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Bacon sizzled in the kitchen, sending a bolt of clarity through Jungkook’s senses. Nothing could wake him up quite like the prospect of food could. Hood of his sweatshirt still pulled over his head, he sat up from where he had been laying on the table, watching lazily as Jin flipped the next slice of meat.
On calm mornings like these, conversation was always slow to start. They relished in the peace of having time off, and there really wasn’t much to say when you lived your entire life with the same six other people. Granted, only two of those six others were in the room at the moment. Aside from Jin in the kitchen, Yoongi sat across the table, bed head untouched and scribbling lazily in a notebook. Jungkook blinked slowly, not really paying attention to anything.
The air shifted slightly as Hoseok entered, already showered and dressed for the day—a far cry from the other three.
“Where are you going?” Jin asked, pulling the other two back into reality.
“Shopping,” Hoseok answered easily, sliding into the chair next to Yoongi and pulling out his phone. “Gonna finally hang out with people who aren’t all of you.”
“Rude,” Yoongi commented quietly, though none of them took his words to heart. They’d all needed fresh air to breathe before, socially speaking.
It wasn’t long after Hoseok had seated himself that a still sleepy Jimin came shuffling into the kitchen, immediately latching himself to Jungkook. The youngest lifted his hand to rest it on the arm slung across his collar bone and Jimin buried his face into Jungkook’s neck.
“Are you going to stop by the market?” Jin asked, ignoring the latest arrival.
“I can if I need to,” Hoseok shrugged.
“We’re running out of milk.”
Jimin hummed, nosing past Jungkook’s hood to plant a kiss on his neck.
“Good morning,” Jungkook told him, reaching up to scratch at the top of his head.
“What do you guys have planned?” Hoseok asked in return, attention still halfway on his phone.
“Laundry,” Jungkook sighed. Jimin mumbled his reply, but none of them caught wind of it. Jin clicked his tongue, nodding along with Jungkook’s answer.
“Same. I really need to do stuff around here.”
“I’m gonna be in the studio,’ Yoongi told them.
“Again?” Hoseok turned. “I thought you were almost done?”
“I’m not happy with one of the tracks.”
He hummed.
“I thought it was fine. You should get a second opinion.”
“Namjoon already listened to it and—
“You two are always holed up in your studios,” Jin rolled his eyes, interrupting Yoongi’s explanation. Jungkook laughed, and Jimin moved off of him to fall in the chair beside him.
“What does that have to do with anything?!” Yoongi asked, confused expression clear. Taehyung had begun to creep in at this point, looking more awake than Jimin was, but nowhere near as ready to start the day as Hoseok.
“What’s going on?” he asked, bypassing the table and instead going for the kitchen.
“Namjoon and Yoongi spend too much time in their studios.”
“We’re working. It’s literally our job,” Yoongi told him, arms extended across the table.
“Today’s your day off,” Hoseok told him with a shrug. “Come shopping with us.”
“I don’t want to shop,” Yoongi grumbled.
“Can I listen to your mixtape?” Jungkook offered. “If it’s ready?”
Hoseok shot him a look, but an understanding crossed the table.
“Sure,” Yoongi nodded, taking the excuse to go back into his studio, despite the others insisting he go out.
“What are we doing?” Namjoon asked, entering the room freshly showered but dressed comfortably.
“I’m showing Jungkook some songs,” Yoongi told him. Namjoon shook his hair, still damp.
“Me too!” Jimin finally spoke up. Yoongi didn’t seem affected, so they took that as a ‘sure, why not.’ Taehyung entered again, carrying breakfast with him and pulling everyone’s attention towards food. Jin followed, and they settled into their meal together
“So, like I said,” Yoongi said, two hours later from in front of his computer. “This is still... rougher than I’d like. Give me your honest feedback.”
Jungkook sat nestled into Jimin’s side on the couch inside Yoongi’s studio, his hand in Jimin’s as the older turned it over, tracing patterns on it. Taehyung had tagged along, and he sat on the arm of the couch, watching Yoongi intently. As Yoongi’s first song started to play, Jungkook could see Tae’s phone light up with a blue notification, but the other boy quickly swiped it away in favor of listening to the music.
It was then that Jungkook realized he’d left his phone in the dorm. Not in a rush to get it, he let it go. It was their day off. Sometimes phones could be stressful. Instead, he sunk into the couch, eyes closed, and listened to the song.
