Archive of Our Own

the morning after jeongguk is sure he failed his exam in chemsitry (which is so stupid, why does he even need to take that? he’s majoring in music, not potions or anything. and yea, he knows he’s a freshman and he has to get it out of the way but still ), he goes to the coffee shop he always goes to when he needs to break down, cofe2. It’s a little ironic, he supposes, that he’s going to a cafe when the name of it is a pun from chemistry, but their brownies and strawberry shakes are too good to pass up, and jeongguk eats them when he’s sad (and happy, and anything else). He also gets a good discount, since the owner’s son, jin, is the boyfriend of his hyung, namjoon, who tutors him in chemistry. 

that’s one of the main reasons he’s so upset about potentially flunking the chemistry exam, actually. namjoon is such a nice hyung, and he tutors him so well. if jeongguk just didn’t know how to be taught, that wasn’t namjoon’s fault, and he doesn’t want him to feel crappy about it. 

the younger goes up to order and speaks to his toes pretty much the entire time, and then sits at the table in a pool of his own regret until the guy at the counter calls his name, and when he goes up to get his stuff, he still doesn’t look at the guy directly. he’s pretty sure if he looks at anyone else right now, and they happen to ask what’s wrong, he’ll probably do something embarrassing like burst into tears or throw himself into their arms and he’d told jin that would never happen again.

he devours the brownie in record time- by about a good minute actually, and if he weren’t so upset right now, he’d be excited about it- and then sips forlornly at his shake. he’s glad jin isn’t in today; the older had his own finals to get through, and even though he hated taking time off the cafe, tests wouldn’t take themselves. if he were here though, he’d be trying to make stupid jokes to make jeongguk feel better and even though he always swears they’re stupid, he laughs every time. there’s something about his hyung’s loud, squeaky laugh that gets him. he’s hit with another wave of sadness when he realizes there isn’t anyone around to cheer him up, as his hyungs are all busy. 

it’s a split second after that when a plate with another brownie near slams down on his table. he blinks, surprised, and blearily eyes the hand (a very nice hand, his unhelpful gay brain supplies), and traces it up the arm to see a guy (a very nice looking guy). and yea, jeongguk is—definitely gay. 

the person standing in front of him is gorgeous, there’s no way around it, and jeongguk is sure he’s never seen him before because he would have remembered . his skin seems to glow, and his smile, although timid, is so bright it’s near blinding. his hair is a color jeongguk has never really seen; it’s some kind of light blonde with these strands of strawberry pink that if you weren’t looking close enough, you would definitely miss. 

jeongguk is looking quite close.

then he realizes he’s staring, and his mouth is hanging open and he looks like an idiot. he quickly closes it, face burning with embarrassment.

the man seems amused, though jeongguk can see that the tips of ears are pink enough to match the streaks in his hair and before he can wonder too much on why that might be, he’s spoken to.

“um, you kind of looked, sad? so i thought maybe you’d want another brownie?” all of this is said with that same small smile, each sentence voiced like a question, like jeongguk might be annoyed at this beautiful man trying to be kind to him. 

“oh,” jeongguk fumbles, “um, you didn’t- how much?” he pulls out his wallet. he’ll gladly take a brownie from this guy if it means he’ll grin fully and without restraint, because jeongguk feels like it would be quite a sight.

the angel sent with manna from heaven shakes his head earnestly. “no, no charge, it’s on the house! you just seemed so upset, i just wanna make you feel better.” 

so much for not crying.

as soon as the guy sees the tears, he slips clumsily into the seat across from jeongguk, taking his hand. “oh my god, are you crying? did i make you cry? i’m so sorry i-”

jeongguk’s watery laugh cuts him off. “no, no- i’m sorry, i don’t really ever… react like this. you’re perfect, i’m just… a mess.” he doesn’t fully register what he’d actually said- he’d called him perfect - until it’s too late to take it back. 

the other man’s face is all pink now, and it’s adorable. jeongguk almost can’t remember that he was even sad. 

they’re still holding hands and while jeongguk is very much okay with that, he’s sure this random (although nice) guy doesn’t want a stranger holding his hand, so he lets go, pulls it back into his own space. 

“ah, i’m sorry. today is so off for me.” he runs a hand through his hair, grimacing down at the table. not only has he embarrassed himself by ogling, he’s also cried in front of this random person and held their hand. 

the man cups his hands under his chin and it makes him look like a flower, which makes jeongguk want to cry for a completely different reason. “wanna tell me about it?”

he shakes his head quickly. “no i don’t wanna- you’re probably busy, you don’t need to hear about my problems.” it sounds way more self-deprecating than he meant it to sound but it’s too late to take it back. “besides we- you don’t even know me,” he finishes awkwardly.

there’s a smile then, a full one, and it’s like sunshine and all things good, big and heart-shaped and beautiful and jeongguk’s breath gets caught in his chest just a little bit from the sheer elation of it. 

“i’m hoseok.”

his voice sounds a bit breathless when he replies, “i’m uh, jeongguk,” but he can’t find it in himself to be ashamed, not when hoseok is looking at him the way he is.

“you look like a baby, so i think i’m older than you. you can call me hyung.” the supposed older tells him with a cheeky wink. 

jeongguk tries not to be affected by being called a baby (and that wink) , but he feels his cheeks heat up anyway. “i’m not that young!” he protests and knows he’s pouting without even meaning to. 

hoseok coos at him. “aw, yes you are! when were you born?”

“i’m a ‘97 liner,” jeongguk states, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. he sees something flit over the other’s face, his eyes darting to his biceps briefly, which good—he works hard for those. the moment is over just as soon as it started though, the blonde already recovering enough to laugh (which god, that’s a sound. jeongguk wants to bottle it up, open it when he’s at his lowest and- when did he get so whipped? he’s known this guy for what, 15 minutes? less? he needs to quit before he starts something he knows won’t go anywhere).

“ha, i’m a ‘94 liner! so like i said. you’re a baby.” hoseok looks so proud of himself. “and anyway, now that we know each other,” he sets his face back in his hands, leaning forward, expression suddenly more somber, “tell hyung what’s wrong.”

jeongguk runs a hand along his neck. “ah, maybe it’s dumb but… namjoon-hyung tutors me in chemistry and i took the final today and i’m sure i bombed it. i don’t want hyung to feel like he’s not a good teacher just because i can’t learn…” he’s sure hoseok has at least an inkling of who namjoon is, if he’s employed here and works with jin. 

if the older man doesn’t know, he doesn’t ask, just tells jeongguk gently, “i’m sure namjoonie knows that you tried your best. besides, i’m sure you didn’t fail! you seem like a smart cookie, kookie.” the joke is delivered with what looks like hoseok’s best attempt at a straight face, but it fails almost instantly. jeongguk can’t help but laugh. it’s not the first time he’s been called kookie, but he likes the way hoseok says it. 

“have you talked to him since the test?” hoseok asks, though by the guilty look on jeongguk’s face, he seems to already know the answer. “ah, jeongguk-ah! you should talk to him, i’m sure he’ll tell you the same stuff i am.”

jeongguk feels a rush of gratefulness. he would probably have sat here feeling ridiculously sorry for himself for a bit longer and then left to stew at home if he had been left alone, but hoseok has managed to turn his mood completely around. sure, he’s still a little bummed that he potentially failed his test, but having this cute boy bring him a free brownie and offer him even better free smiles, the younger feels better than he has in a week. finals have been brutal, and he still had one left. he was nervous about it, of course, but he couldn’t even be bothered to think about it right now, not with hoseok sitting here. 

“oh! i should probably… get back to work,” hoseok sheepishly grins, shooting an apologetic look at the coworker that had taken over for him when he said he’d ‘only be a few minutes’.

the brunette blinks. he’d totally forgotten hoseok was actually at work. “shit, uh yea. i’m sorry for keeping you so long.” he looks up at the older through his lashes as hoseok stands, and gives himself an internal pat on the back for the way the older’s cheeks turn pink. 

“it’s no problem, jeonggukie. i liked talking to you. i’ll see you around?” hoseok gives one last heart-shaped smile, then takes his place back behind the counter by his coworker, who jeongguk sees has turned to the blonde and is gesturing, annoyed. 

jeongguk doesn’t really stay any longer after that. he’d no reason to be there now, anyway.

hoseok sighs as he shrugs off his jacket and shoes, turning his neck to the side tiredly to crack the joint, hissing at the slight flare of pain down his back.

the shift had been long today, brutal at the morning and lunch rush as always, and slow near the end. 

unlike his other shifts though, he’d met someone today.

unconsciously, he smiles. jeonggukie. what a cute kid.

being able to sense others emotions sometimes was more of a curse than a blessing, but making the decision to help jeongguk had been a good one. his sadness had melted away when hoseok was talking to him, and things like that made having empathy magic worth it. of course, the emotions that had replaced the sadness…

hoseok blushed. he wasn’t a stranger to knowing that others found him attractive—it was flattering, for the most part. jeongguk’s feelings had been so… pure, though. it was nothing like the lust hoseok usually felt from others. it was more like…

“hey sunshine, i’m home.”

the blonde smiled at his boyfriend. “hi yoongi bear.”

he feels the small rush that trills through yoongi, the slight embarrassment, but mostly the love, and can’t help but giggle. “i can’t believe that even after two years that nickname gets to you.”

yoongi plops down on the couch next to him, grumbling. “you know that your voice has such pure soundwaves. they’re so flirtatious, i get embarrassed.”

hoseok rolls his eyes, but smiles fondly. yoongi has sound magic, and he frequently tells the other that his soundwaves are some of the smoothest he’s ever heard, and although hoseok isn’t quite sure what that means, it sounds romantic. 

he noses his way into yoongi’s arms, nuzzling against his chest. yoongi’s affection for him, a constant feeling in the back of his head, washes over him in a small wave, and he lets out a sigh of contentment, allows the frustration at the day to bleed into the air. he knows yoongi senses it; at this point, hoseok’s empathy magic is bonded to yoongi, so in small ways, they’re always exchanging emotions.

“have a rough day at work?” yoongi wraps an arm around hoseok’s waist, tugging him closer. 

he shakes his head. “just a little busy, that’s all. the customers were mostly nice, they always are.”

unbidden, he thinks of jeongguk, and feels a tiny burst of affection.

yoongi’s head tilts. “that was… different. what was that?”

hoseok feels abashed, suddenly. “i met someone at work today.”

“must have been quite a someone,” yoongi’s voice is quiet, though not unkind, “to make you feel like that.”

the younger can feel himself relaxing. yoongi won’t judge him; he never does. they’ve had conversations in the past about how they both feel about an open relationship. hoseok just has so much love , so much emotion, to share, and yoongi had said he hadn’t minded, as long as they both were okay with the person. it didn’t have to necessarily be love for everyone, but they both agreed that if one of them wasn’t comfortable, it wouldn’t happen. 

“his name is jeongguk. he was so sad, yoongi, sitting by himself, and when i came over to give him a brownie, he got so happy , and it was so cute,”  hoseok gushes, feeling fondness erupt in his stomach. “he has these really big cute eyes and he looks like a lost little bunny.” his voice gets shy, “he thought i was really cute, i could tell. but it wasn’t… it wasn’t gross like the others, ya know? it was so pure.”

yoongi is silent for a minute, then- “i mean, you are really cute.”

“that’s what you got from that entire thing?” hoseok laughs, swatting at yoongi’s nose just to see him scrunch it up like a kitty, which makes him giggle even harder.

