Work Text:
“you look like shit.”
jungkook pauses in the entryway as he takes off his shoes and then clicks his tongue giving seokjin an emotionless stare. he’s not very surprised by the statement all things considering, “thanks.”
seokjin looks at him and leans against the kitchen counter, a wooden spoon in his hand, “for real though, what happened to you?”
jungkook lets his duffel bag drop from his shoulder, he kicks it to the wall out of the way and shuffles to the counter, sitting on the barstool next to seokjin with a heavy sigh, “angry customer.”
“that’s coffee?” seokjin comes closer to look at jungkook’s tarnished work uniform, which was now splattered with light brown stains, “isn’t that dangerous? you could have been burned. were you burned?”
“it was iced coffee.” jungkook looks down at the counter, his head resting on his palm. his mind flashes back to the unpleasant ten minutes where he had to deal with ice down his pants. he shutters, he doesn't want to discuss it.
seokjin lets out a sigh and leans against the counter, pointing the spoon at him, jungkook finally realizes what the presence of the utensil could mean and the smell of soup simmering over stove is finally more noticeable than the intense smell of coffee and creamer on his clothes. seokjin continues, “still, what if ice hit you in the eye or something. can you be blinded by that?”
jungkook just shrugs. it didn’t happen to him luckily so he doesn’t really care. he isn’t in the mood to discuss the situation much. he’s been sticky for over three hours and he’s pretty sure there’s salted caramel in places salted caramel shouldn’t ever be in. he just really wants to take a shower.
footsteps sound from the hallway and namjoon enters the main room of the apartment which was made up of the kitchen, living room, and the shunned corner which they labeled their "dining room" although no one ever ate at the table that was there. it usually just ended up being a place for namjoon to place and grade his papers from his ta class and do school assignments.
“oh you look like shit.” namjoon stops to say as he enters the kitchen and gives jungkook a once over with pitiful eyes. jungkook just sits there trying not to move too much, he is starting to feel his clothes slowly adhere to his body.
“i’ll tell you later,” seokjin nods to namjoon and pushes jungkook off the stool towards the direction of the bathroom, “you go shower, you can eat after. kimchi stew sound nice?”
jungkook gives a small nod. seokjin’s kimchi stew always made him feel better. it tasted like home. slowly and carefully, he made his way to the bathroom. he locks the door and turns on the shower. he peels off his work uniform, consisting of black slacks and a white button up with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing off the tattoos scattered across his arm. he places them in the sink and turns on the faucet to try and soak the uniform to help with the staining. he doesn’t really know if it will do much of anything, but he’ll do whatever to not make them stick to the nearest hard surface, he decides he’ll take them down to the laundry room later tonight after dinner.
he hops into the shower, grabbing his small waterproof speaker he bought for ten thousand won at some random shop in hongdae and turns it on. if you by big bang begins to play, he starts to hum along to the ballad as he squirts shampoo into his hand and lathers it in his hair. he’s really hoping his lavender and sage scented shampoo and sweet pea body wash will eliminate the stench of strong coffee from his body.
the song ends and a new one begins. love is an open door from frozen. jungkook bites back a laugh, he doesn’t even remember putting the song on his playlist but regardless he begins to sing as he washes.
“love is an open door! love is an open do-“ jungkook falters as he belts out the lyrics when his ears pick up on an odd sound. it’s a voice. it’s not seokjin’s nor namjoon’s and it’s definitely not coming from his apartment. it’s coming from the other side of the wall. he furrows his brow but continues to finish the chorus and slowly turns off the shower, keeping the speaker on and continuing to sing.
“i mean it's crazy!” him and the voice harmonize, “we finish each other’s sandwiches!”
jungkook presses his ear to the wall and continues to carry on the chorus. this is weird. this has never happened before. jungkook’s been living in this apartment for two years and this has never happened before. no one has ever joined him as he sang in the shower. it’s a bit jarring.
he turns off the speaker and although the music is off the voice continues to sing, albeit softer now, but they continue to hum along.
jungkook is perplexed, but intrigued. without much thought he grabs a towel, wrapping it around himself and runs out into the living room, “i just sang a duet—oh hoseokie-hyung what are you doing here?”
there’s a scraping of the barstool on the floor as hoseok turns around in his seat to look at him. he leans on the counter and wiggles his eyebrows looking jungkook up and down, eyes particularly trained on his chest, “had i known you would put on a show i would’ve come earlier.”
seokjin turns around from stirring a pot of stew on the stove and smacks hoseok's back with his leg, “man, shut up.”
hoseok rubs the spot where he was hit but still smiles at jungkook, “so, a duet?”
namjoon peaks his head over the couch and raises an eyebrow, “how is that possible?”
“i don’t know, someone on the other side of the wall sang with me.” jungkook told them.
“someone sang with you?” namjoon's eyebrows raise even higher.
“yeah!” jungkook nods, little droplets of water falling off his hair and onto his shoulders and then onto the floor, “i was really confused but...it was fun.”
seokjin looks at him for a moment before nodding, “well that’s nice and all jungkookie, but i don’t see why you couldn’t have told us after you were dressed, you’re creating a mess and the floorboards warp, you know that.”
jungkook looks down at the purple towel wrapped around his waist and the puddle slowly to form where he was standing. he gives an apologetic smile, “sorry hyung, I just got a bit excited.”
seokjin's smile is fond as he says, “well, i’m glad your mood changed, but please also go get changed and come and eat, the stew is done.”
jungkook nods, gives a thumbs up and turns around. he hears hoseok let out a cackle and speak to seokjin, “you guys really need new towels,” then he shouts to jungkook, “kookie i hate to break it to you but i can see your ass.”
jungkook yelps and places a hand behind his butt, feeling the hole in the towel, he feels his ears heat up and he takes off to his room.
stupid towel.
☁
“so hoseok has informed me of you have a duet partner.”
jungkook gives a glance to yoongi as he continues to stream the milk for a latte, an eyebrow raised, “and what about it?”
“nothing. he just mentioned something about you running out naked to tell everyone.” yoongi shrugs, dusting cinnamon on a hot chocolate. “he said your pecs were nice.”
jungkook unconsciously brings a hand to his chest, “i feel violated...”
“well you were naked and went out into the living room so...” yoongi murmurs as he walks over to the pick-up counter. he calls out, “hot chocolate for jinyoung!”
“i was not-“ jungkook says loudly then realizes the cafe is pretty quiet today, he brings his voice down as he finishes in a whisper, “i wasn’t naked. i had a towel.”
yoongi looks at the next order ticket, an iced salted caramel mocha. jungkook frowns at the ticket, he has a new vendetta against those fuckers. it was the stupid lady's fault for saying she wanted oat milk when jungkook had told her multiple times they didn’t have oat milk and after it all she had told him “whatever” so jungkook assumed "whatever" meant making the salted caramel mocha like normal. needless to say the woman didn't appreciate that.
it was his mistake of course.
“all i’m hearing is that he still saw your pecs.”
jungkook finishes pouring the milk into the cup, creating a perfect flower with the foam, then sets it on the pick up counter, “vanilla latte for sooyoung!” he calls and then turns to frown at yoongi, his arms crossed, “please stop talking about my pecs.”