It ended, and Taehyung eagerly gave his thoughts, which Jungkook agreed to, and the next song began. He didn’t have much to add. After all, Yoongi was so much better at this stuff than him. Listening to this next song, he’d almost zoned out—maybe that was something to point out—when he felt a familiar mouth pressing against his neck again. Jimin really was being clingy today; it wasn’t that unusual, and most everyone was used to it by this point, but he was really pushing it if—
The music stopped abruptly, and Jimin froze against Jungkook’s throat.
“What are you doing?”
Jungkook peaked one eye open to find Yoongi staring him down. Tae’s expression was more amused, but he waiting silently as well.
“I was listening to your track,” Jungkook offered. Jimin giggled, digging his face into his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Do not even think about fucking to my—”
“Hyung!” Jungkook exclaimed, sitting up abruptly.
“It wasn’t that,” Jimin smiled, rolling his eyes. “Kookie just looks so good today, doesn’t he?” At that, he leaned over and ran a hand through the younger’s hair, earning a snicker from Taehyung. Yoongi’s irritation was apparent.
“Are you even paying attention?”
“Yes,” Jungkook nodded at the same time Jimin let out an, “Eh.”
“Jimin,” Jungkook muttered, turning to him. Yoongi scoffed and threw himself back down into his chair.
“Either pay attention or get out. Tae is the only one helping. I don’t want you in here just so you can make out to my music.”
Jimin just laughed again, and a knock came at Yoongi’s studio door.
“What the fuck is it now?” he asked himself before raising his voice.
“Yeah?”
The door opened and Namjoon stuck his head in.
“Do you have that demo track that didn’t make it to the album?”
“No, we did that on your computer.”
“Shit,” Namjoon nodded. “Okay. Never mind. Bye.”
And with that, the door was shut again, and Yoongi was clicking around on his own computer.
“Hyung, I think we’re gonna go now,” Jimin grinned, pulling up Jungkook by the hand.
“But—
“Please do,” Yoongi deadpanned, turning to watch them leave. “Tae can stay.”
“Leave,” Tae grinned at them, sliding into a more comfortable seat now that Jimin was dragging Jungkook to the door. Jungkook just rolled his eyes, allowing himself to be tugged out the door and into the hall. Yoongi’s studio door closed behind them and he could hear another song kick up. Instead of moving very far, though, Jimin pushed him against the wall on the other side of the door, grinning up at him with a cheeky smile.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Jungkook asked, hands gripping the other’s waist.
“I was hoping you would,” Jimin smirked, leaning up on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Jungkook’s lips. It was accepted with a happy sigh, one of Jungkook’s hands moving to rest in Jimin’s hair.
The older boy’s lips didn’t stay there for long, though, as the moved down to Jungkook’s neck, just below his jaw, sucking and nipping lightly. He nuzzled into the area, lips working their magic as carefully as he could. It might have been a day off but they had commitments coming up and the last thing he needed was another scolding by the makeup team.
“Babe?”
“Hm?” Jimin didn’t bother pulling away.
“Are you sure we—ah—that we should start this in the hallway?” Jungkook asked, hand tightening in Jimin’s hair as he moved down his neck. He sank his teeth in carefully, not enough to cause any pain, but just enough to elicit a response from Jungkook, and he pulled back.
“I’m just kissing you,” he pouted.
“Yeah, but—”
Jungkook was cut off with another deep kiss, this one pulling a moan out of him, and for just a moment, he forgot what he was going to say. As he broke for air, though, it came back to him. The sound of an air conditioner kicking on filled the room and he rested his hands against Jimin’s chest, holding him back just enough to talk to him. Jimin whined.
“I love you,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss his forehead, “But there are cameras everywhere.”
“It’s just security cameras,” Jimin told him head cocked to the side. “Nothing they haven’t seen.”
“Yeah, but they told us to try and be more... discreet or whatever,” Jungkook shrugged, his hands now falling to the hem of Jimin’s shirt, fiddling with the fabric. Jimin just bit his lip, wide smile stretching across his face.
“You’re so cute. Trying to follow the rules and all.”
Jungkook just rolled his eyes.
Jimin licked his lips, eyes darting to the side, and Jungkook could see an idea formulating on his face.
“I don’t think Namjoon-hyung is in his studio anymore,” he smirked, slipping his hand just underneath Jungkook’s shirt. Despite the joy he got from the skin to skin contact, Jungkook couldn’t help but to watch his hyung in confusion.
“How do you know? And what does it matter?”
Jimin moved towards the door of the studio, hand linking with Jungkook’s and pulling along.
“After he stopped to ask about the track I heard him run towards the dorms. And there isn’t any music playing...” he paused, free hand on the door knob. He turned to Jungkook. “Or any cameras.”
