voices.
Seokjin was the next to get up, stretching his muscles and groaning loudly about how old he was becoming before walking towards the door. He put on his shoes, then he turned to Yoongi. “Are you coming too, Yoongi-yah?,” he asked with a soft voice and Yoongi nodded sleepily.
Seokjin waited by the door as the other got up, patted Hoseok on the shoulder in goodbye and grabbed his shoes and jacket. Afterwards, the two left the apartment together (but didn’t hold hands, as Jungkook noticed).
Once he was alone with the two people actually living in the apartment, Jungkook slowly got up as well. He looked towards the exit, then towards the kitchen, then he opened his mouth to speak but Namjoon beat him to it.
“If you wanna ask about taking some food home, go for it. Pizza is out, but there’s still some Kimchi left, you can take the whole container, if you want,” he said and Jungkook smiled brightly and mouthed a quick thank you before skipping over to the kitchen to get the leftover food.
Afterwards, with his hands packed full of his dinner for the next few days, he quickly said goodbye to the two hosts who had migrated to cuddling sleepily on the couch, and walked out into the slightly chilly night.
The weekend passed much like it always did, with some schoolwork (not as much as he should have done), some partying (much more than he probably should have done) and a lot of sleeping (exactly the amount he should have done, you could never sleep too much).
And just like the weekend was nothing out of the ordinary, neither were the next couple of weeks. He hung out with Jimin and Taehyung to play video games, with Hoseok to dance, with Namjoon and Yoongi to watch them work on music, and with Seokjin to steal more Frozen Yogurt and complain about his professors. He actually passed the Creative Writing assignment (he definitely had to thank Namjoon and his tips on how to describe romantic love for that).
During the celebratory bar outing for that particular accomplishment, Hoseok and a very drunk Namjoon tried to get some more information on the newest relationship in their group, but just like before, Seokjin and Yoongi kept deflecting and behaved infuriatingly normal around each other.
And soon, the relationship lost its novelty and everyone lost their interest. Hoseok stopped waggling his eyebrows every time Yoongi and Seokjin breathed in the same vicinity, Namjoon stopped trying to get Yoongi to start writing love songs, Jimin stopped trying to initiate conversations with Seokjin with ‘Do you and Yoongi also….’, and Taehyung stopped his thoughtful humming whenever anyone mentioned the two. But Jungkook didn’t stop.
For some reason, he couldn’t stop watching them interact, trying to figure out their dynamic. He had known them for years now, met Seokjin when he was still in high school and looking at universities in Seoul – Seokjin being the only student who had bothered to get out of bed at eight in the morning on a Sunday to answer the questions of some kids and their parents –, met Yoongi when he moved to Seoul and Seokjin introduced him to his roommate, who was cool and kind of frightening at first but really nice to him and willingly showed him his studio and the stuff he worked on. The point was, he had known the both of them for a while, and he had known the way they interacted with each other for a while.
And that was why he couldn’t stop watching – because they didn’t interact any differently now that they were dating. They didn’t hold hands, they didn’t kiss in front of their friends, they didn’t use pet names. If they hadn’t told Jungkook and the others that they were dating, he never would’ve realised.
After about three months of silently watching his hyungs interact, trying to find something in their behaviour that would hint at them dating, anything, but coming up empty, Jungkook reached a very convincing conclusion, in his opinion.
“You’re fake dating,” Jungkook said triumphantly one day, sitting inside the Frozen Yogurt store, leaning back in his chair and looking at Seokjin across from him, who had a confused expression on his face.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re fake dating,” Jungkook repeated. “You and Yoongi-hyung aren’t really dating, you’re just pretending so the others would stop getting on your nerves about finding dates. And honestly, that’s fair, but also you’re not really convincing.”
Seokjin’s face was a mix of confusion and amusement. “So … you’re saying … you think Yoongi and I aren’t really together and instead just pretending?”
“Yes, exactly,” Jungkook said impatiently. “It’s really kind of obvious, to be honest. But don’t worry, I don’t think the others have caught on yet, they’ve been way too preoccupied with their own relationships. But I’ve been curious, and I’ve watched you, and there’s really no other explanation for your behaviour.”
Now Seokjin just looked amused. “Jungkook, honey, that’s kind of creepy. You should get a hobby instead of stalking Yoongi and me.” Jungkook scoffed at that. “But also,” Seokjin continued, “you’re wrong. I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but Yoongi and I have been actually, honestly dating for … oh my, over three months now? That happened quickly.”