“fine.” yoongi grumbles and points a thumb to the sink, “then can you rinse the blender i need to make a frap next after the mocha.”
“on it.” jungkook salutes.
jungkook liked his job at beanies, the university campus’ cafe that was open twenty hours a day seven days a week. it was the main place for students to come and meet up or study. he liked working with yoongi, he’s the whole reason why jungkook got the job in the first place, which he would forever be grateful for.
yoongi lived across the hall with hoseok and was already good friends with seokjin and namjoon when jungkook moved in with the two. yoongi treated him as a little brother and it was nice to have someone care for him that way. well, everyone treated him with love and care in the hall of the sixth floor, he was the youngest one who lived there after all. some days he would even help ms. lee take out her trash and she would send him home with armfuls of side dishes to which seokjin would send jungkook out again the next week to help and earn more side dishes when they were running low. jungkook told him that was abusing his "maknae power" but seokjin would only shrug and say it’s her fault for making extra.
“kook, can you take the register i got my hands tied and jisoo is in the back on break,” yoongi says focusing on the salted caramel mocha.
“sure thing hyung.” jungkook agrees. he quickly rinses the blender and wipes his hands on his apron turning around only to abruptly stop in his tracks.
there, in front of him, were two guys at the register. normally everything would have been fine, something like this happens every shift for jungkook. who doesn’t get men at the front register right? it's only a coffee shop. and everything would have been fine if he wasn’t there. jungkook has never seen him before, trust him, he would have remembered a face like that. it was a face that made his heart beat more than what would have been considered healthy. it was a face that made him want to turn into a tomato and run out the door and never return.
a face with a smooth but chiseled jaw, slightly puffy cheeks, full lips, intense yet beautifully bright eyes. jungkook had never seen someone like him in his life. he was tall, around jungkook’s height, tan, sporting a dirty blonde hair color. jungkook couldn’t describe him other than the fact that he was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen in his life.
his mind finally kicks back into gear a moment later and he walks to the register, “uh, what can i get you?”
the other man, much shorter but just as tan, his hair a faded pink, smiles, “espresso and a black tea, unsweetened.”
jungkook nods avoiding eye contact as well as he could as he punches in the order, “that’ll be seven thousand won. can i get a name?”
“jimin.” he gives jungkook his credit card and jungkook swipes it and hands it back.
“alright jimin, it’ll out in a few minutes.” jungkook gives him his best customer service smile and then dares a glance to the other guy who was already looking back at him. jungkook swallows down a panicked squeak and turns around with wide eyes and red-tipped ears only to be caught by yoongi.
he stares at jungkook as he holds own the smoothie button on the blender with an unimpressed look, he took his finger off the button to be heard in a harsh whisper, “you’re the absolute worst gay.”
“i am not,” jungkook says turning around to work on the espresso, packing the coffee grounds into the filter.
“uh huh.”
“i’m not it’s just...when i see an attractive person...” jungkook locks the filter into the brew head.
“seokjin is attractive. namjoon is attractive. hoseok is...” yoongi glances off towards nothing in particular as if he is trying to find the right word. he goes with, “well he’s hoseok.”
jungkook purses his lips and hums, “well yes and i had a minor crush on all of you for varied amounts of time. that is until i realized you’re all losers. now, enough about me.”
“what if that guy is a loser?”
“this isn’t about him. this isn’t about me. stop talking. i’m done talking to you today. you’re being nosey.”
yoongi rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “if i don’t come home with some type of gossip hoseok won’t make peanut butter cookies, you know how i feel about those.”
jungkook took the newly made espresso and set it aside and poured a cup of black tea. “it’s all on you that you let your roommate bribe you like that.”
yoongi only glares at jungkook, knowing he is right.
jungkook clicks his tongue and gives him finger guns before turning around and setting the espresso and tea down on the pickup counter. he calls out, “espresso and black tea for jimin!”
☁
“so,” hoseok leans across the couch to whisper in jungkook’s ear, “i heard from a little kitten you gay panicked at work.”
jungkook pushes him back and scoffs, “your kitten was ill informed.”
he wasn’t. hoseok didn’t need to know that though.
“are you sure?” hoseok tilts his head with a grin, he runs a finger over the peony inked on jungkook’s arm, “they say they’re a first class witness.”
“your witness is blind.” jungkook corrects and twists his arm out of hoseok’s grasp, it tickles.
“hey!” yoongi gives a shout from the kitchen, “i may be legally blind but i had my contacts in that day!”
jungkook’s turns to hoseok and gives him a pointed look, “he also suffers from short term memory loss. if you truly cared about him i’d think about taking him to the doctor hyung.”
hoseok laughs and falls back onto the couch. “you’re such a brat.”
“mmm,” jungkook hums and goes back to scrolling through his phone on twitter. nothing interesting on there as usual.
yoongi comes rounding the kitchen counter into the living room with a bowl of ramen in his hands. he takes a bite and points his chopsticks at jungkook, “what’s the word on that duet partner of yours? was it a one time thing?” yoongi sits on the recliner and shoves more ramen in his mouth. hoseok scoots closer to him on the couch and looks at him mouth open. yoongi gives him a glare, “no. you ate it all last time. go make your own.”
hoseok frowns and crosses his arms across his chest and begins to pout. yoongi just rolls his eyes and shoves another helping of ramen in his mouth.
“he’s fine.” jungkook answers.
truth is, him and his duet partner-slash-neighbor have given some sort of performance every night for the past week at exactly 10pm sharp. it’s fun and jungkook always feels better after their renditions of no tears left to cry and i will always love you and whatever else comes on shuffle from the speaker.
“he?”
jungkook nods and sets down his phone and runs a hand through his hair. “yeah the voice is too deep to be a girl.”
hoseok hums, “have you met him then? he’s your neighbor.”
“he’s our neighbor too hoseok, we haven’t met him either.” yoongi provides, taking a sip of the broth from the paper bowl the ramen came in.
“yeah but we are across from him. not next door neighbors like kookie here,” hoseok slouches further down the couch.
“no i haven’t.” jungkook says.
“why not?”
“same as you, don’t have time really.” jungkook says referring to his job and classes he has to take if he wants to finish his graphic design degree in a reasonable timeframe.
“you.” hoseok points to him with raised eyebrows, “make a point. but we are doing anything now so let’s do it right now!”
hoseok jumps up and grabs him by the wrist jungkook squeaks out a “what?”
it was silent. the three of them stood in the hallway and knocked on the door again.
“maybe no ones home.” hoseok blinked, staring straight at the door.
jungkook turned to him and rolled his eyes, “really? what gave that away?”
“you know i don’t appreciate these remarks of yours. i raise you on my back and this is the-“
hoseok is cut off by seokjin’s voice coming from the end of the hall, “what are you doing?”
“we were gonna meet the new neighbor!” hoseok gives a giant smile at seokjin who has namjoon trailing behind him with his arms full of grocery bags.
the two walk closer until they’re next to them and seokjin corrects hoseok, “neighbors.”
“neighbors?”
“it’s two of them.”
“how do you know that? did you meet them?” yoongi asks, he’s still slurping away at his ramen.