Jungkook’s eyes went wide.
“We can’t—in hyung’s studio?”
Jimin simply cracked open the door with a giggle and pulled Jungkook in. Sure enough, the room was empty—Namjoon’s chair still pushed back from where he’d gotten up earlier.
“He won’t know,” Jimin giggled, shutting the door and pulling Jungkook into another kiss. He pulled away just before it could get any deeper. “Besides, it’s fun, isn’t it? Doing it where you’re not supposed to?”
With that, he began to playfully push Jungkook back until he fell against Namjoon’s couch. Jungkook simply pushed himself up on his elbows, adjusting himself so that he lay comfortably as Jimin slowly climbed on top of him, legs on either side, straddling him with a smirk and never breaking eye contact. Jimin’s first place of attack was Jungkook’s neck again, but this go around he wasted no time in sliding his hand up Jungkook’s chest, bunching up his shirt so that he would have a good view of everything.
Jungkook let our airy breaths as Jimin hit some sensitive spots, hands gripping Jimin’s hips, and rubbed small circles into the skin there with his thumbs. He pulled one hand up to cup Jimin’s face and pulled him back into a kiss, deepening it while Jimin’s hands took full advantage of this, scratching ever so lightly down Jungkook’s chest.
Already feeling some stirring, Jimin wasn’t shy about rolling his hips into Jungkook’s, but he hadn’t gotten more than two rolls in before the door to the studio was flying open and Namjoon’s cheery voice boomed into the room.
“Sorry, guys, I—”
Jimin pulled off of Jungkook with a wet noise, head jerking to where Namjoon stood, staring at the two of them with a look of horror.
“You what?” Jimin asked, chest rising and falling with slightly labored breathing. Most of it had to do with the adrenaline of Namjoon walking in on them, although he couldn’t say it had been the first time. The couple on the couch watched curiously as their leader remained frozen. Confusing, since usually the reaction they got from the other members was a groan and the command to get a room while they laughed and ran off. This time felt... different for some reason.
Namjoon just stared at them. Jimin still straddled on top of Jungkook, who’s shirt sat bunched together at his collarbone.
“Hyung?” Jungkook asked, head cocked to the side.
Namjoon simply turned his head towards the computer on his desk, watching it for a second before turning back to the couple. He cleared his throat, body slowly beginning to loosen up.
“Please...” he started slowly, then swallowed. “Please tell me that Jungkook was choking and you were giving him CPR.”
Jungkook quirked an eyebrow but Jimin began to shake with laughter.
“What?” he shook his head, grinning. “Hyung, look we’re sorry we broke into your studio. We weren’t gonna like, make a mess or anything....” Namjoon said nothing so Jimin continued, but Jungkook’s attention turned back to the computer. “Seriously, we’d never mess up your personal stuff like that, we were just messing around, you know?”
As Jimin continued his effort to apologize to Namjoon, Jungkook focused in on the screen. He hadn’t thought too much about it when they first walked in. Nothing seemed to be on it then, just a shot Namjoon’s studio, but now as he looked closer, an alarm began to ring in his head.
He stared back at himself in the screen, Jimin casually sitting on top, mouth still running. An all too familiar logo sat in the corner of the screen, and to the side, rapid movement of what he now realized was text. A chat room.
“Hyung,” Jungkook finally croaked, cutting off his boyfriend. His eyes didn’t leave the screen. “Are you on VLive?”
Jimin’s body stilled on top of his.
A silence filled the room and, if possible, even more messages began to flood in.
“Yes,” Namjoon answered quietly.
The three of them stared before finally—
“What the fuck, turn it off!” Jimin snapped at the leader, who immediately sprang into action.
“Uh, bye guys!” he got out as he crossed the room, quickly ending the live. He sank into his chair, head falling into his hands. By this point, Jimin had crawled off of Jungkook, and the two were now sitting up on opposite ends of the couch. Jungkook stared at the wall, and Jimin bit as his nails.
“How bad was it?” Namjoon asked, looking up to the two of them.
“Was it live the entire time?” Jimin asked, pulling a leg up to curl in on himself.
“Yes!” Namjoon nodded, a bit exasperated. “I wanted to show something to ARMY and I ran back to the dorms to check on it and when I came back to talk to them more you two were...you know!”
Army had seen them. Everyone had seen them. And no doubt there were video recordings of it and it was being passed around the internet and people were sending it to their friends and suddenly Jungkook was shaking in a way he never had before.