“I don’t believe you. You two are behaving just like you did when you weren’t ‘together’. You never kiss, you never hold hands, you never even go on dates. So no, you’ll have to try harder to actually convince me.” Jungkook stubbornly crossed his arms and Seokjin snorted.
“Okay, just to be very clear, I don’t actually have to try and convince you, but since this is fun, I’ll do it.” Seokjin cleared his voice and leaned forward, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“We don’t hold hands because, as we both stated right at the beginning of our relationship, we both really like having our hands in our pockets and also I generally walk faster than Yoongi, so he’d always be complaining I’m dragging him along if we actually held hands. We don’t go on dates because in case you haven’t noticed, we live together, so we don’t need to have dates to see each other. And I can assure you, we do kiss, very often even. But since we are both quite excellent kissers, our kisses almost always turn into something more and we simply would want to spare you guys from having to see that. But since you are so dead-set on me convincing you, I’ll gladly explain to you exactly what we do behind closed doors.”
Seokjin winked and Jungkook stared at him in horror.
“Now, let’s start with what Yoongi can do with his tongue, because believe me, Jungkookie, that man is talented. He has this thing where –“
“Stop!” Panicked, Jungkook half-jumped over the table to press his hands over Seokjin’s mouth to stop him from talking, but quickly pulled them away again when he thought about what Seokjin’s tongue had probably been up to as well.
The elder just laughed out loud at Jungkook’s horrified expression as he wiped his hands on his jeans, trying to get the images Seokjin had evoked out of his head.
“That was … absolutely unnecessary,” Jungkook hissed and glared at the other, who kept laughing gleefully.
“No, it really wasn’t,” he hiccupped and wiped tears from his eyes. “God, Jungkookie, you should see your face.”
“I never needed to know that!”
“Yes you did,” Seokjin insisted, still chuckling. “You said you didn’t believe Yoongi is actually my boyfriend, and I needed to convince you otherwise. Are you convinced?”
“I … guess,” Jungkook mumbled, unwilling to think about Seokjin and Yoongi and their relationship any more, given that he couldn’t ignore the images that were flooding his head.
“See, job well done,” Seokjin said lightly and stood up, patting Jungkook’s head. “Now, please don’t look so down. I will never mention our sex life again, don’t worry. Go take a Froyo now and then leave me alone, I’ll actually have to work some more today.”
“Thanks,” Jungkook grumbled as he got up, but his mood already perked up again. He might be scarred for a life time, but at least he got Frozen Yogurt out of it.
A few hours later he was alone in his dorm, lying on his bed and trying to do some reading for class as his phone lit up with a message from Yoongi.
You rlly thought we were fake dating?
You’ve written too many bad assignments for CW
Pls leave me alone I regret everything
Sorry kookah
Hyung’s still laughing he hasn’t stopped since he came home
Hyungs a meanie
He is
But he also promised to never talk about my mouth anymore
And I promise to never even start talking about his tongue
(But he’s just as talented as I am, trust me)
STOP!!!!!!!!
sorry lmao
But maybe this should teach you
not to think too hard about other people’s relationships
yeah don’t worry I’ll definitely never think about you
or watch you ever again
Urgh, disgusting
Lmao
good night kookah, I’ll see you tomorrow in the studio
yeh maybe if I’ll be ready to see you again by then
But Jungkook did go to the studio the next day, because he never passed up an opportunity to watch Yoongi work, and the elder thankfully didn’t mention the incident of the day before at all.
And Jungkook also kept watching the two, once he could actually look at them again without imagining their mouths in places he didn’t want to imagine them. He had developed a fascination with their dynamic, not understanding how they could be dating but also still be behaving so normal.
Jimin and Taehyung never stopped proclaiming their love for each other, always holding hands or kissing and cuddling. Anyone could look at them for just a second and realise they were dating.
Hoseok and Namjoon were more subtle, but they had been together the longest, having started dating in their first year of university. But even then, a bystander would notice the love they had for each other; it was obvious in every look exchanged, in every smile and every slight touch.
But Yoongi and Seokjin kept on acting like usual. Sure, an outsider could see that they obviously liked each other. They sat next to each other in restaurants, they laughed and smiled at each other. About a month after the uncomfortable conversation with Seokjin that Jungkook had dubbed the we-don’t-talk-or-think-about-it-ever-debacle, he actually spotted the two of them holding hands for the first time, Yoongi complaining loudly that Seokjin was dragging him and could he please walk a little bit slower, not everyone had legs that freakishly long. (Seokjin cheekily replied you didn’t complain about my legs last night, Yoongi-yah, and Jungkook stopped listening immediately). But otherwise, nothing changed, and Jungkook didn’t understand it.