“no,” he opens the apartment door and namjoon struggles to fit through with all the bags but somehow does it in the end. “ms. lee told me, said they were nice. around our age.”
that seems to brighten hoseok’s mood, “do you think i could get them to join,” he does a wave with his arms back and forth for a moment and then dramatically turns towards the group, “the dance studio?”
jungkook gives hoseok a look up and down before grimacing, “not like that you’re not.”
“rude.”
seokjin just rolls his eyes and gestures for everyone to get inside the apartment, “be useful and help me put the food away please. i’m making bossam tonight.”
a quiet “fuck yeah!” comes from yoongi as they go back inside.
☁
“incoming. twelve o’clock.” was all yoongi said.
jungkook was wiping down the counter after a small spill of liquid sweetener caused by yoongi a few minutes ago. he gave yoongi a confused look before turning to look straight in front of him only to come face to face with what he has dubbed “the angel” (but he won’t tell anyone that). jungkook gulps but gives a smile nonetheless. “can i, uh, help you?”
the angel softly smiles back at him, his blonde hair tucking behind his right ear revealing about five different piercings in the ear, “you’re out of napkins.”
jungkook’s in a daze. he blinks, “huh?”
“napkins. you’re out of them in the dispenser outside. i just wanted to tell you.” the angel points behind him with his thumb, referring to the small table they have outside filled with extra sugars and stirring sticks and napkins (well not napkins at the moment but usually they are there).
“oh thank you, we will fix that in a moment. is that all?”
the angel smiles again and nods but jerks in his step to turn around and pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth. jungkook watches as for the quickest moment he stands there frozen before turning back to jungkook with another smile, “yeah that was it. thank you.”
then the angel leaves to go sit outside. jungkook tilts his head. he didn’t need to thank him for anything, he didn’t even order anything. weird.
☁
“someone sent you a love letter.” it’s the first thing seokjin says once jungkook enters the apartment. jungkook just raises an eyebrow as he sets his backpack on the counter.
“i found this when i walked in.”
jungkook grabs an apple from the fridge and bites into it and looks at seokjin who is holding a piece of lined paper.
“it was slid under the apartment door. i stepped on it when i walked in but it looks fine. it’s addressed to a...mr. shower singer.” seokjin says squinting at the writing.
jungkook abruptly chokes on the apple and starts coughing. “huh?”
seokjin scratches his head, “now i don’t know a mr. shower singer but i do know a guy by the name of jeon jungkook who sings in the shower every night.”
jungkook continues to cough as he opens up a cabinet and grabs a glass and fills it up with water and then proceeds to drink it all. he coughs once more before he determines he’s fine. “what does it say?”
seokjin just shrugs and hands it to jungkook, “didn’t read it. it’s addressed to you so here.”
jungkook looks at the piece of paper for a moment and then at seokjin and then back to the paper. he takes a breath and opens up the folded piece of paper.
dear mr. shower singer (i don’t know what else to call you.)
i’m writing this letter/note to say: hi. so hi. i don’t know what to say which is ironic considering i was outside your door thirty minutes ago trying to see if you were home. spoiler alert: you were not.
jungkook finds a smile come onto his face. he decides he likes his duet partner's humor. he continues on.
i wanted to meet you considering we have been performing together in our most sacred of places, the bathroom, for about a week and a half. i’ve knocked on your door about four times and every time no one is home so i’m just hoping this letter finds you.
i’d like to meet you or perhaps talk some time so here’s my number, i will be awaiting your message good sir.
xxx-xxx-xxxx
sincerely
your duet partner
jungkook bites his lip. it’d be a bit of a lie to say he wasn’t excited to talk to his duet partner. he also realized what a feat it was to never be home when his neighbor was home unless it was at the very end of the day. then jungkook considered that his schedule was booked everyday with classes and work, namjoon basically lived in the science department of the school working in his thesis, then there was seokjin who usually was out at work during the day and refused to answer the door after seven at night. he glanced up from the paper after the thought to see seokjin staring at him, “well?”
“he gave me his number.”
“great. call him.”
jungkook’s eyebrows raise and he shakes his head and goes to leave the kitchen, “i don’t know about that, i cant call him...at least not right now.”
“why not?”
“what if he doesn’t like me? what if he thinks it would have been better if he didn’t actually know the shower singer?” jungkook’s mind is whirling with scenarios. all bad. that’s just how his mind liked to work.
“you’re ridiculous. everyone loves you.”
“not everyone...” jungkook mumbles looking at his feet.
seokjin scoffs, “name one person.”
“mr. do from down the hall.”
seokjin clicks his tongue and frowns. he knows mr. do has hated jungkook ever since the second day jungkook had moved in and accidentally kicked a hole through his wall trying to kill a cockroach. jungkook hadn’t realized his strength at the time, the good news was he killed the cockroach. “name one other person.”
jungkook draws a blank.
“see everyone,” jungkook goes to correct him but is beaten to the chase, “but mr. do, likes you. you’re a great person jungkookie.”
jungkook nods and looks at the paper and bites his lip again. he picks at the edge rereading the words over and over again before he sighs. what’s the worst thing that could
happen?
after dinner jungkook finally flops down onto his bed and takes out his phone and the note inputting the phone number into his contacts. he takes a breath and then goes for it.
[to: duet partner] hi
jungkook mentally slaps himself. he’s been singing power ballads with a guy on the other side of his bathroom wall for a week and a half and that’s all he can say? hi? pathetic.
[to: duet partner] uh i mean. hello. this is mr. shower singer
it’s not great. in fact it’s an absolute trash way to start such a conversation but jungkook was absolute trash when it came to talking to new people, even when they weren’t literally in front of him.
jungkook sighs and lets his phone rest on his thigh and he rubs his hands over his face. stupid, stupid, stup-
he jumps when the phone vibrates.
[from: duet partner] well well well
[from: duet partner] it’s nice to finally meet you sir
[to: duet partner] you call this a meeting?
[from: duet partner] i call it a start.
[to: duet partner] you home?
[from: duet partner] sadly no. i’m currently in a room filled with freshmen who think they’re america’s next top model aka in hell aka in the fashion department.
jungkook bites back a chuckle.
[to: duet partner] so your major is fashion i’m guessing.
[from: duet partner] funny enough no. i’m a design major. working on the stage for the schools fashion show next month.
[to: duet partner] that's so cool. i’m a design major too. well, graphic design.
[from: duet partner] i’m interior. wanna be a set designer for films. and let me guess
[from: duet partner] graphic design is ur passion.
[to: duet partner] ha ha. i’m cackling. haven’t heard that one before.
jungkook knows he meant to be sarcastic but he’ll hide the fact he did peak a smile at the speech bubble when it popped up.
[from: duet partner] what's your name? i’m tae
[to: duet partner] i’m kook
and the two talk, jungkook learns tae hates the fashion department with a passion but loves fashion. jungkook tells him about the time he accidentally knocked out the school's mascot (it wasn’t his fault spirit week gets him overly enthusiastic). and tae tells him about how he just moved into the apartment complex with his best friend after having to live in the dorms for three years.
before jungkook knows it, it’s almost midnight and he’s starting to yawn every five minutes. tae’s replies have come in longer intervals than before and jungkook guesses it’s probably time they both go to bed. they text each other goodnight and that becomes the beginning of many other long night conversations.