“no, i just thought you’d like to hear it,” yoongi replies, smug when hoseok blushes, then face turning more serious. “hoseok, you sound like you really connected with this kid, but you remember our rule.” 

hoseok turns to nuzzle at yoongi’s check. “of course i do, hyung. i wish you could have met him… maybe he’ll come back to the cafe and i can get his number. his emotions… they really felt different.” being so completely linked to his powers, hoseok had told yoongi that if they ever were to open their relationship, it would have to be someone he felt completely comfortable with. even though he only was in jeongguk’s presence for less than half an hour, he felt something he’s never felt with anyone except yoongi and he thinks that’s a good sign. 

“okay sunshine,” yoongi mutters, brushing his lips against hoseok’s forehead. “i’ll meet him, for you."

a week later, jeongguk still can’t seem to get hoseok out of his head. 

he’d realized later the same day that he met the older that he hadn’t gotten his phone number—not that he’d have been brave enough to ask for it, but still. 

when jeongguk has too much of something- or in this case, someone- on his mind, he goes to the studio in the fine arts section of his school. being a freshman, he has to share it with others, but it’s better than nothing. the equipment isn’t awful , and besides, today all jeongguk wants to do is write, maybe try and put a beat to his words. he has a song due in a few weeks, which is the final he’s most stressed about. he’d known that majoring in music performance wasn’t going to be easy, but still, a whole song? the professor had said it was more of a test of their capabilities than anything, but jeongguk was still kind of new to producing, and he’d had to go to help sessions for music theory all year. as cheesy as it sounds, hoseok had kind of inspired him. it was barely there and he’d been developing it slowly all week, a soft yet euphoric and passionate melody, but jeongguk hoped he could make something out of it.

he booked the studio for as long as they would let him, which turned out to be a few hours, and sat down to work. there’s a definite pre-chorus and chorus he wants, he’s not too worried about figuring out the verses and bridge; the problem is definitely going to be the production. based on the melody, jeongguk has figured that there’s going to be at least a few layers of harmonies. he can do them, that isn’t the issue, it’s just getting them all in there correctly. he muses that he can probably ask his TA, Adora. she’s been a good help to him so far, and she’s shown that she knows her way around the equipment pretty well. hopefully she’ll agree to at least come in and show him how it’s supposed to work. for now, he works on getting down the pre-chorus and chorus down for sure, and writes a very ( very) rough version of the sound he wants there. tentatively, he starts singing it, trying to test how it actually comes across out loud. 

it sounds alright, but the wording is awkward. jeongguk starts scribbling on his paper, already switching the phrasing as he starts singing it again, only to be interrupted when the door swings open. 

his voice dies near instantly; he may be a vocal performance major, but he gets super shy singing in front of people. no matter how many times his hyungs tell him he has a nice voice, and jeongguk knows that he does, he just doesn’t like to be… pushy about it. singing is something he loves, and he wants to make people happy with it, but he has yet to really come out of his shell about it. 

the guy that walked in was, to be honest, a tiny thing, but he looked kind of intimidating with his slanted eyes and tattoos peeking out from the collar of his shirt, splattered across his hands as well. the mint hair and leather jacket sold the whole bad boy look, and jeongguk distantly hoped he wasn’t in some kind of trouble. 

“uh, i’m sorry, i have this studio booked for the next…” jeongguk looked at his phone, “hour and a half?” it came out as more of a question but he tried to maintain eye contact to hold some kind of ground. 

“was that you singing?” the guy asked, completely ignoring what jeongguk had said. his voice was deep, gravely. it completely fit how he looked, and even though he was definitely a few inches shorter than jeongguk, his aura screamed confidence. jeongguk felt completely compelled to answer.

he broke eye contact; whoever this guy was, his gaze was intense. “um… yes?” jeongguk cleared his throat, determined to get at least one complete sentence out around this guy that wasn’t a question. “yes, it was me. i’m working on a song.”

the mint-haired eyes widen almost imperceptibly, his eyebrows furrowing. “you wrote that?”

jeongguk isn’t quite sure what to make of his tone. “i mean… yea? it is-” he’s hit with a sudden wave of insecurity. “did it sound bad?”

the other scoffs, sitting down at the empty seat across from jeongguk. “bad? fuck no, kid, it was fantastic. you sound amazing.” he says it in such a matter of fact way, like there’s no room for argument. 

his face is on fire, jeongguk knows. compliments from pretty strangers have been super forthcoming lately, first from hoseok and now this guy, and he barely takes them well from people he knows, let alone people he doesn’t— especially when they look like this guy. where hoseok had been all soft and blurred edges, this man in front of him is like sharp lines, cut jagged. it’s not bad ( at all ), just different. 

he realizes belatedly he should probably say thanks, since he just got complimented, but the man starts talking again.

“is it for a class? how far along are you?” mint-hair is already leaning forward into jeongguk’s space, hand turning the sheet with lyrics around so he can read it.

“i-uh-” jeongguk sputters, “it’s for a final. i’m a freshman in vocal performance. it isn’t… very far along.” he pulls on one of his earrings, a nervous habit he has yet to break. suddenly he feels as if he’s being examined; he doesn’t know who this guy is, but he seems to know what he’s looking at. 

“the lyrics are good, but you need way more work on the back track. and are you really planning on doing that many layers?” he sounds skeptical, and jeongguk isn’t sure whether or not to preen at another compliment or be offended at the doubtful question. he has a feeling the guy isn’t trying to be mean, it’s just how he comes off sometimes.

jeongguk carefully takes the lyrics back, setting them on the desk. “i mean, i can sing them. it’s just a matter of getting it right with the equipment.” he realizes then, “uh. who are you?”

the guy grunts, but he’s not frowning. his face so far always seems to be… well it’s kind of a resting bitch face, if jeongguk is honest. “yoongi. and i’m your hyung; i’m a senior in music production.”

internally, jeongguk sighs. another hyung. he’s a bit more dry than jeongguk’s other hyungs; it’s not bad, it’s just a lot different from someone like jin, who cracks stupid jokes and laughs really loudly.

“i’m jeongguk. if you’re gonna criticize me on my song, can you at least help me fix it?” he isn’t sure where the confidence for the sass came from and he’s not sure how it’ll go over, but yoongi makes a weird kind of face, and it’s gone as fast as it came, and then he scoffs, says, “brat,” but doesn’t seem angry or say no.

jeongguk smiles toothily. “you said you major in production?”

yoongi is on to him instantly. “you only want me for my production skills. i knew it.” he gets up, sighing dramatically. 

the theatrics aren’t really something jeongguk would have pegged yoongi capable of, and it surprises him enough that he giggles. “wait, wait.” 

already turning to face him, completely deadpan, the older asks, “what?”

jeongguk giggles again. he isn’t sure what it is, but yoongi- the younger has a feeling that whatever bad boy vibe yoongi gives off isn’t who he really is at all. he’d honestly love to find out.

“hyung,” he puts on his best puppy dog eyes. “please help me on my song.”

an eyebrow raise, then, “what’s in it for me?”

he pouts even harder. “the pleasure of getting to spend more time learning how amazing your new dongsaeng is.” jeongguk pushes his bottom lip out for good measure, delighting in the way yoongi’s face twitches for half a second before converting back to uninterested.

“i don’t know, seems a little suspicious.”

fluttering his lashes (his last ditch tactic to get what he wants), jeongguk whines, “but hyung. i’m so cute, you can’t say no to me.”

“shit,” yoongi curses. “those eyes are lethal. do people ever deny you anything?”

the younger grins. “not really.”

they spend the remaining time jeongguk has in the studio messing around with the harmonies and back track. every time jeongguk sings, yoongi gets this look on his face, like he’s hearing the most captivating sound he’s ever heard, and the expression, like he can’t hide it and wouldn’t even try, makes jeongguk turn progressively more red everytime. 

on the flipside, the brunette is as equally enamored with yoongi’s knowledge of production. he knows so much , he’s pure genius, honestly. jeongguk is learning things his teachers have never even thought to teach them, things he’s sure they don’t even know. yoongi just has this way of hearing the sounds that jeongguk has never seen before; he’s sure there are stars in his eyes and he should be embarrassed but he compliments yoongi and after seeing his cheeks turn pink, jeongguk is determined to compliment the man on nearly everything he can think of. 

distantly, jeongguk thinks that he should stop doing whatever this is- meeting very cute and very nice guys and falling into a crush on them instantly, because two guys in one week is frankly ridiculous- but with hoseok, it had been so easy when faced with such a beautiful and caring personality, and with yoongi it’s easy for a completely different reason. the man has a hard exterior for sure, and he’s blunt to the point where jeongguk could see how it could be taken as rude, but he’s also endlessly patient when explaining things to jeongguk, and praises him when he does well. 

besides, jeongguk figures, nothing will come out of either of these crushes. it’s all harmless.

although yoongi hadn’t planned on being home for at least a few more hours- he himself had his own projects to work on, after all- meeting jeongguk had shot those plans down; he could always finish that stuff later. he worked better when the deadlines were super short, anyway (which hoseok had told him multiple times stressed yoongi out so much it stressed him out, but yoongi couldn’t help it, procrastination meant more sleep). he had to tell hoseok about meeting jeongguk, and he knew the younger was home, having taken off work for a final. he figures it’s a conversation that would be better in person, considering that now he understands his boyfriend’s smitten nature. the kid was cute , and yoongi’s sound magic definitely liked him. 

when he walks in, hoseok is sitting at their kitchen table, books spread out, and looks adorably confused, but he must feel yoongi’s impatience to tell him something; he stays quiet so the older can explain himself.

he jumps right into it. “i met jeongguk today.”

the funny thing about his boyfriend, yoongi has always thought, is that although hoseok can project his emotions to a certain extent, he doesn’t even need to—they’re written all over his face. 

“really?” hoseok asks cutely, mouth shaped in a little ‘o’. 

yoongi slides into the chair across from him. “yup. heard someone singing at the studio and the soundwaves, hope-ah, the soundwaves. they were unlike anything i’ve ever seen before. a lot like yours, actually.”

hoseok looks intrigued. “and it was jeongguk?”

nodding, yoongi begins to explain, “he was singing. apparently he’s a music performance major and he’s working on some kind of song. he needed help with the production so…” 

“you sly cat! you’re trying to steal him from me!” hoseok shrieks, hands flapping around wildly. 

yoongi rolls his eyes. “stop being so dramatic. we’re literally together; we can share him.”

“oh right.” hoseok frowns. “what if he doesn’t want both of us though? i mean, we’ve been together a long time and i feel like that could be… intimidating?”

it’s a fair point, one that yoongi hadn’t really thought about it.

“how about…” hoseok muses, “we befriend him separately? it’ll be less ya know, much , that way? that way we can also just get to know him. i mean, just because our magic likes him doesn’t mean we all necessarily click well, you know? plus, the fact that we have magic at all…”

“that’s right… i’d kind of forgotten he’s human,” yoongi frowns. it’s not really a problem , per say, but some humans just get really uncomfortable when faced with magic, so it’s kept pretty secretive. select humans know about it, of course; namjoon, a friend of theirs, knows because he’s dating jin, who has chemistry magic. jeongguk doesn’t really seem like the type to judge them for it, or hate them, but at this point, they don’t really know that. 

he sighs. “you’re right then. we become friends with him, see how he is around us and if we’re comfortable, we introduce him to the idea of us as a couple.”

hoseok nods, and they sit in silence for a few minutes.