It bothered him so much, that one night, about six months after Jimin had sent him that fateful text that started it all, Jungkook did something he never thought he would do.
“I just don’t get it,” he said, lying on Taehyung’s couch and looking at the ceiling while the other was sitting on the floor, flipping through the pages of a ridiculously huge psychology book. Jimin was out with dance-friends tonight, which was why Jungkook had taken that chance to get Taehyung alone.
“What don’t you get?” Taehyung didn’t sound very interested, but at least he had actually listened to what Jungkook had said. He counted that as a win.
“Jin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung. Their relationship. It just doesn’t make sense!”
“Why do you think it doesn’t?” Taehyung kept flipping pages, but it had become slower. Maybe Jungkook actually had his attention now.
“Everything,” the younger said, frustrated that he didn’t know how to explain himself. “I mean I know I’m definitely no expert on how relationships are supposed to look like-“ Taehyung snorted at that, “but I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to look like that. Can you even call it a romantic relationship if you never behave like a couple at all? I mean – they’ve been together for half a year now. That’s about as long as Jimin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung were together, and their relationship was so much more obviously a relationship than Jin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung’s ever was! Don’t you wonder about that at all?”
Once he was done, he heard Taehyung close the book with a loud thump and then he saw him sit up out of the corner of his eye.
“Okay, Jungkookie, listen up,” the elder said and Jungkook turned his head towards him. “Get ready for some Socio-psychology 101, okay? Because no, I don’t wonder about that at all, ‘cause I’ve learned about it literally in my third week of college. You see, people behave differently in relationships-“
“Yeah, no shit hyung. I might not have relationships but even I know that,” Jungkook said sarcastically but at the same time made himself more comfortable on the couch. That was going to be a long monologue, he could already tell.
“Don’t interrupt me, youngling. Anyways, people behave differently in relationships. I’ll try to make it as easy as possible, but basically, you could classify four types of attachment for adults in romantic relationships. There are those who are secure, which is kind of self-explanatory I guess? Secure attachments are basically what you expect relationships to be, with partners being able to trust and rely on each other and so on. In my humble opinion, I’d say that both the 94s as well as Jiminie and I all have secure attachments. But there’s also two other types in relationships, you see? There are those who the professionals call preoccupied, who are very attached to their partner but constantly afraid the partner would leave them. They’re nervous, always a little bit anxious, always a little bit self-depreciating.” Taehyung paused here for a second, scratching his head in thought. “Oh, and also jealous. They’re usually the jealous type. But their type of attachment could change if they only had a partner who showed them enough love to show their worry was unfounded. But usually, because humans are crazy, those preoccupied types are drawn to the third kind, the dismissing one. Those guys prefer to have their space, they don’t like to be relied on, they don’t want to feel smothered. That sound familiar?”
“Yes, it sounds like –”
“Don’t interrupt me. So yeah, the preoccupied type and the dismissing type often end up together, and because of the way their relationship works, they can’t turn each other secure. The preoccupied one smothers the dismissing one in love and attention and needs it returned, the dismissing one stays emotionally detached. Do you understand everything so far?”
“Yes, I-” Jungkook wanted to say Yes, I’m not stupid, but Taehyung didn’t give him the chance to finish his sentence.
“Okay good, moving on. As I said, Jiminie and I definitely have a secure attachment. We both trust each other, we rely on each other equally and we both enjoy smothering each other in love equally. Neither of us has to be afraid the other doesn’t love us. But Jiminie and Yoongi-hyung’s relationship? That was the opposite. Hyung is like the definition of the dismissing type, it’s incredible, I learned so much just looking at him in my first semester. They were together because they complimented each other in a really fucked up way, but in the end Jiminie’s fear of being left alone actually got too much for Yoongi, and he quit, which I’m super thankful for, because Jiminie deserves to be smothered in love every second of every day and I’m gladly doing that.”
“Gross.”
“Shush. Now, this is where Jin-hyung enters the picture. That dude isn’t as obvious about it, but he’s clearly the dismissing type as well. He loves to joke around and he’s really warm to all of us, obviously, but he’s super protective over his emotions, and he does not like the pressure of being completely relied on. Now, Jungkookie, what do you think? If two dismissing attachment-types start dating, what will happen?”