☁
there are some days jungkook wishes he didn’t have to go to work. today is one of those days.
jungkook woke up late, first of all, that meant he didn’t have time to make breakfast for himself. that was bad. he was like namjoon before he ingested coffee, unresponsive and grumpy. second, it started raining while walking to the cafe and he forgot an umbrella. and then third, the cafe was busy, really really busy and he just didn’t feel like dealing with anyone at the moment but here he was.
“jesus christ jungkook, you look like you’re about to keel over.” yoongi sighed and shoved a muffin at his chest, “take your break.”
“but i-“ jungkook loosely grabbed the muffin looking out at the line going out the cafe door. it was close to midterms and people were only running on coffee and energy drinks at the moment. it was the busiest time of the year next to finals week.
“jisoo is literally right next to me,” yoongi rolled his eyes. “we will be fine. go eat something.”
“you do look like shit,” jisoo comments as she shakes a canister of whipped cream. “go on, we will be fine.”
jungkook pouts but listens and walks out from behind the bar and past the long line outside. it’s stopped raining though it’s still a bit chilly but it feels nice since he’s been sweating inside making hot drinks all day.
he takes a bite of the muffin. blueberry. it’s his favorite, he gives a small smile as he eats it and silently thanks yoongi.
“have your muffins always been that big?”
jungkook looks up from his muffin and sees the angel . he stutters out a “i’m sorry what?”
the angel looks at the muffin in his hand with raised eyebrows, “the muffins. those are enormous.”
jungkook looks at the half eaten muffin, they’re about the size of a grapefruit and jungkook realizes yeah they are giant muffins, but what does that have to do with anything. “i mean i guess.”
the angel looks at the line out the door and sighs, “i came to get tea but i don’t think i’ll be able to get to class on time...” the angel looks at jungkook for a moment and jungkook feels his ears start to warm at the stare, the angel then glances down at his forearms. “nice tattoos barista boy.”
then he walks off.
jungkook lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.
☁
[from tae] so. i was thinking. maybe a little celine dion.. my heart will go on?
[from tae] oh shit that rhymed. nice.
[to tae] i’m actually not home rn
[from tae] bitch!
[from tae] it’s ten at night where are you???
[to tae] gym
[from tae] bitch. why?
[to tae] i got to stay in shape. my body is a temple.
[from tae] i sincerely doubt that.
jungkook, feeling ever bold, takes a photo of himself in the gym mirror. the phone covering his face as he takes the picture, he decides he’ll keep the mystery. he sends it.
[to tae] a temple.
[from tae] is that a tattoo under your sleeve? how long have you had it?
[to tae] i got my first one when i was nineteen
jungkook had begun getting tattoos after he graduated high school. his arm has since been covered in various types of flowers, each one signifying a specific person in his life, each flower was that person's favorite flower. there was honeysuckle for namjoon, lilac for seokjin, a peony for yoongi, a yellow tulip for hoseok, a day lily for his mother wrapped around in ivy for his father. he loved the sleeve on his arm, it represented love and it meant a lot to him.
[from tae] just so you know i don’t think someone’s thighs should be that muscular or large. it’s not natural.
[to tae] and yet i have them.
[from tae] yeah...i’m leaving. bye.
jungkook lets out a laugh, covering his mouth as he looks around to see if anyone saw him in the gym but it was lately and practically empty except for another guy with earphones in.
[to tae] we will celine dion it on tomorrow yeah?
[from tae] i’ll forgive you and ur supernatural thighs bc that rhymed.
[to tae] thank u <3
[from tae] absolutely disgusting.
☁
jungkook comes home to a hoseok sprawled out on the couch passed out. he leans over the back of the couch and pokes hoseok’s nose. nothing. no response.
jungkook looks behind him to see namjoon in the kitchen shoving orange slices into his mouth. “hyung did hoseokie-hyung die?”
namjoon just shrugs, “maybe.”
“what do you mean maybe?” jungkook says a bit panicked looking back down at hoseok. if hoseok dies who’s gonna join him for bowling night next month? namjoon’s too busy, yoongi can’t roll a bowling ball straight to save his life, and seokjin would rather die than ever go bowling again after the time he was drunk and tossed a bowling ball up into the ceiling, how that happened jungkook doesn’t quite remember.
“he opened the door, walked straight into the couch, flipped over it and passed out. didn’t even say a word.” namjoon tells him and pops another orange slice into his mouth. “i think the door was locked too...since when did we give him a key?”
jungkook looks down at hoseok and then lightly slaps his cheek, “hyung wake up.”
hoseok starts to stir. “five more minutes.”
“seokie it’s been three hours.” namjoon calls.
“okay? four more minutes?” hoseok’s eyebrows furrow and he turns over on his side.
namjoon comes from the kitchen holding his wet and sticky hands from the orange juice in front of him. he leans over the couch and rubs them all over hoseok’s face.
“bro what the fuck?” hoseok jumps up out of his sleep rubbing at his face and grimacing when his hand sticks to it for a moment. “what the hell is this?”
“orange juice.” namjoon says simply and goes back to the kitchen to eat more of the orange.
hoseok licks his hand and then lets out a satisfied hum at the taste. jungkook makes a face, “gross.”
“tasty.”
“ew. go wash yourself please.” jungkook scrunches his nose as hoseok keeps licking his hand.
hoseok stands up from the couch but pauses, “hey you think if i drench myself in orange juice i can find someone to li-“
jungkook grabs one of seokjin’s decorative couch pillows at the end of the couch and chucks it at hoseok’s face, “don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
hoseok just gives a cheeky grin and disappears down the hall to the bathroom. namjoon crosses his arms and frowns, “why are we friends with him?”
“cause we love him.” jungkook sighs. hoseok was a character that was for sure.
“right.” namjoon says a matter-of-factly but then pauses “...wait why do we love him again?”
jungkook throws the decorative pillow at namjoon.
☁
[from tae] i wanna see you.
[to tae] that’s very forward of you...
[from tae] shut up. please tell me you can meet me someday this week.
jungkook bites the inside of his cheek. something in his stomach flares up and he feels nervousness coming on. of course he wants to meet tae but what if he’s not what tae expected? what would happen then? would their friendship be ruined? he just sighs and texts back.
[to tae] i have some time on friday, around noon?
[from tae] THANK GOD. THE GODS HAVE BLESSED ME FINALLY.
[from tae] it’s a done deal you can’t back out of it. you said you have time if you don’t show up i’ll bust your door down.
[to tae] lmao okay
[from tae] we will meet at beanies at noon got it?
jungkook tilts his head at the name for his workplace.
[to tae] why beanies?
[from tae] i like their tea...
[from tae] and their barista.
jungkook raises an eyebrow. tae likes one of his coworkers? maybe he could hook him up, jisoo and soren are single at the moment, he’s sure.
[to tae] really? what’s her name?
[from tae] uh...he...it’s a he.
jungkook freezes. there were only two guys who worked at beanies. yoongi and him. that...that was a lot to process.
[from tae] that doesn't bother you does it..
[to tae] not at all.
[from tae] oh good. that’s good. thank you.
[to tae] what do you like about him?