“....who do you think he’ll like more first?” 

yoongi groans.

jeongguk sighs up to the sky in exasperation, brain all muddled up. he’s in the garden behind the flower shop his friends and roommates jimin and tae own, and normally, it does wonders for his music writing. the sky always seems so bright, the sun always warm and the flowers fragrant, seemingly in bloom at all times of the year, and tae and jimin are just as lovely as the plants they sell. he met them when he moved in, they’re in a few of jeongguk’s basic classes, and he isn’t sure how they manage to run a business and still go to school, but he likes them a lot. they’ve been together for a few years, and they’ve got this ease with each other that jeongguk yearns to have with someone, but they aren’t pushy about it, they just exist quietly together. days with them are never boring, and jeongguk is glad to have them in his life. 

so anyway, normally , the garden is a great place to brainstorm. he’d been doing okay so far, but now he’s a bit… distracted.

hoseok has shown up seemingly out of nowhere, and hasn’t seemed to notice jeongguk lurking in the back yet, but the younger has definitely noticed him. he’s wearing some kind of tank, his tan and rather fit arms on display, with work-out shorts and just as tan thighs to match, thick and straining against the material of the shorts. it’s been nearly two weeks since he last saw him, and jeongguk thinks he might be drooling, but he can’t even bring himself to care. the older runs a hand through his hair and jeongguk chokes on his own spit and nearly falls over. 

it’s of course, at that exact moment, that hoseok, as if sensing something, turns to look at him through the window. 

lying flat on his back on the ground, after actually falling over, jeongguk contemplates exactly how his life has gotten to this point. 

hoseok appears in his line of vision, towering over him with a grin more blinding than the sun. “hi jeonggukie!” he then looks confused. “whatcha doing on the ground?”

jeongguk scrambles up, desperately brushing the dirt off his pants. “i- uh- staring at the sky helps me think?” he tries, hoping his embarrassment isn’t too obvious. 

the older blinks at him. “and you have to be on the ground to do that?”

“hyung,” jeongguk whines, pouting when the blonde starts laughing. it’s something he’s very mixed about; he’s being embarrassed, but hoseok is laughing, so he isn’t sure he’s losing anything here, really. 

“i’m just messing with you, kookie.” hoseok throws an arm around him, leading them both into the shop, where jimin and tae stand at the counter, arranging a bouquet. they both turn when they see the boys together, jimin’s eyebrows rising. 

“hyungie, i didn’t know you knew jeonggukie,” taehyung says, surprised but pleased. 

jeongguk looks between them. “i- you guys know each other?”

jimin slides onto a barstool, legs swinging cutely, not long enough to reach the ground. “hobi-hyung is my dance club instructor. he comes by sometimes to see how we are.” he smiles a big eye-smile at them and hoseok coos. 

“aw, jiminie,” hoseok leaves jeongguk’s side to squish jimin’s cheeks, “what a cutie.”

briefly, jeongguk feels the smallest flash of jealousy, but he pushes it down. hoseok is not his to get jealous over, and jimin is obviously in a happy relationship.

the thought that prompts makes jeongguk stop.

what about hoseok?

the younger hadn’t really thought much about it but… was hoseok even single? 

he glances over at the older as he smiles wide, strawberry strands in his blonde hair striking in the sun, tan skin on display and he thinks no, there’s no way hoseok is single. not when he looks like that and has a beautiful personality to boot. 

jeongguk shakes his head, trying to banish the thoughts all together. he’d told himself it was only going to stay a harmless crush, and it was. there was no reason to wonder whether or not hoseok was single; it wouldn’t matter either way.

the older looks back at him, noticing he’s not laughing and talking with them all. “everything okay?”

he doesn’t even have to fake it; he smiles, the action so easy around hoseok, and replies, “no, i’m great.”

jimin looks between them. “how do you guys know each other?”

“ah, hyung… it’s embarrassing,” jeongguk whines, pouting when hoseok begins to explain.

“this little thing was in jinnie-hyung’s cafe, all down and depressed, and when i gave him a free brownie and asked if he was okay, he started crying. he thought namjoonie would be disappointed in him if he flunked the chem exam.” the blonde looks incredibly fond, and jeongguk has to look away, but is faced with jimin and tae’s extremely interested expressions.

taehyung wraps an arm around him, fluffing his hair good-naturedly. “jeonggukieee, you’re so cute.” the younger fights back, ruffling the older’s cotton-candy hair in retaliation, earning himself a shriek and a jab to the side. 

jimin is grinning. “that is pretty embarrassing. i’m glad to see you guys connected though.” 

he gives hoseok this weird look jeongguk isn’t really sure how to describe when he says it, like it’s supposed to mean something. 

“has he met yoongi yet? oh my gosh, if all of our friend group knew each other, we could do group hang-outs! that would be fun,” taehyung gushes, throwing himself across jimin’s lap.

jeongguk blinks. “yoongi? small, cute, kinda bad boy but like, meets grumpy cat?” 

hoseok cracks up, hunched over from how hard he’s laughing. “oh that’s him all right, oh my god.” he wipes tears from his eyes, still tickled.

“i mean yea, i’ve met him,” jeongguk tells them, confused as to why it matters. “he helped me on the production of my song for my final project a few days ago. why…?”

“well he and hoseok are-” jimin starts, but hoseok interjects loudly, “friends!”

jimin and taehyung look at him, bewildered.

the older flushes. “friends. yoongi and i are- friends.”

yea, jeongguk is definitely missing something here. he’s dense, but he’s not a complete idiot. still, hoseok knew yoongi, yoongi knew hoseok. hoseok insisted they were just friends. jeongguk knew them both.

god, he liked them both.

he tries to picture them next to each other, in an abstract way. hoseok is all long, smooth lines, pastel pink and yellow, while yoongi is splattered paint, black and dark teal. it goes together, somehow, in his head, a kind of organized chaos. they would make sense, jeongguk reasons. if there was something complicated going on between them, he should probably stay out of it, and it sounds like there is. 

“well since you and yoongi are such good friends ,” jimin eyes hoseok weirdly again, “we could definitely all hang out. after finals and stuff are over, though.”

for the first time since meeting hoseok, jeongguk notices that he looks a little stiff, his smile a little forced. “sure, just make a groupchat or something. so we can talk.”

“uh huh,” tae drawls. “i’m gonna go… check on the flowers.” he throws another look at hoseok before he leaves, and jeongguk is really starting to wonder what the heck he’s missing.

jimin looks over at jeongguk. “don’t you have a song to finish?” 

he scrambles up from his stool. “oh uh, yes, yea. i should- do that.”

hoseok starts to follow him. “oh, jeonggukie, can i see-?”

“no no, hyung! it’s not- i want to finish it first, before i let anyone see it.”

“you let yoongi-hyung see it,” jimin points out. 

jeongguk’s blush gives him away, but he tries to play it off. “he’s really good at producing and i need his help.”

neither hoseok or jimin says anything but the silence is enough; jeongguk blushes again and leaves. 

it’s quiet as jimin looks at hoseok, then gestures for him to sit down.

“why did you lie about you and yoongi-hyung? does he know you connected with jeongguk?”

hoseok sighs. “yea, he knows. we talked about it, but that was before jeongguk met yoongi. we planned for him to meet jeongguk at some point, but it happened by itself. yoongi and i agreed to befriend him separately, see how it played out, try not to scare him with our relationship. i know tae-tae didn’t mean to but…” he groans. “he just made things complicated.”

“hyung,” jimin shakes his head, waving his hand lazily as he warps the water from the cup in front of him, thinking. “i get what you and yoongi were thinking, but now, if you and yoongi do end up liking jeongguk, you’ll have to tell him you lied. even worse, you know tae will organize those group meet-ups. you and yoongi will have to act like friends, and somehow both flirt with jeongguk at the same time. it’s messy, hyung. really messy.” the water floats, suspended, as he asks, “does he know about your magic?”

the blonde sheepishly shakes his head.

jimin tuts. “hobi-hyung. if he finds out you knew his feelings this entire time, he’s gonna be hurt. you know for sure he likes you and hyung?”

the older runs a hand through his hair, trying not to project his guilt and nervous energy. “yea, it’s super obvious. he got jealous when i called you cute, and when he described yoongi, i felt the spike of emotions. he’s not really subtle…” 

he can feel jimin’s slight fear, and it’s voiced a second later. “i just don’t want him to get hurt, hyung. i haven’t known him for very long, but if i know anything about him, it’s that he falls hard, and fast, and then gets scared of the feelings. he’s probably already trying to find a way out of them.”

“i don’t want him to get out of them, though. he’s cute, jimin-ah. i want to get to know him, not even as a potential… whatever. just as a friend.” he pulls out his biggest pout eyes he can, jutting out his lower lip. 

the silver-haired man rolls his eyes. “i swear, you and guk are too good at those eyes. i’m not saying you can’t be friends with him, just… be careful.”

hoseok salutes. “i will.”

“and you’ll have to tell him the truth, eventually,” jimin admonishes. 

“of course.”

a few days after seeing hoseok at the flower shop, jeongguk sees him at cofe2 again. taehyung still hasn’t arranged the group hang-out he talked about, so jeongguk hasn’t had an excuse to see him or yoongi, but jeongguk continues to see his other hyungs.

he gets his grade back on the chemistry exam and is surprised and relieved to see he doesn’t fail; he gets a c, but he doesn’t fail. namjoon takes him out to celebrate with ramen, and it’s nice.

seeing hoseok at the cafe again reminds him of the time they met, nearly three weeks ago now, and he figures the older will want to know about his exam grade.

nearly squealing, the older man hugs him over the counter. “jeonggukie! i knew you’d pass!” 

jeongguk wills down the butterflies erupting in his stomach. “thanks, hyung.”

the blonde pulls back, beaming. “i’m so proud of you!” he gasps. “we should celebrate. wanna go on a picnic with me?”

sputtering, the younger stutters, “t-tonight?” he doesn’t think he’s ready for one-on-one contact like that, like something that sounds so much like a date , with hoseok so soon. he needs at least a day or so to mentally and emotionally prepare himself for something like that. besides, he’s pretty sure he should book the studio tonight; he has all his lyrics, and he just needs to finish the actual track. a small part of him is hoping yoongi will be there, but he would also feel guilty about rejecting hoseok only to hang out with someone else. 

“i was thinking maybe tomorrow evening, actually. but if you’re that excited for it…” the older teases.

“no!” jeongguk shouts. “i mean,” he lowers his voice to a more inside volume, face fire truck red. “no, i mean- yes, i’m excited but i can- tomorrow evening, yup. sounds great.”

hoseok giggles. “okay. give me your phone so i can put my number in to text you the details later.”

the brunette hands over his phone, hardly daring to believe his luck. he got hoseok’s number and he didn’t even need to stutter through asking for it. the man saves his name under “hobi-hyung>♡<”  and jeongguk feels himself melt; god, hoseok is so cute.

“so,” the older leans on the counter after handing back the phone, head resting in the palms of his hands, “whatcha got planned for the rest of the day?”

he tugs at his earring, thinking. “probably just gonna book the studio out today for as long as i can, honestly. i’m so close to being finished, and it’s due in a few days so…”

hoseok groans dramatically. “almost finished and this hyung still hasn’t even heard it. how sad. do you want me to be sad, jeonggukie?” he looks at the younger with wide eyes, feigning tears. 

jeongguk laughs. “no, hyung, i don’t want you to be sad. i just-” he blushes. this song was in part inspired by hoseok’s brightness, and then helped along by yoongi’s endless patience. how does he tell hoseok that? he can’t. “i just really wanna make sure it’s good first. you deserve to hear it when it’s at it’s best,” he decides to say. it’s not a lie anyway; it’ll be a song he can be proud of when it’s finished.