Jungkook looked at Taehyung quizzingly, the elder smiling like he already knew the correct answer and only waited for Jungkook to fail.
“I … I guess they wouldn’t stay together? Because two people who don’t like to be emotionally attached wouldn’t attach to each other?”
“That’s a valid assumption,” Taehyung smirked. “But you see, the hyungs have been together for half a year now and they don’t seem to want to stop. And it makes sense, I think. Two people that are horribly afraid of being relied on and being smothered by their partner. They also don’t like smothering or relying on said partner themselves. Ergo, neither smothers and neither relies too much. So they have enough time and space to still feel like themselves, and they feel like they can get close without it being too much, and with some time, their dismissing attachment style slowly transforms into a secure one. And suddenly, you have a perfectly healthy relationship with two people who are comfortable around each other and trust each other to have the space they need. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Once he finished, Taehyung looked at Jungkook, who frowned quizzingly. “I … that somehow sounds way too easy, not like something that would actually happen in real life.”
“Why not?” Taehyung made an affronted expression at Jungkook. “I think it makes perfect sense!”
“But … it’s been six months, hyung. Shouldn’t there have been at least some sort of … transformation by now?”
“Six months is nothing, young Jungkook –”
“Stop calling me that, please.”
“- Nothing. Their type of attachment is deeply ingrained in them, it takes time to undo it. Just let them be, trust me, it’ll happen …” Taehyung paused again, thought about what he said and then shrugged. “Or they’ll break up because they both don’t manage to make the jump and their relationship just becomes pointless, but I’m a romantic, so I believe in their love to develop one day.”
“I doubt it,” Jungkook said and copied the shrug (lying down, it was much harder than he thought). “No offense, hyung, your theory was interesting and all, but … I just don’t think that’s the actual problem. Maybe I should ask Namjoon-hyung, get a philosophical opinion instead of a psychological one.”
“Fuck off,” Taehyung said and attempted to shove Jungkook off the couch before demonstratively turning around and opening his book again. “But fine, don’t believe me. Once you realise I was right, you’ll owe me a Froyo. And not one you nicked off of Jin-hyung for free, but one you actually paid for, got it?”
“Got it. Not gonna happen, but got it. Thanks, hyung.”
“Anytime, fucker. Now get out of here, I was actually hoping to get through this chapter before Jiminie comes home.”
“Oh.” Jungkook scratched his head. Taehyung looked up suspiciously.
“What?”
“Nothing, I was just hoping ….”
“Spit it out.”
“I thought we could play some Overwatch again? It’s been ages.” Jungkook put on his best pouting expression and Taehyung pursed his lips.
“You’re the worst. I feel like I’m the only person on this campus actually trying to study.”
“That’s not fair, hyung, I sometimes –”
“Argh, shush it, obviously I’ll play with you. Get your ass off the couch though, if we’re gonna play I’m gonna get the second best seat in the house.”
Jungkook grinned triumphantly, then considered Taehyung’s statement some more. “What’s the best?”
“Jiminie’s lap, obviously.”
Taehyung laughed loudly and Jungkook grimaced. “Nevermind, I regret asking. Let’s just play.”
A few weeks later, Jungkook was still convinced Taehyung was wrong. Nothing had changed in the way Yoongi and Seokjin behaved. If it hadn’t been for that one time they both had obvious hickeys on their throats and Seokjin’s ears had turned red when Hoseok pointed it out, Jungkook would have been convinced the two had broken up (or never dated in the first place, he was still kind of unsure about that).
Jungkook just didn’t understand anything anymore. And so, after almost eight months of trying to figure out their relationship, he gave up. If they decided to have a weird, non-romantic kind of thing going on, then so be it. Jungkook had bigger problems – namely, the fact that his Creative Writing professor had expressed interest in having him write his Bachelor thesis with her as an advisor. Jungkook still couldn’t understand how exactly that had happened considering he had hardly ever gotten anything more than a passing grade from her. But at least he still had a year to weasel his way out of that one.
Anyways, he stopped watching the couple like a hawk. And coincidentally, exactly that was when something suddenly changed.
It started slowly, and since Jungkook had quit waiting for even the slightest bit of different behaviour, he didn’t even notice at first.
It started with the two of them arriving at group meet-ups together, holding hands.
