Work Text:
*
“The assignment is simple,” drones the professor. “You will each visit three separate external locations, and capture three photographs that accurately depict the angles we’ve been discussing for the past week.”
Students have already begun to pack up their belongings, barely listening—until the professor says her next words.
“To further simplify it, I have decided that we will split into partners,” she says. “One person in each group will be in charge of the shooting side, and the other person will act as the photographer’s subject, so to speak.”
Murmurs ripple through the students present, everyone already beginning to pick out their partners.
Yoongi expertly avoids Jungkook’s prying gaze.
“Not so fast!” the professor interrupts the chatter in the room. She smiles hardily, eyeing the students present in the room. “I have already decided your partners.”
A chorus of groans erupts from the class.
Yoongi nearly rolls his eyes. Sure, this is a beginner-level class, so it’s mostly filled with freshmen and sophomores who haven’t fully grasped the responsibility college requires, but really? It’s nothing to audibly groan about.
“Min Yoongi,” says the professor. “You’ll be partnered with Jeon Jungkook.”
Okay, nevermind.
The professor continues to list the names of partners while the students begin to shuffle and pack up their belongings, barely paying attention to the woman except for to listen for their own names; Yoongi, too, starts to shove his books into his bag, planning to take full advantage of the extra minute-and-a-half headstart he now has to get to his next class.
“Yoongi!”
Of course, someone has other ideas.
“Hey,” says Jungkook.
He grins impishly as he slides up to the table that Yoongi is sharing with the only other upperclassman in this course. Yoongi has no idea what the girl’s name is, or what her major is, or why she’s taking the class. Sometimes when he sees her returned assignments, he gets the feeling that she doesn’t even know why she’s taking the class.
“So,” starts Jungkook, but he’s cut off by the scrape of Yoongi’s chair as he stands and slings his bag over his shoulder, heading for the door.
It must catch Jungkook off guard, because Yoongi makes it all the way to the front of the classroom before he hears Jungkook calling after him.
“Wait up!” Jungkook manages to catch up by the time Yoongi makes it into the hall, textbooks clutched haphazardly in his arms. He’s the picture of clumsiness with a huge, full backpack hanging off one of his shoulders ━ a telltale sign of a freshman if Yoongi has ever seen one.
“So, um,” Jungkook says breathlessly. “Yoongi.”
“What?” responds Yoongi.
Jungkook sniffs, hiking up his backpack while simultaneously dodging other students in the hallway as everyone makes their way to and from their classes. Yoongi doesn’t bother slowing down, nor does he move to make any room beside himself so that Jungkook can actually walk comfortably with him, so Jungkook is relegated to trotting along as his heels and side-stepping people to stay out of their way.
The pest.
“I was thinking,” says Jungkook.
“Well, you should stop doing that,” hums Yoongi. “You might hurt yourself.”
Jungkook makes an awkward sound that might be a laugh, but it’s hard to tell when Yoongi refuses to look at him; Yoongi pushes open the doors of an exit, hoping that the gesture is just rough enough to make it clear that he really would rather not talk to Jungkook right now. Or, like, ever.
Of course, it doesn’t really work. It never does, with Jungkook.
The pest.
“Very funny,” Jungkook sneers harmlessly. “But seriously. I was thinking, we should probably talk about the assignment, right? I mean, we only have a week, and━”
“What is there to talk about?” wonders Yoongi ━ not rudely, just genuinely curious, although his tone of speaking always did leave much to the imagination. He shrugs. “I point, you pose. Right?”
Jungkook hikes up his backpack again, his strides short and nimble as he tries to keep up with Yoongi. They head down the flight of stairs on the side of the building, stepping into the chaos of the quad as Yoongi beelines in a certain direction.
“Right,” agrees Jungkook, somewhat reluctantly. “But… shouldn’t we decide on locations? Or like, when we’re gonna meet up, and all that?”
Yoongi pauses. Oh, right.
“Oh,” he says, sighing softly. “Right.”
Jungkook smiles again, nodding.
“Fine,” says Yoongi. He finally slows his pace, just enough to signify that the building he needs to be in next is coming up. Jungkook takes the cue as easily as anything, and slows as well. “Just… come over later, and we’ll figure it all out then.”