“ah jeongguk-ah,” hoseok looks at him so so fondly, and even though jeongguk knows he shouldn’t, he feels himself fall a little bit more. hoseok is just bright, lovely any time jeongguk happens to see him, and he likes being friends with him, even if it’s really only been not quite a couple of weeks. he just kind of fits, like he’s always belonged. 

suddenly hoseok looks sly. “will yoongi-hyung be at the studio?”

the younger feels himself blush again. he hasn’t seen yoongi again since the first studio session, though not for lack of trying. he’s looked around as subtly as he can the last few nights, but yoongi hadn’t been around. honestly, he doesn’t know if he really needs yoongi’s help anymore—the older gave him plenty to work with. however, he wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him again. he’d had a way of looking at jeongguk that made him feel transparent, open to read, but not vulnerable, just important, somehow. 

they both look at him like he’s important and he likes it, he realizes, and that’s- dangerous. 

“i don’t know… he hasn’t been lately,” jeongguk admits, knowing that he’s technically implying he’s looked. 

hoseok frowns. “that’s weird. i know he hasn’t been working on anything specific lately, but he’s normally still around.”

jeongguk feels like this is an opportunity to figure how well exactly hoseok and yoongi know each other. hoseok had said they were just friends, but the awkwardness and tension in the air had been weird at that moment, so he tells himself it’s just curiosity speaking and nothing else when he asks, “do you and yoongi-hyung hang out a lot?”

“oh, uh-” hoseok looks nervous. if there’s one thing jeongguk has learned about the other man, it’s that he wears his emotions right there on his face. it’s endearing really, how unable he is to school his expression. “we’re roommates, actually.”

jeongguk thinks that maybe he should feel jealous of yoongi, or even hoseok or something, but he really just doesn’t. he’s more jealous of the fact that they both get to exist in each other’s space whenever they want, probably casually watch movies together cuddled on the couch on the weekends, make dinner domestically when they both happen to be home and- 

alright yea, that’s a train of thought he needs to stop. he may happen to like them both, but they’re just friends and picturing them together when they’re clearly not is wrong. even if they were together… jeongguk would not fit in with that. he shakes his head to clear the thoughts away.

“that’s cool, hyung,”  jeongguk replies, and he means it, truly. he honestly wants to be better friends with them both, even if it means he’ll like them even more, fall even harder. “what’s it like living with yoongi-hyung?” he asks, actually just curious this time, but if it means he gets to learn more about yoongi, he’ll take it. 

hoseok rolls his eyes. “he can be so annoying, sometimes, ugh. he’ll get into writing and forget to eat and leave his stuff everywhere, and i’m such a neat-freak you know, and he acts like he doesn’t wanna cuddle all the time but-” he cuts himself off, cheeks red with embarrassment. “i mean, not that we-” 

that really does throw a slight wrench in jeongguk not imagining them together, but he tries to put a stop to it quickly by joking it away. “aw, hyung, you guys cuddle? how cute.”

his hyung’s cheeks are still red and his eyes seem to dart around almost nervously, but he gives a weak chuckle. “yea, haha. he’s really just- a softie, ya know? i like living with him, despite some of that stuff.”

jeongguk feels fond, and a little sad for a reason he can place but doesn’t want to. “he’s not the only softie, i think.” 

“jeonggukie,” hoseok whines. 

he laughs. “okay, okay. i should let you get back to work.” he would feel bad about monopolizing all of hoseok’s break time if the older didn’t seem so willing to talk to him. 

hoseok waves his fingers. “bye bye, jeonggukie. have a productive studio session.”

as soon as jeongguk leaves, hoseok calls yoongi. 

“hope-ah? everything okay at work?” 

hoseok feels himself soften at his boyfriend’s low tone. “yea, everything is fine, yoonie. i was just on my break, talking to jeongguk.”

yoongi’s interest is immediate to hoseok, even before he hears his voice colored with it as he asks, “oh? and what were you talking about?”

“i asked him to have a picnic with me tomorrow, and i got his number. he’s gonna be at the studio today; you should go. he wants you there, i could feel it.”

“well, guess i’ll be going to the studio today. did anything else happen?”

“heh, i might have told him we were roommates and… let it slip that we cuddle.” the amusement he feels from his boyfriend makes him laugh. “i didn’t mean to! he just asked what living with you is like and i told him you’re soft.”

yoongi groans, faking exasperation. “there goes my bad boy image.” he’s quiet for a few seconds, then asks, “what did he feel about us cuddling?”

that’s the one thing about hoseok’s conversation with jeongguk that made him uneasy. “i couldn’t tell. it was like he was actively trying to not feel anything about it…”

“now hold on sunshine,” yoongi’s feelings are soothing, calm, “don’t jump to conclusions. you’ve already said he seems to like us both separately. maybe he liked the idea but felt bad thinking about it. he does think we’re only friends after all.”

hoseok hadn’t thought of it that way. “ah, hyung, you’re right. i love you.”

“i love you too, hope-ah. now get back to work. i’ll see you later, okay?”

“okay yoonie. bye.”

he sighs after he ends the call. it’s only been a few days, but he’s already regretting lying to jeongguk about he and yoongi’s relationship. it might have been discouraging to the younger at first, but they at least could have wooed him together. he likes spending time with them both separately, and he’s sure he’d like spending time with them together as friends, but he knows it would be even better if they could just be honest about their feelings. those kinds of things have always been easy to hoseok; expressing himself is never really a problem, not with the magic he has. something about jeongguk makes him nervous and he isn’t sure how to navigate that.

hopefully, one way or another, it’ll work out in their favor when they do finally tell jeongguk.

yoongi makes sure to hang around the studio after hoseok calls him. normally he’d go into a room, not loiter out in the main lobby area, but he’s not sure when jeongguk will show up, and he wants to be paying attention.

starting on writing up some lyrics for an upcoming project, he gets lost in the sounds inside his head. it isn’t until he hears jeongguk’s voice, soundwaves clear and cutting through the noise, that he wakes up from his stupor.

jeongguk spots him first. “oh, yoongi-hyung!”

he rather likes the way his name sounds coming from jeongguk’s voice; his speaking voice is already melodious as it is, and his singing reminds yoongi of clear bells. he’s suddenly very glad hoseok called him and told him about jeongguk’s visit to the studio. if it means getting to sit and listen to the younger sing, yoongi would gladly do it forever. 

“hi jeongguk-ah,” yoongi replies, and taking a risk he says, “hoseok told me you wanted help with your project.”

it’s worth it to see the blush appear on the other man’s face as he stammers back, “no, i didn’t- i mean-”

trying not to grin, yoongi gripes, “are you saying you don’t want hyung’s help?”

“hyung,” jeongguk whines. “of course i want your help, i just- didn’t know you’d be here.”

he does grin this time. “well i am here, so let’s get to it.”

jeongguk is vastly different than anyone else yoongi has ever worked with; he’s eager and learns quickly, but doesn’t get overconfident at all. he’s probably one of the most humble people yoongi has ever met, but his talent level is insane. he responds so well to praise it nearly makes yoongi himself blush, and the younger blurts out compliments towards the other like it’s nothing, which does make yoongi turn red. all in all, sitting with jeongguk in an enclosed space for multiple hours on end proves to be a complexity of contradictions—frustrating, wonderful, and a little exhilarating, but scary. yoongi has never met anyone besides hoseok that seems to click with all the best parts of himself so easily, and it’s all so new, but familiar. they make a little bit of small talk, and it’s comfortable.

they start working at first, really, but it all kind of dissolves when yoongi goes to sing something for jeongguk to show him a bit how he thinks it’ll sound.

now, yoongi is a not really a singer. he raps on the side, writes his own stuff, and can write songs for other people to sing, but he himself doesn’t generally do it. when he has to show people melodies and record a sample, he usually uses a bit of magic to manipulate his sound waves so that to other’s ears, they sound more pleasing and accurate.

about halfway through their slotted time (they’d been able to get more due to yoongi’s seniority), jeongguk is confused about something so yoongi ‘sings’ it for him, bending the waves to his will like he always does. 

jeongguk looks stricken and more than a little amused, and a bit like he’s about to laugh.

“what?” yoongi asks, confused.

“hyung,” jeongguk coughs, clearly fighting giggles, “please don’t be offended but. you sound a bit like a cat yowling, but in song.” the younger finally erupts, seemingly unable to hold in his laughs anymore.

to say yoongi is surprised would be an understatement, although the embarrassment is quickly taking hold. if jeongguk heard his actual voice and not the magic… 

he must have some kind of look on his face because jeongguk stops laughing upon looking at him. “oh gosh, hyung i didn’t mean to-”

“you didn’t offend me kid,” yoongi replies gruffly. “just a little embarrassed is all. i’m not a singer, i rap.”

the admission brings him awe from the other, eyes wide and sparkly with admiration. “you do? oh my gosh, you have to show me. please hyung, please!”

his whining curls around yoongi’s ears, the soundwaves pitiful and pleading. the mint-haired man had thought hoseok was the king of whining, but jeongguk really was giving him a run for his money. his voice paired with his eyes was truly a killer combo, and he felt himself caving near instantly.

“fine, but only one song! then we need to work on your shit.”

one song of course turned into his entire published mixtape that he’d made last year, jeongguk spitting his praises left and right.

“oh my gosh, hyung. you’re so cool. like you’re just- so cool. i wanna make a mixtape now.”

yoongi groans, face flaming. “jeongguk-ah, please let’s just-”

jeongguk latches onto his arm. “pleaseee help me make my song as cool as your stuff. it has to be perfect so i can show hoseo-” he immediately clams up, but yoongi has already caught what he was going to say.

“ah, i see, i see. you want to show it to hope-ah, huh?” the older teases, spurred on by the flustered face he receives.

“you call him hope? that’s so cute,” jeongguk laments, tossing his head back against his chair. 

“you’re cute,” yoongi replies, mostly without thinking, because hey, it’s true. he’s been holding it in this entire time sitting across from the other, and hoseok had always taught him to be open with his feelings so, sue him, he thought jeongguk was cute.

jeongguk sputters hard, cheeks ruddy. “let’s just get back to my song.”

the thing is, there isn’t much left to do. the track is mostly finished, jeongguk just needs to add the rest of the main and central harmony vocals, which yoongi can’t really help with. 

he points this out, along with a hopeful suggestion. “we could go get dinner. you mentioned liking lamb skewers, right? hyung will buy.”

“ah, hyung, i don’t know if i-”

yoongi gets up, already turning off all of the equipment. “it’s free food and time with me, kid. take it or leave it.”

the brunette scrambles up after him as he leaves.

conversation with jeongguk over dinner turns out to be just as easy as everything else has been so far. he’s a good listener, even once you get him talking. 

“-so there i was, barbeque sauce on my titties, when-” jeongguk is gesturing adamantly with his hands, in the middle of a story, but stops when yoongi chokes on his drink, laughing harder than he has in a long time.