It started with Yoongi smiling softly at a text while he was in the studio with Jungkook, and when Jungkook sneaked a glance at the phone, he saw that Seokjin had asked when Yoongi would come home.
It started with Jungkook hanging out at the Frozen Yogurt store with Seokjin and Yoongi suddenly dropping by during a break, saying he had missed Seokjin and wanted to see him.
It started with a lot of different things, and Jungkook only noticed when he asked Seokjin one day whether he’d be free on the weekend and Seokjin answered with “yes, we’re free all Saturday.”
It started slowly, but once Jungkook had noticed, he couldn’t stop noticing. Seokjin and Yoongi went on dates to fancy restaurants, they cooked dinner together and had private movie nights, they visited each other at work, they talked about the other constantly while with friends. They held hands, they kissed, and on two memorable occasions Yoongi even sat on Seokjin’s lap.
In short, they were about as gross and cuddly and domestic as the other couples of their group were, maybe even more gross in Jungkook’s eyes, since those two had basically raised him, he shouldn’t see them making out.
And Jungkook? Jungkook was stunned. That was a development he certainly hadn’t expected. To be honest, he didn’t quite know how to react. He just knew for certain that he didn’t want to talk to Taehyung again, since the other had started smirking obnoxiously at Jungkook about a month after the hyungs had started their weird couple-y behaviour.
In the end, he decided to just not react at all, until he was in the studio with Yoongi one night, the elder showing him the song he had been working on recently (“It’s … kind of for Jin-hyung? Ahh, it’s embarrassing, really, please don’t tell him I said that”), and it just spilled out of him.
“What’s up with you and Jin-hyung?”
Yoongi stopped clicking around with the mouse and looked at Jungkook, surprised. “What?”
“I mean,” Jungkook fiddled with his fingers, not knowing how to word it correctly. “Why have you changed so much?”
“You think we changed?” Yoongi looked worried now. “Jungkook-ah, if you have a problem or feel uncomfortable, please tell us, we don’t want you to think you can’t talk to us.”
“What?” Jungkook shook his head, bewildered. “No, that’s not what I mean. It’s not like you, personally, changed. I mean you as in your relationship. You … I watched you for like the first eight months and you didn’t behave like a couple at all, but now suddenly … I mean you literally just used us and we, like you’re a double pack.”
“Oh.” Yoongi was quiet for a bit before he rubbed his neck and chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I guess we have changed quite a bit. Uhm … it’s hard to explain though …”
“Please try, hyung,” Jungkook pleaded. “It’s been driving me insane for weeks, I just need to know what changed with you two. I hate not understanding stuff and your whole relationship is something I never understood.”
“Okay, yeah, I get where you’re coming from. Uhm … okay, let’s see … You probably know that I’m not very close to my family, right?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook nodded, looking at Yoongi who played with the strings of his hoodie while he started explaining.
“Yeah, so, it’s not like I’ve had a horrible childhood or my parents where horrible people or something, but they just … they weren’t the most loving either, I guess? Anyways, it doesn’t really matter a lot, but basically I never really liked having to put too much trust in other people. My mum was like really dependent on my dad, ‘cause she didn’t have a job, and it was just always obvious how she didn’t like having to depend on him, but he didn’t really like having someone depend on him either and I guess … I just got that from them?”
“You mean the not depending on anyone stuff?”
“Yeah, exactly. I don’t know, it freaked me out for most of my life. But you know, a while ago, hyung and I had a talk after some drinks one night, and we got on the topic of our parents and shit, and turns out it was actually pretty similar for him? He hates the idea of having someone rely on him as much as he hates the idea of having to rely on someone, just like me. And we just clarified that we both aren’t dependant on each other, and very much our own persons, and that we could indeed still be happy if we were to break up.
“And it might sound crazy as fuck, but by knowing that Jin-hyung didn’t depend on me, I could actually feel comfortable opening up to him more and talking more about myself. And it was the same for him, suddenly we just started talking about our emotions and our hopes and expectations for this relationship and shit.”
“Glad to know you’re still calling it shit, hyung,” Jungkook smiled.
Yoongi had turned beat-red while talking. “Yah, you brat,” he huffed, but his mouth pulled up as well.
“Anyways, I realised that I can really trust him and also would really hate if we drifted apart again and actually we figured out that we’re probably in love with each other, and instead of that freaking me out I really, really like it. Which is weird, but … yeah, I don’t know. That’s what changed. Are you happy now?”