Yoongi finally turns to look at Jungkook, considering he doesn’t really have much of a reason not to, now that they’re no longer walking.
Jungkook wears a strange expression on his face ━ it’s a weird mixture of excitement, smugness, and shock.
“What,” Yoongi raises a brow, suspicious.
“You’re really asking me to come over?”
Yoongi rolls his eyes. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
Jungkook’s grin widens an annoying fraction.
“Yes, but,” he says. “You’re asking me to.”
This time, Yoongi actually groans aloud.
“Am I missing something here?” he snaps, glancing over his shoulder at the building he needs to be in. “I have class.”
Jungkook’s head tips backward with a carefree laugh, his eyes crinkling with the effort of his smile. He shakes his head.
“No, sorry,” he chuckles. “It’s just, you guys never ask me to come. Usually I just show up.”
Yoongi mutters, “I’m well aware.”
Jungkook readjusts his backpack once again, clutching his textbooks tightly to his chest. They must be heavy, but his grin doesn’t slip for a second. He just keeps on beaming at Yoongi like Yoongi hung the stars in the sky.
“Okay,” Jungkook laughs again, a small thing. “Yeah, okay, I’ll come over later. Tell━”
“I’ll tell Jin,” Yoongi interrupts, already knowing what the former was going to say. He turns to leave, tossing his goodbye over his shoulder. “See you later, Jungkook.”
Yoongi can still hear the smile in Jungkook’s voice when he answers.
“Bye, Yoongi!”
*
It’s not that Yoongi hates Jungkook.
Yoongi doesn’t hate anyone, not truly. And it’s not that he even really dislikes Jungkook, either; it’s just…
Jungkook is… obvious.
Yoongi met Seokjin when they were in grade school. They were the closest in age in their class, and because of it, they were quick friends. They had a lot in common, and it didn’t take long at all for them to click. Yoongi doesn’t even remember meeting Seokjin, not really; it just felt like he’d always been there, somehow. Like they had been best friends forever, no beginning necessary.
Yoongi does, however, remember meeting Jungkook.
He had gone over to Seokjin’s house so they could play basketball together, since Seokjin’s parents had bought him one of those portable standing goals for his fifteenth birthday. Yoongi was bringing his own basketball, because Seokjin had gushed over the fact that Yoongi used to play, and he wanted Yoongi to teach him a few tricks.
Seokjin had met him outside and they’d gotten straight to playing, shooting hoops for a good hour until they were interrupted by some scrawny kid bursting out of the front door.
“Jin!” had squeaked the kid. “I finished my homework, so Mom said I could come play with you guys!”
The kid had a lisp, his bottom lip indented by his big front teeth. He had a big nose, and eyes the size of golf balls. He was a gawky thing, bursting with energy.
Seokjin had groaned and rolled his eyes. Yoongi had just been confused.
“Who’s that?” he had asked.
Seokjin had glanced at him, looking put-upon.
“That’s my little brother,” he’d grumbled. “Jungkook.”
“Hey!” Jungkook had shouted, bounding up to Yoongi and batting the ball right out of his hands, dribbling it around him excitedly as he’d examined the stranger. “You’re Yogi, right━”
“Yoongi," he’d corrected, frowning. “It’s Yoongi.”
“Whatever,” Jungkook had giggled, throwing the basketball as hard as he could at the goal. It didn’t come anywhere close to the net. “Yogi.”
After that day, Jungkook had become incessant ━ always demanding to hang out with Seokjin and Yoongi, tagging along on trips to the park and the movies. He imposed on nearly every aspect of their carefully cultivated dynamic, but there wasn’t much either of them could do about it, because Seokjin’s parents were strict and they always forced him to include Jungkook, otherwise his little brother would become lonely and grow up to be a hermit, or something like that.
Yoongi couldn’t agree. The words hermit and Jungkook were not things that belonged anywhere near each other in a sentence.
Jungkook had mellowed out a little bit as they got older ━ especially when Seokjin and Yoongi had left him for college.
Well, left was sort of a harsh word; they were never really that far away, but Jungkook had certainly taken their graduating and enrolling in college as something of a personal attack.