“I think I’m gonna throw up,” he announced, not bothering to move. Jimin jumped up, grabbing the trash can from Namjoon, and set it in front of him, moving in close to rub his back. Namjoon’s phone started vibrating. They all knew who it was.
“I’m gonna take this outside,” Namjoon told them quietly, grabbing his phone and leaving the room. There weren’t two seconds, though, before Yoongi and Taehyung were pushing in.
“What the fuck happened?” Yoongi demanded. Jungkook gagged once before his body was rejecting everything he’d eaten that day into the trashcan. A few concerned comments were made as they came nearer, Taehyung grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge that Namjoon kept in there.
“Can you get him a wet towel or something?” Jimin asked, his focus on Jungkook being the only thing keeping him sane. Yoongi nodded once, leaving the studio without another word, only pausing as Jin sidled into the room.
“What the fuck is going on? Our Twitter mentions are scaring me,” he announced as Jungkook’s body went for round two. “Jungkook, are you okay?”
Jungkook just shook his head, finally speaking for the first time since he realized what had happened.
“They’re gonna kick me out of Bangtan,” he sobbed, hands covering his face, and immediately all of the members moved to comfort him. Jimin kept his arms around Jungkook’s midsection, and Jin kept a hand on his hair while Tae knelt in front of him. Yoongi popped back in with a wet towel.
“No, no they’re not,” Jin told him, petting his hair gently. “It’s not Bangtan without Jungkook.”
“Or Jimin,” Tae pointed at. Jimin gave Tae a look, one crossed between a ‘thanks’ and a ‘why would you bring that up oh my god.’
Jungkook, still shaking, kept his eyes clenched shut, head down, focusing on the soothing sensation of Jimin’s hand on his back. The door opened again, and Namjoon stood in the doorway, wringing his hands.
“We need to go back to the dorm,” he told them. “Hoseok was called back. We’re uh, we’re gonna have a meeting.”
Glances were exchanged silently, and together they helped Jungkook up and back to the dorm.
It was surprising that only one person, the head manager, came walking into their dorm just five minutes after a stunned Hoseok had. The boys whispered quietly at first, but the second they heard the doorbell ring, and the door click open, a silence filled them. They could hear his footsteps approaching, a sound that only fed the surrealism in Jungkook’s mind.
A worried Jimin sat next to him, holding his hand, and Namjoon was on the other side, brow furrowed together. He kept his chin in his hands, running through all of the ways this could have been potentially his fault. He was leader, after all, and it had been on his live and in his studio. Of course, he didn’t know, but sometimes that excuse could only get him so far.
The manager in question stopped just inside the living space where everyone sat, looking up at him expectantly. Namjoon cleared his throat and sat up straight in preparation to speak, but the manager threw up a hand.
“Decisions haven’t been made yet,” he told them bluntly. “I don’t know when they will be, but for the time being you all need to stay here. Don’t post anything online. Definitely don’t go live. Act like you don’t exist until we figure out what we’re doing. Don’t talk about what happened today with anyone outside of this room.”
There was a pause. Namjoon nodded his head.
“Jimin, Jungkook,” he sighed, eyes landing on them. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but closed it again, looking down, as if he were thinking. Normally, Jungkook was silent in meetings like this. Being the youngest he was often overwhelmed and intimidated, but today he’d completely lost his headspace, and the rest of the band was shocked when he blurted out without second thought:
“Are they kicking me out?!”
The manager made eye contact with Jungkook, who’s face was swollen and red at this point. He sighed.
“I highly doubt it.”
A small breath was let out of his body. Maybe it was relief. Tension.
“The decision will more than likely be on whether or not to try and erase what happened or to go with it. We’ll... We’ll let you know. But there’s nothing else that can be done right now. You boys should rest.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving the band in the same stunned silence as before.
The air kicked on again, and it reminded Jungkook of how light he’d felt just seconds before making possibly the worst mistake of his life.
“They’re not gonna kick you out, Kookie,” Hoseok said softly. The others looked at the boy in question. He finally let out all of the breath he’d been holding. Despite not knowing was going to happen, the looks on their faces, so genuine, were a comfort.
“How about I make some food?” Jin offered, already getting out of his chair. “I’ll make some cookies. We can break our diet for one night, yeah? Maybe get some ice cream?”
“I forgot the milk,” Hoseok admitted. Jin went to say something, but Yoongi spoke up.
“Yeah, I think that’s the least of our worries right now.”
“What, do you think I’m making the ice cream from scratch?” Jin asked, hand on hip.
“No, I’m just saying,” Hoseok shrugged. “I forgot the milk you asked for.”
“The milk’s not important,” Yoongi rolled his eyes.