“h-hold on,” he coughs. “you were sitting there with barbeque sauce on your what ?” 

jeongguk gasps. “hyung! it’s from this vine quoting a tv show, i can’t believe you’ve never-”

“what’s a vine? cause i know you can’t mean the green plant thing.”

another affronted gasp. “hyung!!” the younger dramatically swoons, a hand to his forehead. “i can’t believe i’m friends with someone that doesn’t know what vine is.”

that leads to the brunette showing yoongi countless videos that were once posted on some kind of app called ‘vine’, before it “tragically died, r.i.p vine,” as jeongguk so eloquently puts it. most of them are downright stupid, but jeongguk laughs obnoxiously at nearly every single one and yoongi can’t help but join in, his bunny-like smile contagious, even as the whole restaurant starts to glance over them in barely concealed annoyance. 

yoongi learns where jeongguk comes from, that he has a sibling, and a cute dog, which turns into a competition between them of who can show the best picture of their pet. jeongguk finally admits defeat when yoongi pulls up a picture of his dog, holly, in sunglasses. 

after bothering the entire restaurant for nearly two hours with their exuberant laughter and jeongguk trying (and failing) to burp the alphabet, yoongi pays the bill- “i would argue but hyung did say he’d pay”- and drives jeongguk back to his dorm.

jeongguk turns to face him in the car when they pull up. “thank you again, hyung.” even in the low light of evening, there’s red visible on the younger’s cheeks. “i- appreciate everything. the dinner, but um. i’m glad you were helping me on my song, too.”

if this were a date, yoongi thinks- and it certainly felt like one, but- he’d reach over, ask jeongguk if it was okay, and kiss him slow because he wants to, pull back long enough to see the blush get more vibrant, and-

he cuts himself off from his own musings. “you’re welcome, kook-ah.”

faster than yoongi can blink, jeongguk darts over the console, placing a quick kiss against the older’s cheek. “bye hyung!” he’s gone before the other can get a word out, eyes wide as his hand brushes his cheek unconsciously.

“hope-ah is gonna be so jealous when i tell him,” he whispers to an empty car, smile wide and gummy.

as soon as jeongguk slams the dorm door behind him, he sinks against it. 

“oh god, what did i do?” he whines, burying his head in his hands. 

tae’s face pokes out into the hallway from his and jimin’s room. “jeonggukie? what’s wrong?”

he groans. “i’m an idiot, that’s what’s wrong.”

jimin and taehyung both come to sit next to him, still in front of the door. 

“you were out a bit later than we expected. what happened, hun?” jimin asks, a hand coming up to run soothingly through the youngest’s hair, tension melting out of him at the touch. 

“yoongi-hyung treated me to dinner and-” he gulps, then blurts out in a rush, “andikindofmaybekissedhim.”

taehyung and jimin share a look jeongguk isn’t sure how he should decipher, and he’s not even sure he’d want to try.

“kissed him, huh? didn’t think you’d have that in ya, kookie,” taehyung jokes, a small grin playing on his lips.

jeongguk makes a grumbling noise. “it was just on the cheek… but that’s not the point!”

at their insistent looks, he continues haltingly, “i- like him. but i also… i agreed to go out with hoseok-hyung tomorrow on a picnic and hyungs i- i like him, too.” it’s a lot, to admit it out loud to someone. he knows he hasn’t been friends with either hoseok or yoongi very long, but what he understands from the little he has interacted with them is that he wants to get to know them better. 

“maybe you should-” jimin looks hesitant, “talk to them? you never know, they could feel the same.” 

the brunette violently shakes his head. “no way. hoseok-hyung said they’re just friends, but i think something complicated is going on. they talk about each other so affectionately. i think they like each other and i don’t wanna… get in the way of that, or something. i’m okay with just being friends with them.”

taehyung blinks at him. “what about you kissing yoongi-hyung? that won’t just go away.”

he sighs. “hopefully he’ll just forget about it. i shouldn’t have- i didn’t even ask and god, what if hoseok finds out and he hates me or something-”

“hold on, hun,” jimin holds up a hand placatingly. “let’s not jump to any conclusions, okay? hobi-hyung could never hate anyone, especially you. yoongi-hyung couldn’t hate you, either. just… keep talking to them?” 

“yea,” taehyung interjects. “be their friend, at least. you never know what might happen.”

jeongguk offers them a timid smile. “okay hyungs.”

the next day, the younger has multiple small crises throughout the day during his two classes when he thinks of being on essentially what will be a picnic date with hoseok. said man has been texting him all morning, sending cute little pictures of things he sees as he walks to dance club, and then back to his apartment. at one point, he sends a selfie and jeongguk has to take a moment to compose himself so that he doesn’t screech in the middle of class. texting hoseok is just as easy as talking to him, and for jeongguk, it’s almost easier—he doesn’t have to actually look into the face of the sun and try to form coherent sentences. 

closer to the time of their meet-up, jeongguk is sure he’s got his entire closet sitting on his bed. tae and jimin are sitting on the floor, watching him amusedly and being absolutely no help.

“jeonggukie, it’s just a little picnic in the park. you don’t need to dress up,” jimin tells him, lazily flipping through flower seed catalogue, taehyung circling the ones he wants to add to their shop.

the brunette whines. “i wanna look good though.”

his phone chimes and he looks at his screen briefly only to double-take when he sees it’s a text from hoseok. 

from: hobi-hyung>♡<

5:30 p.m.

jeonggukie, dress up comfortably and warmly! it’s a little chilly outside and i don’t want you to get sick! ~(^з^)-

“that was hyung, right? what’d he say?” taehyung asks.

already running though his options of clothing that includes “comfortable” but also not “ugly”, he responds absentmindedly, “he doesn’t want me to get sick cause it’s cold outside.”

jimin snaps his fingers. “i got it. the gray puma tracksuit set. wear that.”

jeongguk fishes it out of his closet and wrestles it on, looking at himself in the closet mirror. his hair is all over the place, and the clothes themselves give the idea that there was no effort involved, but he also looks kind of…

“hot,” taehyung announces. 

“you look like a soft frat boyfriend and i’m here for it,” jimin voices his approval, nodding with a grin. 

the youngest takes a deep breath. “i’m trusting you guys.”

they both smile toothily at him.

“come on, jeonggukie,” tae simpers, “when have we ever let you down?”

to say jeongguk is blown away by what hoseok prepared would be an understatement.

when he gets to the quad, there’s a big picnic blanket, and even in the fading light jeongguk can recognize some of his favorite foods, including..

“is that a strawberry shake and brownie from the cafe?”

the blonde’s smile is blinding, cutting through the sunset. “i figured since this is to celebrate your good grade, we should have your favorites. i asked jimin and tae about this, so sorry if they tease you later."

his brain to mouth filter malfunctions for a brief second when he blurts, “worth it,” but it’s okay, because hoseok just beams, patting the spot across from him.

jeongguk notices as he sits down that older is dressed similarly to him, which makes him feel completely relieved about his choice of attire. 

they start talking, and much like it did with yoongi, the conversation flows really well. they talk about their childhood, and hoseok shows him his dog, mickey, and a bit of his gwangju satoori, and jeongguk may or may not swoon, but he thinks he keeps it under control pretty well. hoseok wants to know about how and why he chose music performance. he goes off on a slight tangent, but hoseok always looks interested and doesn’t ask him to stop, so he waxes poetry about his love for music as a child and his uncanny ability to pick up pretty much anything and be good at it if he tried hard enough. there’s a smoldering second when he tells hoseok, “i used to be in sports in high school. i quit but i still go to the gym every week,” and the older replies, “i can tell,” and definitely rakes him up and down with his eyes; jeongguk practically preens but has no idea how to respond so he just coughs awkwardly. 

hoseok tells him that he also dabbles in rap along with dancing, but doesn’t really think he can sing. 

“aw come on, hyung. i bet you’re not that bad.” he bats his eyelashes at him, determined to make him sing. “we can have a singing battle.”

with a twinkle in his eye, hoseok replies, “you’re on.” he pulls a portable speaker out of his picnic basket with a sheepish look. “i was planning on listening to music anyway, so i brought this.”

jeongguk just laughs, shaking his head. hoseok was so… something. 

they play through a few songs and although they’d said it was a competition, they both end up belting the lyrics and rapping along when they can, giggling when they can’t. hoseok’s singing voice isn’t bad at all. it’s a little shaky, like he’s not very confident, but his rap is good. it’s different from yoongi’s, whose voice is all gravel and low—it’s brighter in tone, still deep, and the flow is dynamic, chaotic in a way jeongguk has learned only hoseok can be and still pull it off. he likes it, and tells the older as much. the blush he gets in return makes him smile.

“ah, i’m not that good, jeonggukie. stop embarrassing me,” hoseok whines, pawing at the brunette’s arm. 

“hyung,” jeongguk laughs, “we’ve been yelling out songs in the middle of the quad. i think we’ve been embarrassing ourselves the whole time.”

hoseok’s hand is still on his arm and the contact tingles in a pleasant sort of way. “i guess you’re right.”

the quiet between them is comfortable, but jeongguk is hyper aware of hoseok’s hand still on him, body closer than it was when he’d sat down. it’s warmth he can feel through his tracksuit somehow, burning his skin. he catches hoseok’s eye and finds it hard to look away. the older is radiant even in the moonlight, the pink streaks in his hair reflective and pretty, his eyes sparkling. 

jeongguk wants to kiss him, but he doesn’t know if that’s a good idea.

hoseok’s voice breaks the silence. “you’re finished with your song, right?”

he’s confused, but answers, “yea? i mean, for the most part. just have some finishing stuff to do. why?”

“cause i want you to sing some of it for me.” the older’s eyes are big and pleading and whatever resolve jeongguk might have had is crumbling rapidly. 

“okay, okay,” he relents, “but only like, a part of the chorus. nothing else!”

hoseok stays completely quiet as jeongguk sings the chorus, including some of the instrumental in tiny adlibs. he’s nervous, but after yoongi praising him so much, he’s gained a bit of confidence singing in front of others, and besides, he and hoseok have been singing together all night. this song was generally written because of hoseok as well, so he tries to keep that in mind, to convey the emotions he wrote it with. hoseok won’t know right now anyway, so it’s okay.

when he’s finished, the only sounds around them are the low buzz of the lampposts and distant steps of students returning from their night classes; hoseok is just looking at him.

“uh,” jeongguk mutters, “was it not good?”

whatever jeongguk was expecting hoseok to say, it definitely wasn’t, “i really want to kiss you right now,” in a deadly serious voice, face set a little in wonder but a lot more in resolve. 

he doesn’t know what to say to that, heart starting to beat rapidly and he’s stupidly afraid hoseok can hear it. “um,” he stutters. 

“you can say no, jeongguk,” hoseok tells him, but he’s already moving closer, proximity making the younger dizzy. he smells so good , like comfort and clean and warmth, like clothes freshly washed and put on straight from the dryer. jeongguk definitely could say no, but he doesn’t want to.

“hyung,” he whispers back, eyes flitting down to hoseok’s lips then back up, watching as they start to flutter closed as he leans forward into the older’s space, allowing their mouths to brush, feather light. 

hoseok seems to hesitate when jeongguk pulls back just enough for their lips to separate, but jeongguk doesn’t want hesitation; he’s waited weeks for this. he moves back in, kissing hoseok with more purpose this time. he has a flicker of guilt in his mind for less than a second, thinking about yoongi, but it’s lost to the recesses of his mind as hoseok begins to kiss him back, one hand coming up to cradle his jaw, the other resting gingerly on jeongguk’s waist. the angle is a little awkward because they’re both sitting, but jeongguk can’t even begin to care. hoseok’s lips are so soft and he kisses with so much affection, much like he does everything. jeongguk can’t help it—he starts to smile, unable to stop the happiness from bubbling forth in the form of a small giggle. 

“hope you’re not laughing at my kissing,” the older mumbles, but he’s smiling as he moves away to look at jeongguk, something unidentifiable in his eyes. 

jeongguk shakes his head. “not laughing at you, hyung, just- happy.” he lowers his eyes to the ground shyly. “i’ve wanted to kiss you for awhile.”

hoseok is quiet, startlingly so. jeongguk looks back up at him only to see the other man is already watching him with that same unsettling gaze, like he’s trying to actively take a glimpse right into jeongguk’s heart, read him from the inside-out. 

“what about yoongi?” 

the younger sucks in a surprised gasp. “what- what do you mean?”