It had been weird for about a week; Jungkook had gone from being absolutely insufferable over the summer ━ constantly calling Yoongi, always asking to hang out, even without Seokjin, which Yoongi found strange ━ to straight-up ignoring both of them as soon as classes started.
Honestly, it had been a welcome reprieve from the unending onslaught of attention from the previous weeks. Yoongi and Seokjin quickly settled into college life without distractions from back home, and things were good for a week.
Then one night, when Seokjin had left their dorm room to go and shower, Yoongi got a call.
“Yoongi?”
“Jungkook,” he’d answered. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much… just…” he had trailed off for an unusually long time. “Wanted to see how your first week went. At college.”
“Oh,” said Yoongi. “It was good, I guess.”
“Oh,” said Jungkook. “Cool.”
There had been a strangely uncomfortable silence.
“Have you called Jin?” Yoongi had asked to break it up. He wasn’t used to Jungkook making him feel uncomfortable ━ annoyed, sure, but never uncomfortable.
“Uh,” Jungkook had mumbled. “Not yet. I… will. I will.”
He’d sounded so tired, that day. Yoongi had never figured out why.
“I gotta go,” Jungkook had said after another second. “I’ll talk to you later, I guess. Bye.”
He had hung up before Yoongi could say goodbye, back.
*
“What’s for dinner!” shouts Jungkook as he strolls through the front door of their apartment.
Sounds of cooking fill the apartment, thanks entirely to Seokjin; without him, Yoongi is almost certain he would have gone hungry by now. Jungkook, too, which is why the younger is always popping by their place unannounced, complaining about the dining hall food and stealing whatever leftovers they were unlucky enough to leave unattended.
"I'm making carbonara," Seokjin responds, eliciting an excited look from Jungkook where he stands toeing off his shoes.
Yoongi hangs an arm lazily across the back of the couch where he's currently lounging, work splayed across his lap, clearly untouched.
"What are you doing?" asks Jungkook; his tone softens significantly as he crossed the short space between the entryway and the living room, which is essentially none at all.
Yoongi doesn't even get as far as opening his mouth to protest before Jungkook is climbing over the back of the couch, crowding his space and jostling any loose papers.
"Nothing, actually," sighs Yoongi. "Our project."
Jungkook just smiles at him. He doesn't say anything to suggest he has any ideas, nor does he make to move now that he's settled comfortably on the cushion beside Yoongi -- close, but not overbearingly so.
Still, Yoongi looks away.
"So," he drawls, picking at a loose thread on the cushion. "Where should we go?"
"You're asking me?" wonders Jungkook.
Yoongi narrows his eyes, meeting Jungkook's briefly.
"Yeah?" he responds. "I hope you aren't expecting me to do all the work just because I'm older, brat."
Jungkook chuckles, shaking his head as those typical crinkles appear at the sides of his eyes. Seokjin rattles something in the kitchen.
“No, no,” laughs Jungkook. “Never. I just figured, since you’ve been here longer, you might know where you’d wanna shoot already.”
Yoongi hums. “I guess you’re right. What are the angles again?”
Jungkook puckers his lips, adopting that doe-eyed look he gets whenever he’s been caught unawares.
“I didn’t bring my bag,” he admits sheepishly, going right back to smiling like a dope at Yoongi. “Forgot.”
Yoongi rolls his eyes but leans over to grab his laptop nonetheless, shaking his head while he does so. He pulls up notes he’s taken from their class, but the assignment is simple enough that he knows he doesn’t need to. Really, it’s just an excuse to have something to look at aside from Jungkook.
They go over the angles and the lighting, brainstorming together about the best possibilities. Luckily they manage to outline a plan of action for the next few days just as Seokjin is finishing up with dinner, because once the pasta is on plates, Jungkook is as receptive as a brick wall.
“Are you hearing me, Jungkook?” asks Yoongi, eyebrows raised. “Tomorrow afternoon, the cafe on campus?”
Jungkook hums noncommittally, plopping down at the dining table as Seokjin finishes putting down plates.
“Jungkook,” Yoongi groans.
Jungkook peels his eyes away from the food long enough to blink at him and shake his head.
“I got it, Yoongi,” he assures. His nose scrunches with a smile. “Promise.”
Yoongi sighs, knowing that’s as much as he’s getting out of the kid for the rest of the night.