“How am I gonna eat my cereal?” Jungkook asked, dejected and catching everyone’s attention. He was still a little teary eyed.
“Are—”
“We can send someone for milk, right?” Taehyung asked around the room.
“I mean,” Namjoon sat back in the couch, “We can but I don’t see why we need it now.”
“What if Jungkook gets hungry?” Jimin asked suddenly, turning to Namjoon.
“That’s why I’m baking cookies,” Jin explained.
“Yeah, but you need milk to dunk your cookies in,” Tae countered.
“That’s Oreos,” Yoongi told him as if he were stupid.
“No, you eat chocolate chip cookies with milk, too,” Hoseok nodded with Tae.
“Are you making chocolate chip?” Namjoon asked, eyebrows perking up.
“Yes.”
Jungkook closed his eyes debate going on around him as his hand raised to massage the headache that was forming. After the sudden mood shifts he had put his body through in the past hour, he should have expected a headache sooner.
“We should send for milk,” Taehyung restated.
“We’re already in trouble as it is,” Yoongi told him, lowering his voice, “We shouldn’t annoy them over milk. We have water.”
“Never mind, then,” Jungkook muttered low enough that only he and the person beside him could hear.
Jimin huffed.
“The milk isn’t that big of a deal, guys,” he told them.
“It’s fine,” Jungkook added without opening his eyes. “I didn’t mean it.”
Yoongi quirked an eyebrow at him.
“What do you mean you didn’t mean it?”
“That I needed milk.”
Yoongi rolled his eyes. “You need milk, duh, we’re talking about the timing of—
“You know what,” Namjoon stood suddenly. “I think we’re all on edge right now, so maybe we should all give each other some space. Jin, do you need help in the—”
“You’re not helping me. Come on, Tae.”
“Right,” Namjoon nodded, unsurprised by the rejection.
“I’m going to my room,” Yoongi decided, getting up and leaving without any more fanfare. “Order milk if you want, I don’t care.”
Jimin let out a frustrated noise.
“Let’s go lay down a little,” Jimin nudged Jungkook, who followed him up without resistance. They found themselves in Jimin’s bedroom, the taller of the two already crawling in bed, Jimin shortly behind. When he dived in, he immediately wrapped his arms around Jungkook, peppering his face with kisses.
“I love you,” he reminded him.
“Love you, too,” Jungkook mumbled, squirming closer. “Just fuck up stuff sometimes.”
“I know I do,” Jimin sighed.
“No, I was talking about myself,” Jungkook whined, rolling over onto his back and covering his face with his hands. “I should have known better. I saw the computer screen when we went in. I should have noticed that it was on live.”
“Babe, I’m the one who pulled you in there in the first place, it was my idea.”
Jungkook didn’t bother arguing, instead, he voiced a different concern.
“Why aren’t you more scared?” he nearly whispered into the room. Jimin slowly rubbed a hand against Jungkook’s tummy, propping himself on his side so that he could look over at Jungkook.
“I guess,” he told him, leaning down for the sweetest of kisses. “It’s because my first instinct was to take care of you.” he left another kiss. “And I don’t care if the world knows that you’re my boyfriend and they hate me for it. I want them to know.”
Jungkook didn’t say anything. Jimin gave him another kiss.
“I’m scared, too. People are gonna stay stuff, but they were gonna say stuff anyway, weren’t they?”
“What do you mean?” Jungkook asked.
“I mean... one day I planned on holding your hand in public.” He slid his hand over to where Jungkook’s lay and took it in his own and pulled it up to his lips, delicately kissing his knuckles. “I’d put a ring on your finger if it were legal. You know that.”
“You’ve already tried,” Jungkook reminded him, a small smile forming. Jimin kept Jungkook’s fingers against his mouth, smiling against them. He placed another soft kiss on them and gently set his hand against Jungkook’s chest.
“Besides,” he whispered, face drawing in closer to his boyfriends. “I guess I’m not too scared because even in the worst case scenario, I still have you.”
Jungkook swallowed, making eye contact with Jimin.
“But what if they make us—
“Shh,” Jimin shook his head, lips centimeters apart from Jungkook’s. “We’ll just let them think that. We’ve pretended we weren’t together before, we could do it again.” He pressed against Jungkook’s lips.
Jungkook leaned up and into the kiss, moving his hands to loosely wrap around Jimin’s neck and pulled him down. Jimin moaned lightly and together thoughts of their current worries began to slip away. Jimin’s words melded into Jungkook’s mind, reminding him that there really wasn’t a worst case scenario when he had Jimin.