“i mean,” hoseok shrugs. “i thought that you… liked him. the way tae and jimin were talking to you about him made it same like you did, and you’re always asking me about him.”

suddenly all of the reasons jeongguk hadn’t been planning on ever making any kind of move on either of them start springing forth in his mind; they had something complicated going on, that much was obvious, and he’d went and stuck his nose in it, even if unintentionally. 

the older continues, voice soft, “i know you kissed him too, jeonggukie.”

tears start forming in jeongguk’s eyes, guilt and embarrassment finally taking over. he feels an immediate urge to be somewhere else; anywhere that isn’t here, with hoseok telling him that he knows that jeongguk likes both him and yoongi, knows that he kissed them both.

“i- need to go,” jeongguk blurts, voice weak. he stands quickly, desperately trying to ignore hoseok’s voice calling out to him. 

“jeonggukie, come on- just-” hoseok catches up to him, wrapping a hand around his arm to stop him. “it’s not- i’m not mad. it’s okay that you-”

jeongguk rips his arm away, turning around to face the older. “it’s not though, is it? there’s obviously… something going on between you and yoongi.” 

hoseok looks stricken. “how did-”

the younger shrugs helplessly. “i mean, the way tae and jimin hyung reacted when you said friends, and the way you talk about yoongi-hyung… the way he talks about you. i don’t want to get in between you guys and i thought-” he shakes his head. “i don’t think i could even ruin anything between you guys even if i wanted. you guys barely know me and are best friends… there’s no room for me if you decided you wanted each other.”

he leaves, runs as fast as he can, before hoseok can say anything else, tell him sadly that he’s right in the nicest way possible which would be the worst thing in the world. he could already tell by the other man’s face that he’d hit the nail on the head anyway, so why did he need to hear it out loud? his heart was shattered either way.

he avoids them.

it’s wrong, and he knows that, but he can’t- he doesn’t want to look either of them in the eye after everything because now that he knows yoongi told hoseok about the cheek kiss, he’s sure hoseok told yoongi about their kiss. he wonders briefly if maybe they were both using him to make the other jealous, but the thought hurts too much, so he tries not to dwell on it. 

instead, he cries in jimin and tae’s arms the night of the picnic, then after that… nothing. he eats copious amounts of ice cream, but works it off at the gym where he pushes himself further than he normally does just so that the burn of his muscles is worse than his thoughts. he throws himself into his schoolwork, writes ridiculously lovesick lines for songs that he’ll most likely never use, and tries to never go to cofe2 again. that part sucks a little, because he misses their brownies and shakes more than almost anything, but seeing hoseok is too much of a risk. 

tae and jimin don’t approve of his methods, and he knows it. they give him looks every time he goes out of his way to take a different route to certain classes or stops coming around their flower shop as often. he makes it about a week and a half before they put their foot down.

“we’re going out!” tae announces to the dorm, jimin standing firm beside him. 

jeongguk looks up at them from the couch warily. “going out where?”

“jin-hyung has invited everyone to his and namjoonie-hyung’s apartment to have a little party. we’re going,” jimin tells him. 

“who’s everyone?” jeongguk asks warily.

the other two men share a look. “if we told you-,” tae starts, and jimin finishes, “-you won’t come.”

so obviously, jeongguk concludes, either yoongi or hoseok will be there; fuck, knowing jeongguk’s luck, both of them. he knows he can’t get out of it though—jimin and tae look like men on a mission, and if jin planned the invite, he especially can’t say no. they hardly all spend time together because jin and namjoon are busy with higher level schooling and jobs, so any party planned on their part is important. 

he reluctantly gets dressed, taking as long as he can while the others breathe down his neck to make sure he’s doing it. briefly he thinks he shouldn’t put in a lot of effort towards an outfit, but just knowing that yoongi and hoseok could both be there makes him hesitate. before he’s even realized it, his favorite pair of jeans have been buttoned and he’s wearing one of his nicer white shirts, tucked in as tight as he could manage, dangly earrings in and silver rings on. 

“got someone to impress, ggukie?” tae asks, eyebrow raised at him as they get in the car. 

ever the mature one, he sticks his tongue out in response. 

on the way there, jeongguk tries to get himself ready to see the two people he’s managed to avoid for nearly two weeks. he really doesn’t know what to expect, which makes him more anxious than he already was. it would be one thing if one of them had openly rejected him already, but so far, it’s only been confusing. they’ve both gone out of their way to spend time with him, and let him kiss them, but there’s obviously something he’s missing. he just isn’t sure what that something is. 

they get to jin and namjoon’s apartment, and sure enough, hoseok and yoongi are there. jeongguk desperately tries to avoid even glancing in their general direction, but fails. it seems like once he starts looking he can’t stop; he doesn’t know if it’s the fact that he hasn’t seen them for nearly two weeks, but they just look really good . hoseok is wearing distressed shorts and his thighs alone should be illegal, not to mention his blonde and strawberry highlighted hair that somehow catches the light even inside. yoongi is in his typical black ensemble, but it’s somehow so elegant and put together, and his mint hair stands out as the only pop of color on him. up until now, jeongguk has never seen them next to each other, and he’s convinced that if he had, he wouldn’t have lived to see this moment. they look fantastic together—hoseok is all pastel just like he’d imagined, balancing out yoongi’s dark colors. seeing them like this… it cements all ideas jeongguk had about not fitting in with them. they’re something apart, but together it’s a completely different level. 

he’s very thankful for jin in a way he’s never been before when the older interrupts his inner turmoil by pulling him into a side hug, ruffling his hair aggressively. “jeonggukiiiie, say hello to your favorite hyung.”

“hi, namjoonie-hyung,” jeongguk grins cheekily, instantly jumping back to dodge a punch from the oldest. 

“ah, this kid,” seokjin complains, “hasn’t seen me for weeks and he still hasn’t learned respect.”

jeongguk laughs and suddenly becomes very aware of two pairs of eyes on him. he deliberately ignores it, choosing instead to start talking to jin, asking him what he’s been up to. they talk for awhile, and honestly, if jeongguk weren’t aware of literally every move yoongi and hoseok were making and where they were at any given point, he would say he’s having a good time. he catches up with namjoon and lets jin coerce him into helping with the food. everything is fine up until that point. when they all sit down to have actual dinner, it gets a little awkward. 

“so jeonggukie, hope told me you met at the cafe when you cried after he gave you a brownie?” jin asks, unaware of the tension he caused. 

“did he just… tell everyone?” jeongguk grumbles, cheeks red with embarrassment. 

hoseok speaks towards him for the first time the entire night. “it was cute!” 

jin raises an eyebrow. “oh?” 

jimin and tae shoot jin some kind of warning look jeongguk doesn’t understand. he sighs tiredly. he’s so fed up of people talking behind his back and thinking he won’t notice at all. he knows he doesn’t know what’s going on, and it could be nothing, but it’s still frustrating. “i’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he announces and leaves before he can do something stupid like scream. 

he doesn’t even really need to go to the bathroom, so he splashes some water on his face and tries to pep himself up in the mirror. 

when he starts walking down the hall back to the dining room, he really isn’t sure what, but something makes him stop. he can hear hushed voices, so he leans a little bit closer, knowing he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but wanting to anyway. 

“-both of you?” jin says incredulous.

“i told them it wasn’t a good idea.” that’s jimin’s voice. jeongguk couldn’t quit listening now even if he tried, he needs to know what they’re talking about. 

he hears a sigh and knows it’s hoseok. “we know it wasn’t a good idea now, but at the time…”

“we wanted jeongguk to be comfortable with both of us first,” yoongi explains.

that sentence throws him for a loop and he almost doesn’t catch the next thing namjoon says-

“he’ll find out you two are together eventually, hyung.”

there’s a buzz that starts low in his ears until it’s really all he can hear and maybe he makes a noise or something, he doesn’t know but he feels himself walk into the dining room and his face probably gives it away but it’s dead silent, and he knows they know he heard them.

“jeongguk-ah-” yoongi starts weakly, but jeongguk won’t have it, can’t even begin to understand how he’d actually been this stupid.

“so the whole time, huh?” he asks softly, looking them both openly in their face just to feel the small sense of satisfaction when they can’t look him in the eye. “the whole time… it was just.. what? a game?”

hoseok looks absolutely devastated. “no, guk, we-”

“you let me run around with both of you, called me cute, kissed me , and you were both secretly just, what, laughing at me behind my back? what was the fucking point?” distantly he knows he shouldn’t be doing this in front of everyone else, but they-

“and you guys,” he rounds on the others. “you all knew?”

tae winces. “jeonggukie…”

he shakes his head in disbelief. “what the actual fuck. i can’t- i don’t want to deal with any of this right now. i’m leaving. no one bother waiting up.”

making sure the door slams on his way out, jeongguk pulls up his phone to hail an uber. he puts it on silent as soon as he’s finished, content to ignore any messages or calls. 

when he gets back to the dorm, he grabs the ice cream, his laptop, and settles down for a long hibernation. he hears when jimin and tae get back, but they don’t try to come in, and he doesn’t offer. they knew about hoseok and yoongi and they just… let it happen. right now, they’re in just as much of a doghouse as the older men are. 

it’s too hard to avoid people you live with—the next morning, he knows tae and jimin will ambush him the instant he leaves his room so he postpones it as much as he can, but around lunch time his stomach is growling and he really honestly just needs a hug. he edges his door open as slowly as he can, peeking out and then finally slides himself out of his room; no one jumps him. the quiet is actually a little disconcerting. tiptoeing, he makes his way to the kitchen and grabs some cold pizza from the fridge. he eats in stifling silence. when he’s finished, still no hyung in sight, he makes his way down the hall towards their room, seeing that their door is open. he sighs; they knew he was mad. they only leave their door open like that when they knew he would only talk when he was ready. a rush of fondness overrules jeongguk’s frustration for a minute- tae and jimin really are his best friends- before he sighs. 

pushing the door open, he is greeted by the sight of jimin and tae in bed, a small space in-between them. jeongguk crawls into it, feeling unbidden tears springing to his eyes. they stir when he sniffles, their arms sleepily making their way around him, effectively squishing him. 

“hi hun,” jimin says softly, voice still low with sleep. 

“hyung-” jeongguk starts, but jimin shakes his head. 

“we owe you an apology,” tae whispers from behind him, burrowing his face into jeongguk’s neck. 

jeongguk squirms. “that tickles,” he mumbles, but quiets when jimin gives him a look.

the man’s hands trace lazy patterns on the younger’s side, light, grounding touches, as he says, “tae and i… we shouldn’t have let yoongi-hyung and hoseok-hyung deceive you like that. i guess we just thought it would work out…” jimin looks sheepish. “for what it’s worth, i did warn hobi-hyung that he should just tell you the truth before you got hurt. i just… i don’t know.”

“we didn’t want to give away their secrets cause they’re our friends too, but we should have known better than to let them do that… it only led to misunderstandings,” tae grumbles, breath fluttering against jeongguk’s ear and making him giggle quietly, even though the atmosphere in the room is the opposite of bubbly. 

jeongguk tries to shrug but it’s hard when he’s being properly squeezed by his hyungs. “it’s… it’s whatever. i figured there was something going on anyway so-”

“jeonggukie-” jimin tries to protest but jeongguk won’t have it.

he shakes his head, decision final. “no, hyung. i’ve already… i wouldn’t fit in with whatever they have, and if they had really wanted me, they wouldn’t have played me like that. it’s fine, really.”

his hyung’s face is disapproving, but he knows that tone; once jeongguk has made up his mind, it’s made up. 

he turns to face tae, eyes softening when he sees the older’s big eyes. “you’re not still mad at us, are you, jeonggukie?”

the brunette sighs. “no, i can’t stay mad at you guys like that. but just promise me no more group events for awhile, okay?”