[from tae] you know i’m not really sure. we haven’t talked much but he has these kind eyes and a pretty smile. i kind of want to pinch his cheeks and boop his nose but you know you can’t do that to a stranger.
jungkook knew that kind of reaction too well. it’s the same one he felt when he fell for yoongi for half a year. that was a dangerous time for him.
by the time jungkook has been dragged out of his thoughts tae had changed the topic of conversation. jungkook gets it.
[from tae] you wouldn’t mind if i sent a pic of me considering ur supposed to meet me right? you got to know what i look like.
[to tae] i suppose so
[from tae] cool cool....uh
jungkook freezes as the photo pops up on his screen. his heart stutters as he looks down to see the angel on his phone with damp hair and a sleepy smile in dark blue snoopy pajamas. jungkook panics.
[from tae] kook? hello?
“fuck hyung!” jungkook paces around the living room. he’s panicking, he has to calm down but he can’t seem to.
“language please. this is a family friendly environment.” seokjin says calmly.
“we are all adults who gives a f-“ yoongi begins but stops when he sees the glare seokjin is giving him. he nods, “understood sir.”
hoseok sits on the armrest of the couch and crosses his arms, “why are we cursing?”
“i found out who tae is...”
“ah the duet partner! nice!” hoseok claps and smiles at the news.
jungkook shakes his head, “no. not nice. he’s the angel and he’s in love with yoongi!”
yoongi looks exceedingly alarmed by the statement, “he’s huh? you mean the one you’re always ogling at?”
“i don’t ogle.” jungkook frowns and crosses his arms looking down at the carpet.
“sure.” yoongi rolls his eyes, “are you sure it’s me?”
“yes!” jungkook says, “he talked about your smile and how he wants to boop your nose!”
yoongi furrows his brows. “that’s it? how do you know it’s me?”
“cause that’s how i felt when i first met you.” jungkook mumbles.
a gasp breaks out from hoseok, “you had a crush on yoongi-hyung?”
“i had a crush on all of you.” jungkook crosses his arms. jungkook doesn’t like to talk about it. they were very dark times. imagine having to not panic every time you talked to your new roommates and neighbors? it was awful.
hoseok perks up and wiggles his eyebrows, “really?”
jungkook rolls his eyes, typical hoseok. “and it abruptly ended once you started acting the way you do hyung. you could have had all this,” jungkook gestures to himself, “if you acted right.”
hoseok may be jungkook’s best friend but he was too much for jungkook to actually date once he got to know the guy, that didn’t mean he loved him any less though. hoseok frowns and slouches on the couch. “no fair.”
jungkook pouts, “anyways. enough about this i don’t wanna talk about it. i’m gonna go mope in my room now.”
“you’re still gonna meet him right?” namjoon asks as jungkook turns away.
jungkook sighs and runs a hand through his hair. he maybe wanted to run away forever but he wasn’t a coward, “ah...yeah...”
namjoon gives a small smile, “good luck then kook.”
☁
jungkook was running late. it wasn’t like he planned to but he woke up and realized he’d have to talk to tae face to face knowing that he’s in love with yoongi and he just didn’t want to get up. then tae started texting him during his class saying he was excited to meet jungkook in just an hour and jungkook eventually dragged himself out of bed to get ready.
it was raining again today. jungkook assumed it was due to the spring season coming upon them. the streets were wet and cold and jungkook had thrown on his nicest pair of black jeans and a black hoodie and large denim jacket to combat the cold. he grabbed seokjin’s polka dot umbrella on his way out and dashed his way to beanies.
[from tae] you’re late.
jungkook was still running, carefully, he might add, he wasn’t trying to slip, leaving the umbrella hanging from his wrist, he didn’t have time to use it and it wasn’t raining that badly he’d still be dry by the time he reached the cafe. he quickly took out his phone and began typing.
[to tae] sorry i’m coming i’ll be there soon.
[from tae] i’m so bored sitting here alone. my favorite barista isn’t even here for me to stare at. it’s incredibly sad.
jungkook forgot yoongi had called off today asking the cafe group chat if anyone could take his shift, jisoo ended up coming in for him. So yoongi wasn’t there, that made jungkook feel a bit better. more talking to tae less tae staring at yoongi. that was good. this was good.
[to tae] i’m cominggggg hold on
within the minute he had reached the cafe and entered. he shook his hand through his damp hair from the little mist of rain that was going on outside. he looked around until he spotted tae in the corner staring at him with slightly wide eyes.
he took a breath and walked over to the table and smiled at him once he approached. he sat down in the chair opposite of him and stuck out his hand, “hi. i’m kook.”
tae just stared at him and then at his hand and then back at him. he slowly took it and shook jungkook’s hand. “your...”
jungkook let out a chuckle and looked at the cafe’s bar, “ah yeah...it’s me.”
“you’re my duet partner?”
jungkook nodded.
“and you didn’t think to tell me it was you after i told you who i was? i sent you a picture of me!” tae said.
“i mean i sent you one of me.” jungkook mumbles looking down at the branded table with the beanies logo on it.
“yeah of your,” tae aggressively gestures to jungkook’s whole self, “that. your face was covered! i can’t believe i didn’t notice the tattoos were the same...”
“surprise?”
tae lets out a huff and sits back in his chair exasperated. “give me a minute, i gotta take it in.”
“no worries.”
“so i’m guessing your name is jungkook then. kook is a nickname?” tae asks quietly.
jungkook nods, “is your name really tae?”
“taehyung.”
jungkook smiles, “well, it’s nice to finally meet you taehyung.”
jungkook looks away to see jisoo behind the bar fluttering her eyelashes teasingly at him. he rolls his eyes. he doesn’t register taehyung starting to sweat at the sight of him.
☁
there was a quick rapt of knuckles on the door before it opened on its own and yoongi came in at a pace faster than what jungkook had ever seen yoongi move at.
“what are you wearing?” jungkook raised an eyebrow at the sight of yoongi in a full suit and tie, the tie hanging loosely undone around his neck.
“date. don’t know how to tie a tie. jin-hyung!” yoongi yells. “oh speaking of which how was yours?”
“wasn’t a date.” jungkook mumbles.
seokjin comes out of his room with a yawn, he must have been napping. “what is it?”
“i need you to tie the tie.” yoongi states clearly not paying attention to jungkook or his answer.
“for what?”
“date.”
“you have a date?”
“yes. now please.” jungkook giggles at the look of desperation on yoongi’s face. so that’s why yoongi also asked for the day off.
seokjin blinks away sleep and then takes in yoongi’s attire. he frowns, “you look ridiculous. i respect your desire to look nice but if it’s a first date this...isn’t it.”
“hyung i don’t have anything you know that.” yoongi’s closet consisted of black, gray, dark gray, and light black hoodies.
seokjin keeps the frown on his face, “we will ask hoseok. i’m sure he’s got something...sexy but decent.”
jungkook raises an eyebrow, “does hoseok have anything decent?”
seokjin zones out for a minute thinking about the mix of hoseok’s denim shorts, giant ripped t-shirts, skin tight jeans, and clunky sneakers. the frown is still evident on his face, “i’ll make it work. yoongi lets go.”