By the end of that explanation, the strings on Yoongi’s hoody had unfurled completely, and Jungkook gaped at him with an open mouth.
“Wow,” he said. “I … I wasn’t expecting that.”
Yoongi huffed out a laugh and rubbed his neck again. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t either, but here we are.”
“Here we are,” Jungkook repeated and nodded. “I … I don’t really know what to say, but thanks for telling me, I think? And also … congrats? On the whole loving your boyfriend-of-almost-a-year thing and all.”
Jungkook shrugged helplessly as he struggled to express himself, but Yoongi smiled softly at his last statement.
“Thanks,” the elder said quietly.
“No problem,” Jungkook answered before clearing his throat and looking at the clock on his phone.
“Well, it’s late, I guess I should get going. And you too, Jin-hyung’s probably waiting for you?”
“Nah, I texted him earlier that I’d be at the studio for a while today,” Yoongi said but got up anyways. “You really should get going though, I know you have an early class tomorrow morning.”
“Fuck you, you’re not my dad,” Jungkook said good-heartedly while getting off the armchair and pulling on his jacket.
“I’m kind of your dad,” Yoongi replied and laughed as Jungkook considered that statement before shrugging and nodding. “Yeah, you are, that’s fair.”
Once he was at the door and ready to leave, he turned around to Yoongi again. “One last thing though. Could you maybe … not ever tell Taehyung what you just told me?”
Yoongi looked at him in confusion for a few seconds. “Uhm, what? Why?”
“Just … a few months ago I was, like, really confused by your relationship and I went to Taehyung to ask him about it, and he held like this long monologue about different styles of attachment and basically he told me everything you just told me, about needing space and not wanting to depend on someone else but with enough time to develop trust the relationship would turn into a healthy and loving one.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of creepy how well he actually predicted that one. But anyways, I told him that I didn’t find that very plausible and now he’s been giving me his fucking I-told-you-so look every time you two do something cute and honestly, I just couldn’t deal with it if he found out how very right he was down to the last detail.”
“That is … incredible,” Yoongi said, stunned. “This kid needs to stop studying psychology, it’s actually freaking me out how well he knows us all.”
“Same,” Jungkook said weakly, before shrugging. “Anyways, I’ll get going now, please don’t tell him, bye!”
With that, he left the studio, hardly hearing Yoongi’s quiet good-bye, and started walking towards the building’s exit. He would do his best to make sure Taehyung never found out about tonight’s conversation. Jungkook couldn’t buy him a Frozen Yogurt, he didn’t have that type of money lying around (but more importantly, his pride couldn’t take that kind of blow).
A week and a half later, it was time for the next group movie night, this time at Yoongi and Seokjin’s place – Jungkook’s personal favourite, since they had the biggest TV and usually also the best food.
Jungkook’s usual Friday-routine had been a bit overthrown that day, since his professor had asked to meet him and he had missed his work-out that way. As a result, he arrived at the hyungs’ place much earlier than planned, hungry and confused (because his prof had decided to give him Extra-Credit work to up his grade in form of an essay called ‘What love means to me’ which – what the fuck, how was he supposed to do that?).
Anyways, he stopped in front of the apartment door half an hour before he was supposed to be there, but he knew that Yoongi and Seokjin would never turn him away, so he fished around in his pocket for the key he had (given to him last year when they had both been away but they needed their sugar gliders to be fed – and never given back), and let himself in.
The second he entered the small apartment, he could hear quiet voices coming out of the living room – namely, Yoongi and Jimin’s voices. Jungkook froze in confusion and focused on the conversation, trying to understand what was happening.
“ – that was an asshole move on my side, and I realise that now,” Yoongi murmured and Jungkook could hear Jimin’s quiet, airy laugh in response.
“I must say I wasn’t expecting that when you asked us to come by earlier, but I’m really relieved to hear you say that, to be honest,” Jungkook heard Jimin reply while he quietly toed off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen, avoiding the creaking floorboard so the two in the living room wouldn’t notice him.
Once he entered the kitchen, he froze like a deer in headlights, staring at Taehyung and Seokjin, who had wine glasses in their hands and looked back at him with raised eyebrows.
“Uhm … hi,” Jungkook whispered awkwardly and did a weird sort of half-wave. Taehyung and Seokjin snorted, then Seokjin turned around and filled wine into a third glass, which he gave to Jungkook before putting a finger over his lips.