*
Surprisingly enough, Jungkook doesn’t actually forget their date.
Well, it’s ━ it’s not a date. It’s an assignment. They’re getting together for the assignment. It’s a school date. A school hangout? A school━
“Yoongi?” Jungkook asks. “Where do you want me?”
It’s just Jungkook, Yoongi reminds himself. He’s the same kid from primary school, the one who tagged along everywhere and bothered them relentlessly. There’s nothing different about this, now.
“Um,” says Yoongi. “I guess just… there.”
They find a table in the back corner of the small on-campus restaurant, hidden from plain sight beside a tall window that lets in the perfect amount of lighting they need for this shot. Yoongi carries the point-and-shoot camera he had splurged on at the beginning of the year, when he had decided to enroll in this particular class to teach him to use it.
It was meant to be a hobby more than anything, just another notch to add to his belt of creativity. It was Yoongi’s way of rebelling against the structures of society, the ones that demanded a stable job and a steady income. There was hardly any capacity for fun in those, and so he’d made it a personal mission of his to pick up something truly creative and fun each year, to fall back on when the routines felt like too much.
“This is awkward,” Jungkook whines.
He has his outside arm propped up on the table, shielding his face slightly from the rest of the restaurant to their left.
He’s sort of right; Yoongi finds it awkward to shoot photos here, too, but the assignment has to be done, and he’s not going to sacrifice quality of work just because he’s a little embarrassed.
“It’s fine,” he soothes, jerking his chin in Jungkook’s direction. “And anyway, since when are you shy?”
Jungkook flushes red, frown looking more like a pout.
“I’m not shy,” he protests. He squirms in the booth, glancing out the window where students pass by, on their way to their next class or home. Both Yoongi and Jungkook are done for the day, which made this the perfect time to kick start their assignment. “It’s just weird to like… pose for pictures with so many people around.”
The camera shutter clicks.
Jungkook blinks, taken aback. Yoongi lowers the viewfinder from in front of his eye, smirking slightly.
“Who said you have to pose?”
Jungkook’s cheeks flush even redder.
“Um,” says the younger, still frowning. “You did.”
Yoongi rolls his eyes, waving a hand.
“That was just an expression,” he reasons. “I don’t think the shots have to be posed, really. As long as we capture the right angles in the right lighting, I think anything goes.”
Jungkook stares at him for a moment, pondering. Then, he gives a curt nod, shifting in his seat once again. He still looks uncomfortable, but there’s a relaxed set to his shoulders.
“So, should I just… sit here?” he wonders. Yoongi snorts. “I don’t want to look bad.”
Yoongi rolls his eyes, but he masks it by lifting the camera again, eye lining up with the viewfinder.
“Nonsense,” he mumbles absently, focusing. “You couldn’t look bad if you tried. Now━”
Jungkook is visibly stirred by those words, but Yoongi breezes past the reaction without pause.
“━maybe put your arm back the way it was,” he directs. “And rest your face in your hand, or something artsy like that.”
Jungkook laughs a little, and his eyes have that strange sparkle that Yoongi has never for the life of him been able to decipher. It’s just there sometimes, and even though it's nice, it’s confusing.
So, like anything that stumps Yoongi, he ignores it.
He snaps a few more photos, providing a few minuscule directions to Jungkook but otherwise allowing the kid to do whatever he wants. By the time the sun has started to set, they have more than enough shots to pick from for the first of their three photos.
“Great,” Yoongi concludes, moving to stand from the booth. He’s still staring down at the face of his camera, clicking through the different shots as he sends Jungkook a distracted farewell. “Are you still good for tomorrow morning? I know it’s super early, but it’s the only time we can get the right lighting without skipping class, and━”
“Yoongi?” Jungkook interrupts.
Yoongi looks up and realizes that Jungkook hasn’t moved from his spot, still just sitting there in the booth, picking at a napkin with his fingers.
Yoongi cocks his head in question.
“Do you, um,” stammers the younger. “Did you maybe wanna stay?”
Yoongi blinks. “Stay?”
Jungkook nods, lips pressing into a nervous smile.