☁
jungkook was nervous. he shouldn’t be, well actually scratch that, he should be. jungkook had asked taehyung if he wanted to get lunch before he went off to his classes for the evening. so there he was in a small hole in the wall ramen place a few blocks away from campus waiting for him.
jungkook spotted taehyung walking in right on time and held in a breath. he was just standing there in denim jeans and a black t-shirt and patterned jacket, but he pulled it off like it was high fashion. taehyung really was so effortlessly pretty.
“hi.” taehyung breathed, he set his bag down and sat across from jungkook.
“hi.” jungkook repeated, looking at taehyung with his big eyes.
namjoon groaned out a, “i should’ve just stayed home with jin.”
jungkook turned to him with wide eyes, “huh?”
“nothing. let’s order.”
jungkook had invited namjoon to join them. jungkook didn’t know if he could hang out with taehyung alone again, he got quite nervous at the thought. namjoon initially said no but jungkook said he’d pay so namjoon finally agreed.
the three of them ate quietly for a moment before jungkook let out a cough and then cleared his throat, “i forgot, taehyung, this is namjoon he’s one of my roommates.”
namjoon gave a small smile and taehyung returned it.
“he’s the one who knocked over the quad christmas tree onto that one guy who stole that girl’s backpack two years ago right?” taehyung recalled as he picked up a chive from the ramen and ate it.
“you trip one time...” namjoon murmured. he grumpily shoved noodles into his mouth and chewed. “you said you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“that’s him.” jungkook smiles. “and i didn’t.”
“then how-“
taehyung butts in, “everyone knows, you’re a campus hero, you’re like a celebrity right next to pumpkin.”
“you mean i’m as popular as the campus security dog?” namjoon’s eyes got a bit wide as he set down his chopsticks.
pumpkin was the campus’ bestest boy and would forever be the favorite in the room, no matter where he was and if he was on the job or not. he had his own instagram, so far he had about 300 thousand followers and counting.
jungkook furrows his brows and turns to namjoon, “hyung people offer you high-fives everyday, they yell at you and give you a thumbs up on your way to your ta class, you never noticed?”
“i thought people were being friendly.” he answers dumbfounded.
taehyung leans his cheek on his knuckles and sighs, “that’s cute.”
namjoon sputtered out a, “no one ever told me!”
jungkook laughed, “you’re the reason i get free scones from the campus cafeteria. jisung from your bio class always gives them to me when he works to give to you but you know...i don’t see you until night and the art department is across campus from the science department and i need something for lunch and-“
“you eat my scones?”
“sorry?” jungkook shamelessly shrugs.
namjoon looks at him baffled and taehyung breaks out in laughter at the sight. jungkook’s heart beats a bit faster than before at the sound. he doesn’t seem to notice it.
☁
“you’re disgusting,” jungkook stares at hoseok who was shoving a peanut butter and pickle sandwich in his mouth as they sat out on the quad lawn on campus.
hoseok had to cancel his dance class this afternoon due to construction after some kid kicked the wall mirror and shattered it while trying some b-boy move. so he asked jungkook if he wanted to hang for lunch before jungkook had to go off to work. right now, staring at hoseok eating that monstrosity of a sandwich, jungkook was sincerely regretting it.
“i call myself a culinary mastermind,” hoseok retorted, taking another bite.
jungkook frowned and picked up his small packet of fruit snacks and popped a red one in his mouth, “you’re a culinary disgrace and that’s why yoongi doesn’t let you give feet within the kitchen unless it’s to make cereal or your peanut butter cookies.”
it was odd how hoseok was a master at baking but yet couldn’t actually cook to save his life. he could make a killer key lime pie that was one of the best things jungkook had ever tasted however the japchae he tried to feed jungkook once literally almost killed him. jungkook was in the hospital for two days...he’d rather not go back.
“and that’s why i made this when he left for work,” hoseok grinned holding up the sandwich.
jungkook scoffed and ate more of his fruit snacks. hoseok was weird that’s for sure. he was bright and friendly and bold but was terrified of all small animals for some reason. he was a dance director at the university and was one of the best dancers jungkook had ever seen, his form and use of power was jaw dropping yet he tripped over the same warped floorboards in the apartment every day. he flirted with just about anyone who breathed and would gladly go pants-less on any day of the week because according to him pants are “a spawn of satan”. jungkook didn’t really understand how his mind completely worked but it didn’t really matter considering hoseok was one of the nicest and most selfless people there were on the planet.
“okay so how about i walk you to work and we say are goodbyes then babe?” hoseok grinned tilting his head a little.
“sounds good babe.” jungkook nodded, he could play along with hoseok’s antics for the time being. once they had yoongi believing they brought home a dog. yoongi, being his boy scout self, had freaked, saying they would be kicked out of the apartment and was in a downright panic for about three hours until they told him they were kidding. yoongi didn’t let hoseok in their apartment for a full week and hoseok took refuge in seokjin’s room on his futon those seven and a half days.
jungkook stood up off the grass and collected his things and put them in his backpack. hoseok got up along with him and threw an arm around his shoulders and they began walking toward beanies.
“say how’s it going with your lover boy?” hoseok asked.
the two of them waddled as they walked, hoseok being too short to really hang himself on jungkook but he did anyways.
“he’s not my lover boy. you’re delusional.”
“aw don’t be like that. joonie was saying you got heart eyes.” hoseok grinned up at him.
jungkook rolled his eyes. sure taehyung might just as well be the prettiest person on this planet and he’d like to talk to him forever and look at him forever but he certainly didn’t have heart eyes.
“yo! kook!”
hoseok and jungkook stopped in their tracks and turned to see taehyung across the field coming over. jungkook went stiff.
hoseok glanced around jungkook and then at taehyung who was coming closer with every passing second. “woah. joonie was right i didn’t think it was possible to get heart eyes but here we—ow!”
jungkook went for a punch to the arm. hoseok could learn to shut up sometimes.
“taehyung hey.” jungkook ignores the way his heart skipped a beat.
taehyung smiled at him and stood in front of the two he gave a longer stare towards hoseok who was still hanging on jungkook. sure hoseok was pretty and seemed to glow even in dim lighting but the man was wearing a vibrant purple muscle tee and neon blue striped shorts. he stood out. jungkook didn’t want to talk about it, he had learned how to completely ignore hoseok and whatever his style was.
“so babe you gonna introduce me?” hoseok smiled at taehyung giving him a quick once over.
“uh tae this is hoseok...hoseok this tae.” jungkook gestured between the two awkwardly.
“just hoseok?” the man in question raised an eyebrow and a little smirk leaning on jungkook’s shoulder.
jungkook gave the man a glare, “yes. just hoseok.”
“whatever you say babe.” hoseok laughed.
taehyung left out a small, “uh.”
“don’t pay attention to him everything he says is unimportant.” jungkook told taehyung and shrugged hoseok off.
“now that’s rude.”
“anyways, where are you off to?” jungkook asked.
“beanies. you?”
“beanies.”
taehyung grinned, “nice. i’ll join you then? unless you don’t-“
“oh no! by all means join us,” hoseok interrupted, “actually you know what i just realized i forgot something back in class i’ll go get it, you guys go ahead i don’t want jungkookie to be late for his shift. bye, it was nice meeting you taehyung!” hoseok took off in the opposite direction with a wave and blew jungkook a kiss and gave him a wink.
if looks could kill jungkook was sure he’d have murdered hoseok thrice by now. he didn’t have class. he taught class and it was cancelled. jungkook would have to beat his ass later for this.