“we’ll respect your decision.. but i really think you should talk to them,” jimin says softly, exhaling a quiet breath when jeongguk doesn’t respond. 

faced with the prospect of  nothing to do for the rest of the day- exams are over, he has nothing really to study for anymore- he tries not to overthink. if jimin and tae really thought hoseok and yoongi had meant him actual emotional harm, they would have kept him away from them and they definitely wouldn’t have encouraged him to talk to them. right now though, he’s feeling a little raw and a lot embarrassed. he’d did everything he said he wouldn’t—he’d caught feelings for both of them and he’d acted on them, and worse, the fall-out happened in front of all of jeongguk’s hyungs. 

no, right now, jeongguk doesn’t want to talk; he wants to stay bundled in bed between tae and jimin and sleep his problems away for a few hours longer.

when he wakes up sometime later, it’s noon and there are still far too many hours left in the day (and the week and the month and the year and the rest of his life ) but he forces himself to get up and try and act like a normal human being. he finds a note on the counter from jimin and tae saying they’ve gone to lunch before their classes; while it kind of sucks he won’t be getting free food from his friends, jeongguk appreciates having the dorm to himself. he puts on some music, determined to drown out his own thoughts while he makes cheap ramen, throwing some hot dog pieces in the pot just because he can. sitting on the couch, he feels a little lost. normally, when he’s struggling with something, he throws himself into work, but actual school work is a little light right now. internally, he’s been burning to go to the studio with the- admittedly slightly depressing- lyrics he wrote when he was avoiding them the first time and make something out of it, but the fear that yoongi will be there… 

the next few days, he’s not even the slightest bit ashamed to admit that his actions are mostly dictated by the fear of running into them. if he had taken a certain path to classes where he’d run into them before, he took a different way. it was somewhat time-consuming, and he was almost late to multiple classes the first time he took alternate routes, but he figured it out by the end of the week. the studio, at first, is off limits, but after the first couple days, jeongguk is itching to sing and can’t stop himself. he’s ansty until the door to the studio closes and is locked soundly. the one good thing about this kind of heartache, jeongguk has learned, is that it’s great for inspiration. he works the entire few hours he has the studio for and manages to write the majority of a song. it’s rough in parts for sure but he’s proud of it. for a split second, he wishes he could get yoongi’s opinion and gets inexplicably sad. he knew he never stood a chance with hoseok and yoongi romantically, but he lost them as friends and he knows that’s one of the things that blows the most about this whole thing. if he had just kept his feelings to himself…

jeongguk ends up leaving the studio feeling dejected. he messages his group chat with tae and jimin but neither of them answer. he knows they’re at their shop right now, but normally at least one of them responds, considering they’re never super busy. shrugging, he decides he’ll swing by there anyway. it wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it unannounced. 

when he gets to the shop, no one greets him when the little bell above the door jingles. undeterred, he heads to their back garden. it’s when he’s looking through the window that he sees them. at first, his brain can’t comprehend what it’s seeing. tae is gesturing to the ground, seemingly singing, and jimin… his hands are poised over the earth and when he lifts them, water comes up from seemingly out of nowhere, and suddenly there are flowers, sprouting right where tae was gesturing. they’re gorgeous, just like every flower tae and jimin sell, but jeongguk can’t wrap his head around what he just witnessed. it looked like… magic. 

he’s frozen for long enough that tae looks up and catches sight of him, mouth agape and eyes wide. he says something to jimin, who’s head shoots up, also catching jeongguk staring. jimin seems to sigh and together, they walk into the shop. unconsciously, jeongguk takes a step backwards. “hyungs…”

tae grins at him, but it looks a little forced. “jeonggukie. what uh- what’s up?”

“he saw us, tae,” jimin exhales, expression weary.

“what exactly,” jeongguk asks, voice high and uncertain, “did i see?”

tilting his head towards the back door, jeongguk follows them both outside. jimin does a gesture with his hands and water springs forth from the air, suspended in the shape of a sphere above his palm. “you saw magic, jeonggukie,” he says solemnly.

jeongguk sputters. “b-but-”

“magic has always been around,” taehyung interrupts him, putting a hand on his shoulder to guide him down onto the stone bench. “some people are born with the innate ability to communicate with aspects of nature in ways that normal humans aren’t. we’re still human we just-” he shrugs. “we can control certain things.”

jimin allows the water to fall and sits on jeongguk’s other side. “the community is pretty big here in seoul, but it’s still not a lot of people. we try to keep to ourselves, but that’s why tae and i run the business we do. my magic is water and-”

“i have plant magic,” tae declares proudly.

jeongguk’s eyebrows furrow. “so what, magicians just- exist? casually? and no one knows about it?”

they both chuckle. “we prefer the term ‘witch’,” jimin tells him, “but yea. some people know; like you. namjoon knows.”

“is namjoonie-hyung a witch?” jeongguk asks, eyes wide. 

tae shakes his head. “no, but seokjinnie-hyung is. he works a kind of chemical magic. understands the basic bases of pretty much everything just by coming into contact with it.”

“so what you’re saying is… jin-hyung should have been tutoring me in chem this entire time.” 

jimin giggles. “actually, namjoon-hyung has always been good at chemistry, but jin-hyung helps him out a lot, too. we figured you’d get more done with namjoonie-hyung which was why we asked him to tutor you, not jin-hyung.”

the youngest thinks of how he and jin-hyung generally always end up play fighting and fucking around when they meet up and thinks, yea, that makes a lot of sense. this entire thing is still so wild to him, but a lot of things slide into place.

“what about…” he bites his lip, unsure of whether or not to ask.

tae and jimin share a look. 

jeongguk can tell instantly they don’t plan to tell him.

“no, you can’t do that,” he whines, bringing out his puppy dog eyes full force. “remember the last time you didn’t tell me something?” 

it’s a low blow for sure, but it seems to do the trick.

“we won’t tell you what kind of magic, but yes, yoongi and hoseok hyung are witches,” tae tells him. 

it’s silent as jeongguk processes this information. he searches his brain, tries to think about what their magic could possibly be, but considering he just found out what it was a few minutes ago, he has no idea how magic and a person are linked. it could be tied to personality or it could be completely random. making a note to try and ask as many questions as he can later, he allows himself to take a deep breath. magic is real and the majority of his friends are witches. that’s concrete and true fact now. 

the biggest thing eating at him now is the stupid curiousity of what magic hoseok and yoongi have.

jimin and tae won’t tell him—he spends about fifteen minutes on the stone bench begging and giving the biggest doe-eyed look he can, but they won’t budge. it’s not their information to divulge, they tell him. a witch’s magic is a closely guarded secret, they say. he’s a little burned by the fact that they’d never thought to tell him, but he also gets it. he can only imagine what would happen if it was common knowledge that people with extraordinary abilities were walking around. 

the two leave him with, “if you want to know what their magic is, you have to ask them yourself.”

jeongguk ruminates on that for a couple of days. on one hand, the need to know is completely unnecessary. sure, he still low key wants to know everything there is to know about hoseok and yoongi, but he also wants to kind of pretend they never existed in the first place so.... he’s kind of stuck. 

eventually the nosy itch is too hard to ignore. he knows what he has to do- known for the entire week and a half he’s avoided it- and it’s scary, but it’s not something he can put off anymore. he doesn’t text them both, just hoseok. debating where to meet them had taken a surprisingly long amount of time; he didn’t want to meet them anywhere too public because they were going to be talking about magic, but he also didn’t want to invite them over to his dorm or vise versa. in the end, he texts hoseok and tells them he’ll be at the studio thursday after his afternoon class and they can meet him if they want. he doesn’t wait to see if hoseok responds or if yoongi texts him. reading anything they have to say will ultimately make him chicken out or upset and he doesn’t want to do that to himself. whatever is going to happen will happen when they meet, and then… well, jeongguk doesn’t really know after that. 

besides talking to yoongi and hoseok about their magic, jeongguk would like advice on how to talk about the rest of it because he really doesn’t know what he wants to say.

when jeongguk needs advice, he always knows which hyung to go to.

“hi, jeongguk-ah,” namjoon smiles at him, dimple popping.

jeongguk feels a bit of the tension inside him melt out. namjoon tends to have that effect in general, but it’s always been that way for jeongguk, ever since he met the man. the younger is sure he’ll always be a little in love with namjoon, but then again, wasn’t everyone?

“hi hyung. i’m sure you probably have an idea of why i’m here.” 

namjoon’s smile turns a little sad. “i kind of figured. if it makes you feel any better, jin bopped them right over the head after you left and didn’t give them dessert.”

admittedly that does make him feel a bit better, but there’s still things he needs guidance on.

“i’m meeting with them tomorrow,” jeongguk confesses, shifting in his seat with the onslaught of nerves that comes with saying that out loud.

when namjoon raises his eyebrow questioningly, a curl of his sandy brown hair falls over his face and jeongguk is momentarily distracted until the older clears his throat. face red, jeongguk explains, “i… found out about magic from tae and jimin hyung. they told me yoongi and hoseok hyung are witches but they didn’t tell me their magic. it’s bothering me.”

namjoon nods pensively, leaning back in his chair. “yea, i get it. when jinnie first told me he had magic, i was super curious about it until… well. i’m still curious about it. it’s super fascinating stuff.” he looks at jeongguk intensely. “i know that’s not the only thing bothering you, though.”

the brunette huffs. “you’re not wrong.”

knowing the younger is just trying to gather his thoughts, namjoon waits patiently, sipping at his coffee.

jeongguk sighs. “i just… i’m so confused. they lied to me and kind of played me like an idiot, but  i don’t think they meant it like that? i just don’t know how they feel.”

“jeongguk-ah,” namjoon looks exasperatedly fond. “the only advice i can give you- which i’m sure it won’t be the first time you’ve heard it- is to talk to them and really listen to what they have to say. neither of us can read their minds; they’re the only ones who can tell you how they’re feeling.”

at jeongguk’s pout, he takes his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “i know feelings are scary and the idea that they might say something you don’t like or don’t want to hear is even scarier, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask. you deserve to at least get a chance at an explanation.”

it doesn’t make him feel a lot better, but namjoon’s words manage to settle something in him like they somehow always do.

“ah hyung,” jeongguk laments. “you always know exactly what to say to a poor dongsaeng.”

namjoon laughs. “you owe me a brownie.”

“of course, all of the brownies for my favorite hyung,” jeongguk grins. 

they stay at the cafe a little bit longer and talk about other unrelated things. namjoon regals him with some of jin’s magic horror stories. overall, when jeongguk leaves later, he isn’t quite so frazzled. there’s definitely still nerves, but he understands now more than ever that this is something that needs to happen.

the next day has jeongguk vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass. 

when jimin and tae give him a weird look as he practically phases through the couch, he tells them in a shaky voice, “i’m meeting with them today.”

they don’t look too surprised, but wish him luck before leaving for their own classes for the day. 

jimin looks over his shoulder as he leaves. “just… make sure you hear them out, okay? no matter what their magic is or how upset you might be at them, just… try and give them a chance.”

jeongguk makes no such promises; he’s already half talked himself out of going. class is a complete blur; he takes no notes and when he walks out has no recollection of what his professor said. it’s regrettable but he’s got a good grade in the class after acing the exam, so he isn’t too worried. he gets to the studio building and into a room before they do which is bad because it gives him ample time to overthink but he figures he would have done that either way. 

he’s deep inside his own head when he hears a knock on the door. taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself, he opens it.

even after everything, his stomach still swoops at the sight of them. there’s a twinge of worry he tries to push down because they look kind of terrible—there are bags under both of their eyes and they won’t even look him in the face. he expects to feel a bit vindicated; after all, they hurt him and they deserve to feel bad for it. instead he just feels small, sad. jeongguk doesn’t like it when his hyungs are hurting, even if they hurt him. 

they sit on the couch across from the studio chair where he plops down, a frown on his face when they say nothing and continue not looking at him. he internally sighs. time to just come out with it, then.