“Yeah,” he breathes. “We’re already here, and I haven’t eaten, so…”
He trails off, but Yoongi gets the gist of his suggestion. He hesitates to agree, knowing that saying yes would be feeding into Jungkook’s silly little crush, but…
“I’ll pay,” Jungkook chirps suddenly, his nervous energy replaced by that familiar cheeky grin.
Yoongi rolls his eyes, but a smile of his own slips across his face.
He slides back down into the booth.
“Fine,” he says.
*
Of course, Jungkook is late in the morning.
Yoongi gives him the benefit of the doubt for as long as he can manage, but it’s not like he wants to be up this early either, and the longer he waits without word from Jungkook, the more agitated he grows.
By the time Jungkook does show up ━ jogging, mind you, and stumbling over untied shoes, t-shirt rumpled and zip-up hoodie falling off of his shoulders ━ they’ve only got about ten minutes to shoot.
It’s not a big deal. Really, that’s plenty of time.
But, Yoongi is grumpy.
“So kind of you to show up,” he drawls sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Yoongi,” Jungkook is already apologizing before he even makes it up to Yoongi completely. “I’m sorry, my alarm didn’t go off, and I━”
“Whatever,” snaps Yoongi. “Let’s just… get it done, okay?”
Jungkook is sleep-soft and dulled around the edges, so the deflation of his shoulders is a visible thing, the pout on his lips even more so.
Yoongi buries his gaze on the screen of his camera, even though he’d already checked and double checked the settings to make sure they were right for this shoot. Guilt strikes him, despite how reluctant he is to allow it to manifest, because Jungkook was late and… that’s what’s important.
It’s about the principle.
“You’re really mad?” Jungkook mumbles, realizing. He steps closer, but bails on the action at the last minute. “I’m… I’m really sorry, I swear.”
Yoongi sighs, and he gears up to say something sarcastic again, but he can’t bring himself to do it.
“It’s fine,” he says tiredly, forcing himself to look up. “Seriously. Let’s just shoot so I can go back to bed, okay?”
Jungkook maintains his pout, but he nods obediently, looking around at their location.
They decided on a park nearby campus, mainly because it stays open 24/7, but also because it’s just pretty. Yoongi figured that shooting in the picnic area would be best, and once he gets Jungkook to sit down and posture a little, he’s affirmed in that thinking.
Yoongi tries to hold on to his agitation, or focus on shooting, or anything really, but the longer that he stands holding the camera to his face, finding Jungkook in the right light, the less he can ignore it.
Jungkook is freaking adorable when he’s tired.
Yoongi isn’t sure why it keeps striking him between each click of the shutters, but Jungkook will blink lazily, looking up at Yoongi from where he’s sat slumped over a picnic table, and Yoongi just…
Melts.
He’s pretty sure he hides it well; if anything, he manages to keep it under wraps only because Jungkook still thinks that Yoongi is angry at him. As shitty as it sounds, Yoongi is grateful for that ━ because the only thing that might mortify him more than the realization that he’s internally gushing over his best friend’s little brother, would be Jungkook noticing that he’s doing so.
“Did you get it?” Jungkook asks through a yawn. His hair falls into his eyes.
Yoongi blinks hard, feigning tiredness of his own. He is tired, for sure; can feel it in the soreness of his lids. But he’s still preoccupied.
“Um,” Yoongi murmurs. “I think so.”
Jungkook starts to shift, aiming to get up, but Yoongi stops him.
“Just ━ hang on a second. Stay like that.”
“Like this?” Jungkook asks.
Yoongi hums, and lifts the viewfinder back up to his eye.
Click.
Man.
Click.
When did he get so…
Click.
Gorgeous?
“Got it,” says Yoongi.
Jungkook yawns again, completely unawares at the senior’s inner turmoil. He raises his arms in a stretch, and then stands to stretch his legs, too.
“Can I buy you a coffee?” asks Jungkook, looking apologetic again. “I still feel bad for making you wait.”
Yoongi purses his lips, switching off his camera and moving to pack it away. He expertly ignores the flighty feeling inside his ribcage.
“Uh,” he stammers, avoiding Jungkook’s gaze. “That’s okay, I, um. I have to go.”
“Oh,” says Jungkook.
“Yeah,” sighs Yoongi. He zips up his bag, turns. “So, um. See you?”