“sorry...about him i mean,” jungkook apologized as they started walking to the cafe.
“it’s okay. he seems nice.”
“he is. really really nice. really...nice...” jungkook trailed off zoning out for a moment to stare at two people across the quad from them. yoongi and jimin. “oh.”
“oh what?” taehyung asked and followed his gaze, “oh.”
jungkook swallowed. he didn’t know what he was feeling at the moment: sadness, betrayal, relief? why was yoongi with jimin?
“they went on a date the other day, jimin said it went well.” taehyung said as if he read jungkook’s mind. he had a small smile on his face as he stared at them.
jungkook’s heart clenched. taehyung liked yoongi and here yoongi was potentially dating tae’s best friend. even after jungkook told him taehyung’s feelings. it was an asshole move.
“i’m sorry.” jungkook said softly.
taehyung turned to him a bit confused, “sorry for what? there’s nothing to be sorry about.”
jungkook said nothing but stared at the couple who were laughing at something on the phone. they eventually passed out of eyesight, coming onto the section of the school beanies was located at.
taehyung sighed, “i’m glad jimin found someone he likes, he deserves it you know? has a whole list of ass boyfriends and girlfriends. i was afraid he’d give up on love all together but yoongi’s a nice guy right?”
“the nicest.” jungkook replied.
taehyung let out a breath and smiled, “that’s good then.”
they remained silent until they reached beanies. jungkook had too many thoughts in his head at the moment thinking about jimin and yoongi and taehyung’s unrequited love for yoongi. taehyung on the other hand looked like he was contemplating things in his head too.
taehyung smiled at him at the entrance, “hurry and clock in. i want to order a pomegranate green tea.”
“you know there are other baristas to take your order right?” jungkook informed him.
taehyung reached over and patted jungkook’s chest, “but why ask them when i got you right?”
jungkook wanted to freeze up at the touch and statement but took a quick breath before rolling his eyes, “yeah yeah whatever i’ll be back.”
taehyung’s grin got wider, “don’t take too long kook!”
☁
“you sir! are a dick!” jungkook said as he entered the jeon-kim-squared residence (titled by the kim seokjin himself) and pointed to yoongi who was sitting in his designated spot, the recliner.
yoongi was in the middle of taking a bite of a hotteok and froze to look at jungkook with wide eyes.
seokjin was standing in the middle of them coming from the hallway, he blinked, “well this is quite aggressive.”
“you complete asshole!” jungkook said dropping his backpack on the ground and coming closer towards yoongi who was still frozen, the hoeddeok still in his mouth. “how could you!”
“how could he what?” jin asked.
“he went out with jimin knowing taehyung likes him!” jungkook huffed pointing at the culprit. “you should have seen tae’s face was so sad...”
yoongi’s mind seemed to finally kick into gear and he took the pancake out of his mouth and raised an eyebrow, “what was i supposed to do? say no to jimin when he asked me?”
“yes!” jungkook exclaimed like it was clear as day.
“dick move bro.” seokjin commented before taking off towards the kitchen.
yoongi rolled his eyes, “taehyung hasn’t had a single conversation with me before. i don’t think he likes me and frankly it’s his loss that he didn’t act on his feelings if he did, which he doesn’t.”
“he told me he did!”
yoongi sighed and leaned back in the recliner, “did he say those words? word for word that he liked me?”
jungkook paused, “well no but-“
“busted!” jin yelled from the kitchen.
“shut up!” jungkook yelled back.
“he said he likes a barista there...jungkook...” yoongi spoke softly.
jungkook took a small step back and shook his head, “whatever i have homework.” he took off to his room.
jungkook didn’t have homework.
☁
jungkook was lying down on the grass in the campus quad, his phone above his face as he scrolled through his instagram account. nothing very interesting other than that he had been staring at taehyung’s last selfie post for a solid five minutes.
hoseok, who’s head had somehow made its way to jungkook’s stomach, was laying next to him. “so what are you gonna do?”
“about what?” jungkook lifted his head to glimpse at him.
“about lover boy.” hoseok replied easily, he set down the book he was reading, “if yoongi says he doesn’t like him then that means he likes you so what are you gonna do?”
“nothing.” jungkook replied and then finally started scrolling down his instagram timeline again.
hoseok frowned, “you’re so sad. just go out and fight for the boy you want, what can you lose?”
“i don’t know.” jungkook said honestly.
hoseok let out a huff. there was a pause of silence and then he spoke again, “i had a thought.”
jungkook hummed a response.
“i know what your next tattoo should be.”
jungkook raised an eyebrow and looked up a bit, “yeah?”
“my face.” hoseok gave his signature cheshire grin.
“in your dreams.” jungkook scoffed and looked back at his phone.
“what about taehyung’s favorite flower?” hoseok said softly.
jungkook paused and looked at hoseok again, “i’ve barely known him for four months i’m not going to get a tattoo for someone i don’t even know will be in my life in the future. just because you think i have some crush on him doesn’t-“
hoseok interrupted with wide eyes, “you think i’ll be in your life forever.”
he was referring to the tulip on his arm that jungkook decided he’d put there. “you’re my best friend of course i think you’ll be in my life forever.”
hoseok’s face lit up and it only took a second before hoseok threw his book and threw himself on top of jungkook giving him a bunch of tiny kisses all over his face.
jungkook was used to this type of affection from hoseok. whenever he would get excited or sleepy he liked to cling and peck whoever was nearest to him, usually it was jungkook and he had come to learn to just take it as it came or else it’d never end. jungkook wasn’t big on affection, no that wasn’t right, he liked affection. he just wasn’t known for showing it much but he did give his friends occasional forehead kisses and held hands with them. that was his family and he loved them.
“i love you kookie,” kiss . “you’re the bestest boy” kiss . “and i’m gonna love you” kiss . “and be with you forever.” kiss .
“hey kook! hoseok—oh.” it was the voice of taehyung.
jungkook jumped in surprise and quickly sat up. hoseok sat up with him and then started wiping his face of saliva left by the tiny pecks.
“ah taehyung! oh jimin! i, uh, hi!” jungkook let out a little chuckle of nervousness.
taehyung and jimin were staring at hoseok and him on the grass. hoseok coughed and stood up and gathered his things, he looked a bit guilty, “i’m gonna go kookie, i’ll see you at home?”
jungkook felt the heat in his ears slowly die down, “yeah i’ll see you then.”
hoseok gave him a sad smile and then took off. jungkook knew what was going on through his head, hoseok was an affectionate person but taehyung and jimin didn’t know that.
jungkook stood up and brushed off his clothes. “sorry if you saw that...he doesn’t mind public affection.”
jimin gave a smile and shook his head, “it’s fine. we were just heading to beanies wanna come?”
jungkook looked at the time of his phone. he had class in half an hour. he gave a sigh, “i’m sorry i can't today. class you know?”
jimin nodded, “that’s fine another day then?”
“yeah,” jungkook smiled, he took a quick glance to taehyung and noticed he wasn’t looking at him but rather the ground, finding a particular interest in a rock and rolling it around with his foot. something in jungkook’s stomach dropped.
jimin sighed and grabbed onto taehyung’s arm and waved goodbye to jungkook, “see you around kook.”