“i do want to talk about… everything that’s happened between us, but there’s something else i want to ask you guys first, and you don’t have to tell me, but i’d appreciate it if you were honest,” jeongguk starts, clasping his own hands together in an attempt to stop them from shaking as hard. 

the other men look confused and the last thing jeongguk wanted was to blindside them, but he needs to know this first.

“i found out about magic. i know you guys have it, i just don’t know what it is. it’s not something i necessarily need to know but…” he trails off, not really sure how to tell them that he’s honestly just having a hard time trusting them right now and he doesn’t know if he can be anything to them, even just a friend, if they don’t give him something to go off of.

yoongi and hoseok exchange a look. jeongguk pushes down the feeling he long ago identified; the feeling of wanting to be included, know what those glances mean, maybe be able to give his own looks back someday. 

“i have sound magic,” yoongi confesses. “i can… feel soundwaves. if that makes any sense. that’s why i’m so good with producing; soundwaves are more to me than sound. i can manipulate them, if i have to, or stop them from happening, etcetera etcetera. “ his face turns red. “for some reason, you aren’t as susceptible to magic as others, that’s why when i tried to sing and make it sound decent, you heard me as i really sound.”

jeongguk fights the smile threatening to break out on his face. something yoongi said catches his attention, though. “less susceptible to magic? what does that mean?”

“honestly, it probably just means that since five out of six of your friends are witches, you’ve been exposed to so much magic it doesn’t effect you like it would someone who isn’t around our kind as often,” hoseok explains. 

“what’s your magic then?” jeongguk tilts his head towards hoseok, slightly concerned when the man won’t meet his eye.

“don’t get upset,” hoseok murmurs. “my magic… it’s like empathy magic. i can read people’s emotions, sometimes feel them myself if they’re strong enough. i can also… manipulate them, on rare and generally extreme cases. i only really do it if i feel someone is sad and i want to make them feel better, or if they’re overall stressed or upset, i try to calm them down.”

jeongguk feels upset right now and knowing hoseok can feel that makes it worse, but he can’t seem to calm himself down. if hoseok could feel emotions the whole time, that means he-

“you knew,” jeongguk laughs, but it’s humorless and dry. “the entire time when i liked you and yoongi and i felt so fucking guilty about it and like i wasn’t enough, you knew. you knew the whole time what i was going through and you didn’t even-” he shakes his head, then has a realization. “you didn’t ever try to-?”

hoseok looks horrified. “no, jeongguk, i could never- i respect people way too much to try and manipulate anyone’s emotions like that seriously. if i ever do it, it’s with the best intentions and it’s only ever to make people feel better if they need it, not to actually.. control them. you know me better than that."

the younger wants to bite back that he doesn’t, obviously, since they decided to hide things from him this entire time. he knows it’s a low blow though, and he also knows that hoseok is right—the older isn’t like that, and jeongguk is aware of that. he just feels so… hurt. this entire thing just sucks completely and it makes him even more anxious knowing hoseok is aware of his feelings. 

“jeongguk,” hoseok starts gently. “i know that yoongi and i fucked this up majorly. we didn’t start off right at all and we haven’t been honest with you and for that, i’m really sorry. you deserve better than that.”

yoongi nods. “i agree. we were stupid about it from the beginning, but… we want to fix it. i don’t know what we can do, but just… name it.”

“why’d you guys kiss me?” he blurts. 

the mint-haired man blinks. “thought that would have been a little bit obvious. we like you.”

needless to say, based on jeongguk’s racing heart and widening eyes, the spike in his emotions hoseok feels, it wasn’t obvious.

“yoongi,” hoseok hisses, swatting him on the shoulder.

he flaps his hands in an attempt to shield himself. “ah, stop it! you said we needed to be honest so… i’m being honest.” 

“so it was…. it wasn’t a game? you- like me?” jeongguk can feel his throat starting to close up and he knows he’s about to cry and it’s embarrassing but-

“oh, sweetheart,” hoseok reaches out a hand as if to touch him and seems to think it would be a bad idea and maybe it kind of is because jeongguk has no idea where his head is at right now but a hug? he could use one.

they pull him in and he goes willingly, sagging against them as he finally starts to cry softly. “i- i thought you guys-” he hiccups, not able to finish his sentence. he feels an emotion he knows, but one that isn’t coming from him and it’s startling. “what was that?”

hoseok looks sheepish. “sometimes when i uh, feel really strongly my emotions can be projected. it can be a little hard to control.”

“yea, by that he means when he sees a cockroach and gets scared, i can feel it from the room over,” yoongi complains, rolling his eyes.

it makes jeongguk smile, the first time he has since stepping into this room and when he feels relief, he knows it’s from hoseok.

he’s curious, suddenly. “can your emotions be projected, too?” he asks yoongi. 

the older shrugs. “hoseok and i are connected, so potentially. mine don’t get projected as often as his unless we both really try.”

‘hoseok and i are connected…’

jeongguk feels that same stab of insecurity.

hoseok squeezes him. “talk to me, bunny. i don’t want to be invasive, but i felt that. please tell us what’s wrong.”

he pushes them away gently. “i just… i like you guys so much and i didn’t think you could ever… feel that way about me. i don’t know if there will be room for me… like yoongi said, you guys are connected,” he shrugs, trying to play off the pessimistic emotions he knows hoseok can feel.

“jeongguk-ah,” yoongi looks impossibly fond and it’s too much and not anywhere near enough. “the only reason hoseok and i even started pursuing you is because hoseok felt his magic connect to you, which had only ever happened with me.” his hands come up to cradle jeongguk’s face, swiping the bangs from his eyes. “you’re special to us.”

“you could have led with that,” he protests weakly, fighting the urge to nuzzle into yoongi’s palm and failing. they’re smiling at him so wide and he can feel their happiness, their affection, and it’s better than any words they could have used. 

“we were scared,” hoseok admits. “i know that’s not an excuse for anything that we did, but… please try to understand where we’re coming from. magic isn’t something witches choose, we’re born with it and sometimes things happen even we don’t understand. we- i- was scared that once you figured out my magic, you would be afraid to trust me again.” he looks at jeongguk so earnestly the younger can feel his conviction. “i have never and would never try to use my magic against you. your feelings… they’re so precious to me, jeongguk-ah. the first time i met you and you thought i was cute? it was adorable.”

“overall, you’re just adorable,” yoongi adds. 

jeongguk is sure he’s never been this red and embarrassed and enamored before. 

“so um,” he stutters. “what does this… are we together now?”

yoongi nods. “we’ve talked about it and we really want to date you properly. the way we should have in the beginning and frankly, the way you deserve.”

the older moves closer, further into jeongguk’s space. “and honestly… i’d really like to kiss you.”

jeongguk glances over to see hoseok watching them intently. “oh don’t worry about me. he’s mostly jealous that i got to kiss you first,” the blonde says flippantly, grinning when yoongi flips him off.

the youngest is a little overwhelmed, but in a good way. the fact that both of these gorgeous guys want to date him, argued about kissing him first… it’s a good feeling. he looks up at yoongi shyly through his lashes, moving his hands up to the older’s shoulders, shivering when big hands settle on his waist to pull him in.

yoongi’s lips are more chapped than hoseok’s were, but more insistent, less yielding. jeongguk hears a sigh and knows it came from hoseok, can feel his eyes on them and that makes him shudder, a small whine falling from his mouth. yoongi is grinning, laughing at him, but when jeongguk tilts his head just slightly, pushes in a bit firmer, the smile is gone. one of the older’s hands comes up to the nape of jeongguk’s neck, playing with the hair there, pulling him in closer as he licks tentatively at the seam of jeongguk’s lips. their tongues tangle for a few minutes, the slick sounds of their mouths moving together the only noise in the room besides hoseok’s breathing that gets heavier the longer he watches them make out slowly, yoongi’s lips a nice firm pressure, consistent and warm. 

the brunette pulls away first, reluctantly, to breathe and steal a look at hoseok. he looks a little wrecked, like he was the one making out with someone, not just watching. 

“that was really hot,” he admits, swallowing hard. 

they all look at each other and jeongguk can feel all of their contentment, like everything is finally slotting into place and he can’t deny that he still has a lot of questions and he’s sure he’ll still continue to have doubts, but looking at their open and smiling faces, he can’t bring himself to be afraid. he knows whatever happens, they’ll be there for each other. 

“you know,” yoongi remarks. “you could probably show him that song now. you did write it for him, after all.”

flustered, jeongguk moves to the computer. “i wrote it for both of you,” he mumbles. 

as the first notes of his song fill the studio, jeongguk tries to be subtle by looking for their reactions, but he’s sure he fails. he’s very proud of what this song became and he’s even changed some things about it since yoongi saw it last and it finally has an official title.

“euphoria,” jeongguk tells them when it’s over and their eyes are wide and he’s a little startled by the amount of affection he feels from them but if there’s anything he is okay with getting used to, it’s these emotions, their emotions. he wants to learn what all of them feel like, learn everything there is to know about yoongi and hoseok. 

he trucks on, determined to explain. “i- um. when i first met hobi-hyung, i started writing it… but it definitely was about you too, yoongi-hyung. it’s how you guys make me feel, but i uh- guess you already know that.” he grins sheepishly.

hoseok pulls him into a hug and he all but melts into it, burying his nose in the blonde’s neck. the man still smells as fresh and sunshiney as he did the first time jeongguk was ever close enough to notice, and it makes his insides feel all gooey and warm. yoongi joins in and it’s a nice little huddle that jeongguk is loathe to break but he’s also-

“hungry,” jeongguk complains as they’re leaving the studio due to his whining. “god, i can finally start going back to cofe2. i missed their shakes and brownies so bad,” he whines. 

both men laugh as they move to either side of him, their hands tangling with his automatically. they get some looks from people as they pass but the elation of finally having them with him like this distracts jeongguk from caring. 

“i’m honestly really surprised you managed to stay away from them as long as you did,” hoseok teases. 

making sure to use his big eyes, jeongguk pouts, “you should buy me some right now to make up for it.”

yoongi, deadly serious, says, “you heard the bunny.”  

as they sit at the cafe- jeongguk having gotten two brownies- the brunette can’t stop smiling. having them as friends and talking with them separately had been good, but this was so much better. they held his hand and called him bunny and when he whined they would coo and it was so embarrassing but so so nice. 

“why do you guys call me that?” it’s not that he doesn’t like it (quite the opposite, in fact), he just doesn’t know where it came from. 

the blonde smiles a heart shaped grin at him. “you look like a little bunny when you smile. it’s cute.”

“yours looks like a heart,” jeongguk fires back, pleased when hoseok blushes a nice pink to match the streaks in his hair.

yoongi gives a little gruff laugh, smile all teeth. “you guys are both cute, be quiet.”

“i dunno, hyung. you’re probably the cutest,” jeongguk pretends to ponder.

hoseok nods. “oh definitely. look at him.”

they grin at each other as the eldest turns red and jeongguk can’t imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t ever decided to hear them out, can’t imagine not being able to have this—not so secret looks, hands entwined on top of the table, brownie pieces being stolen and pretend offense that draws a laugh from everyone, and lots of love.

it almost feels like magic.