“Be quiet, okay, we’re trying to listen too,” he mumbled and Jungkook nodded, dumbfounded, before focusing back on the conversation in the next room.
“- and I just never understood what I did wrong, why you didn’t want me close to you. It really messed me up for a while, you know,” Jimin said.
“I get that, and I really am sorry for that. You really didn’t do anything wrong, I just … I couldn’t deal with it. Emotional connections scared me, they still scare me even now, actually. But hyung’s just as scared as I am, so it’s working out. You were always way too ready to completely open yourself up to someone else, and while that’s an admirable ability, it really freaked me out.”
“That’s … that’s honestly so good to hear.” Jungkook could basically hear Jimin’s smile, and apparently so could the others, because Taehyung had literal hearts in his eyes.
“I realise now you deserved to hear it much earlier but … I didn’t get that back then. But really, I’m sorry for how I behaved sometimes. I understand now that I probably seemed really mean. But honestly, I’m also really glad we didn’t work out.” Yoongi chuckled quietly, and Jimin did too.
“Yeah, me too. We both found the person who’s right for us so … I’m happy you’re apologising now, and you’re forgiven, hyung. We’re both happy now, so there’s no need to dwell on the past, right?”
Yoongi made a sound that could probably be considered as agreement, and Seokjin cooed.
“Listen to our babies, being grown up and talking out their issues, doesn’t that just warm your heart,” he said and fake-wiped a tear from his eyes, which Taehyung copied.
“They have come so far,” he pretended to sob before clinking their glasses together and taking a big swig. Jungkook rolled his eyes.
“You two are idiots,” he said, but he smiled as well. Jimin and Yoongi resolving their issues really was something to be happy about.
“Maybe so, but I’m an idiot who you owe a Froyo,” Taehyung replied smugly and Jungkook choked on his wine. “Uhm, what?” He decided to play dumb.
“Don’t uhm me, you know I was right. I deserve the biggest Froyo out there,” Taehyung proclaimed confidently and Seokjin looked at the two of them in confusion before shrugging and obviously deciding that that was none of his business.
Jungkook sighed and gave up, nodding with a crestfallen expression. “Yeah, hyung, I’ll get you a Froyo soon,” he said and Taehyung beamed at him before turning towards Seokjin again.
Jungkook leaned back on the counter and sipped on his wine glass, listening to Taehyung and Seokjin joking around and Yoongi and Jimin quietly talking until a knock sounded on the door.
“That’ll be Hobi and Namjoon-ah,” Seokjin said and made his way towards the front door. “Why don’t you guys go join Yoongichi and Jimin, the food’s already on the couch table,” he called over his shoulder and Jungkook didn’t have to be told twice.
Five minutes later saw him sitting on the couch, gulfing down home-made ramen, with Yoongi and Seokjin next to him, Taehyung and Jimin on the loveseat, and Namjoon and Hoseok on the floor in front of him on top of a bunch of pillows (also one of the perks of Yoongi and Seokjin’s place, they had so many pillows that even the floor seat was comfortable).
As the intro of the movie started – a Disney one, this time, Jungkook hadn’t listened when Jimin said which one – he looked at the couples surrounding him.
Namjoon and Hoseok were busy feeding each other popcorn, giggling quietly every time one of them dropped a piece (or rather, when Namjoon dropped a piece. It was always Namjoon).
Taehyung and Jimin basically sat on top of each other, Taehyung with his arms around Jimin’s waist, Jimin’s hands on top of the other’s. Right as Jungkook looked at them, Jimin turned his head to the side and pressed a kiss on Taehyung’s hair, to which the younger responded by kissing the other’s shoulder before smiling up at him.
Seokjin and Yoongi were pressed into each other’s sides on the couch, Yoongi’s head resting on Seokjin’s shoulder, the elder’s arm framed across Yoongi’s body and lightly stroking up and down his arm.
All of them were focused on the movie, but also on each other, and Jungkook figured he could’ve felt left out or uncomfortable, but instead he looked at the three pairs again and smiled.
Those were the six people that meant most to him in this world, and all of their happiness and the love they had for each other literally surrounded him. Jungkook smiled to himself. Maybe that was something he could work with for the extra credit essay.
Yoongi seemed to notice Jungkook staring at the others instead of at the screen, and he turned his head without lifting it from Seokjin’s shoulder to look at him.
“Are you okay, Kook-ah?”
Everyone else turned to look at him as well, and Jungkook smiled at them.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m really, really good.”