☁
“it’s not that bad kook,” seokjin told him.
“it’s not bad?” jungkook repeated, “what if he thinks i’m dating hoseokie hyung?”
“so then tell him?”
“but what if he doesn’t care!” jungkook groaned and threw his head back onto the couch.
“so then don’t bring it up as a big deal say something like someone else thought you guys were dating and you say it would be a ridiculous thought,” seokjin leaned his chin on his hand and gave jungkook a tired look, “it’s not that hard.”
jungkook looked at seokjin in awe, “what would i do without you?”
seokjin hummed to himself and looked at jungkook, “be an emotional wreck. be homeless. starve. jobless. possibly dead i dunno.”
jungkook stared at the older, “i think you give yourself too much credit.”
“i give myself credit where credit is due. don’t act like i didn’t raise you on my back-“
“hyung we met when i was nineteen you didn’t raise me.”
jungkook let seokjin his first day at university. he was there for orientation and seokjin just happened to be one of the overly peppy guides, except he wasn’t overly peppy and looked like he wanted to die right there on the spot. jungkook would then come to learn he was only doing it for community service hours.
seokjin our a hand to his heart, “you wound me. next time you’re in need of some parental advice don’t come to me.”
seokjin stood up and went to walk to his room. jungkook sat up on the couch, “aww hyung don’t be like that i didn’t mean it.”
“it’s too late you’ve dug your grave,” seokjin said, “now go lie in it.”
jungkook sat on the couch watching seokjin’s retreating figure with a pout. he knew he’d be a mess without seokjin.
☁
today was the day jungkook would stop being a coward. jungkook wanted to get things straight with taehyung, clear up any misunderstandings, so he asked him to meet him at beanies. he wanted him to know he wasn’t dating hoseok nor did he like that overly energized fashion disaster. jungkook was sure if fashion police were really a thing, hoseok would be locked away for life.
“so...”
“so.”
but setting things straight with taehyung somehow meant everything was incredibly awkward and jungkook’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest.
“nice weather we are having right?” jungkook said, looking out the window.
“jungkook,” as taehyung deadpanned a flash of lighting went through the clouds, “it’s pouring outside.”
“it’s nice right?” jungkook gave an uneasy smile.
“you’re soaking wet.” jungkook frowned, that was true.
“i forgot my umbrella.”
“uh huh.” taehyung looked unimpressed and took a sip of his black tea.
“look we haven’t hung out in a while so i just wanted to talk,” jungkook said fiddling with his hoodie strings.
“what’d you want to talk about?” taehyung asked.
“i dunno anything really, i like talking to you.” alright here he goes. he can do this. deep breaths and- “oh! the strangest thing happened yesterday.”
“which was?” taehyung raised an eyebrow.
“this girl came up to me and asked if i was dating hoseokie hyung,” jungkook told him, “which i mean i can see why he’s very affectionate you know, likes to give little kisses here and there. but hoseok flirts with almost anything that breathes so it’s weird she thought i was dating him.”
“you’re not dating him?” taehyung looked surprised.
“i would rather die.” jungkook paused, “okay that sounded rude. i wouldn’t rather die but the thought of dating him gives me a headache. he’s my best friend but i couldn’t do it.”
“oh.”
“yeah,” jungkook nodded.
taehyung looked down at his coffee, “so you’re not dating anyone?”
“nope.”
“oh. that’s...cool.”
jungkook shrugged, “i guess so.”
“did you want to date anybody?”
jungkook’s heart rate was picking up by the second. this wasn’t good this wasn’t good. “i-i...uh...yes?”
taehyung nodded, “do you have anyone in mind?”
jungkook swallowed, “i do...”
“oh.”
silence. jungkook was getting nervous.
“well i’m sure she’s nice.” taehyung gave a small smile. jungkook couldn’t help but feel that he was disappointed by it.
“he.” jungkook rushed out, his heart was starting to beat faster, “i-it’s a he.”
taehyung’s eyes went a bit wide, “o-oh.”
“yeah.” jungkook avoids eye contact with taehyung and looks out the window again. it’s silent between them. jungkook lets out a sniff and checks his phone, “i should get going, i have class.”
“ah yeah, yeah,” taehyung nods, a bit zoned out.
jungkook stands up and grabs his backpack and gives taehyung a small smile, “i’ll see you later yeah?”
“yeah.”
“okay cool.”
“cool.”
then jungkook walked out the door feeling like an idiot. an idiot for many reasons one being he didn’t tell taehyung he liked him, that was his plan from the start but jungkook had come to realize he’s a coward when it came to feelings and he just couldn’t do it, not now. and then two, he was an idiot for not bringing an umbrella as per usual, and now that jungkook thought about it he wasn’t even sure if he owned one. he should really fix that.
it was still pouring outside so now jungkook was getting even more wet by the second but he could endure it. consider it punishment for him being an idiot.
“jeon jungkook!”
jungkook stopped walking and turned around to see taehyung walking out the door to beanies and walking towards him. a look of determination on his face.
“wh-what? taehyung where you’re umbrella? you’re going to get sick.” jungkook ignored the part of his mind telling him he didn’t have an umbrella either.
taehyung stuck his finger out at jungkook, “i’m gonna do something and i hope you don’t hate me for it but i’m tired jungkook. i have to do it or else i’ll never know and maybe i’d never move on and regret it the rest of my life if i didn’t do it cause that’s what jimin keeps telling me so i’m gonna do it so please don’t hate me.”
jungkook gave taehyung a puzzled look, “i don’t think i could ever hate you taehyung?”
“good,” taehyung took a breath and then stepped forward. “you better keep your word then.”
the next moment was kind of a blur. taehyung at gripped the back of jungkook’s neck and pulled jungkook close, their lips crashing together. jungkook let out a squeak at the sudden movement. only when his brain started to kick into gear and tell him to kiss back taehyung pulled away and took a step back.
“i’m sorry,” he said, “i had to do it, i had to see if you might just...i don’t know...kiss back. but it’s okay really. now i know, it won’t happen again i swear-“
jungkook took a few steps forward, “do it again.”
taehyung froze and stared at him with wide eyes, “a-again?”
“again.”
taehyung was more hesitant as he stepped forward and leaned in and when their lips finally touched it was like all senses became lost to jungkook. he couldn’t feel the rain anymore, he couldn’t hear, all he could see and think of was taehyung taehyung taehyung. his lips were soft and he tasted like strawberries and it just felt so...so...nice.
it felt like a breath of fresh air which didn’t make much sense because he was running low on air but that didn’t matter much at the moment.
taehyung had his hand gently placed on jungkook’s cheek and he could feel his cold fingers move across his skin. jungkook pulled away for a moment but the two stayed close.
“i thought you liked yoongi,” jungkook laughed lightly at the thought.
taehyung looked up at him with a hint of a smile, “don’t get me wrong yoongi’s a cute guy but it was never him.”
“no?”
taehyung nodded, “it was always you.”
jungkook smiled and then bent down once again and met him in a few quick kisses. “it was always you too.”
it was there they stayed sharing kisses in the rain, the chances of getting sick were astronomical by now but it didn’t seem like they cared, for right now it was just about them.