Jungkook stares at him for a long second, but Yoongi isn’t sure what to make of the expression ━ he isn’t sure if he wants to decipher it, either.
Eventually though, Jungkook responds. His voice is soft, scratchy still.
“Yeah,” he says, glancing away. “Okay. See you.”
Yoongi doesn’t wait for things to get any more awkward than they already are, shouldering his bag and starting to walk away. He calls over his shoulder as he goes, waving to Jungkook.
“Don’t forget Friday,” he reminds. “I’m booked for the next two days, so we can’t shoot until then. We’re still good for the trail up near the mountains, right?”
Jungkook nods wordlessly, watching him go.
“Okay,” says Yoongi. “Seriously, don’t forget. And don’t sleep through the rest of your classes today, twerp.”
Finally, Jungkook grins.
“I won’t,” he promises, shaking his head.
“You better not,” smiles Yoongi. “I’ll tell your brother.”
Jungkook rolls his eyes, tipping his head back to laugh silently.
Yoongi leaves with that image burned into his brain: Jungkook, soft and smiling.
*
"This is my life now,” huffs Jungkook. “I have climbed this hill and now I will die upon it.”
"Shut up,” sighs Yoongi. “We’ve only been hiking for twenty minutes.”
Things are weird today, for some reason.
They had made the short trip just outside the city where their university’s campus is, Yoongi driving the two of them out to a different park this time, one with trails that snaked up and around a small mountain that was nearby.
Yoongi is certainly not the hiking type, but the shot would be worth it.
He had made sure to time everything out right, communicating to Jungkook exactly when he’d need to be ready for Yoongi to pick him up.
Aside from talking about the project, though, they hadn’t really spoken much in the last two days.
It’s not that Yoongi is avoiding him, per se. It’s just that he’s…
Well, he’s still not sure what to make of the other day, when his traitorous heart had decided to drop on him some really unwelcome feelings about Jungkook.
And, it’s just much easier to refrain from addressing feelings at all, than to try to make sense of them.
So… maybe Yoongi did avoid Jungkook a little bit.
“How much further?” whines Jungkook.
Yoongi rolls his eyes, but he stifles a smile at the same time.
“Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be fit, out of the two of us?” asks Yoongi. “You work out like, six days a week.”
“Yeah,” huffs Jungkook. “But I don’t work out by running up mountains.”
Yoongi gives him a good-natured shove before remembering that he’d made a promise to himself to keep his distance until the weird feelings went away, so before Jungkook can retaliate the older speeds up his pace a bit, walking in front of Jungkook and just out of reach.
“We’re almost there,” Yoongi promises, calling over his shoulder. “Quit whining.”
They finish the short hike and come upon a clearing, the same one that Yoongi had taken the time to map out; they don’t have a lot of time before it gets dark, because he’d wanted to come just when the sun hits that point that turns everything around them to gold.
“Wow,” Jungkook breathes as he steps into the clearing. “This is so beautiful.”
Yoongi looks at him, and for a second he loses the battle inside of him, ignoring the voice in his head that’s saying look away.
But eventually, as he always does, Yoongi listens.
He makes quick work of setting up his camera while Jungkook wanders around the clearing, kicking at sticks and picking up rocks off the ground.
The quiet between them is fast to sink back into that weird, uncomfortable place. Now, they don’t have the barrier of being too out of breath to speak, no excuse for the silence lingering between them.
“Yoongi?”
When he looks up, Jungkook is standing six feet away, half-turned and holding a white flower in his fingers.
Yoongi’s breath catches in his throat.
“Don’t move,” he murmurs, lifting the camera.
Click.
Jungkook’s expression in the photo sets Yoongi’s heart racing for all the wrong reasons; his brow is knit, mouth down-turned in that telltale pout of his, the one that tells Yoongi he’s not gonna like whatever Jungkook is about to say next.
“Can we just… talk for a second?”
Yeah, there it is.
Yoongi avoids his gaze by staring down at the screen, clicking random buttons that do nothing to change the photo.
“What’s there to talk about?” he asks breezily, even though he knows where this is going.
He doesn’t know why.
Jungkook takes a long second to answer, and even though Yoongi still isn’t looking, he can picture the expression strengthening just from the sound of Jungkook’s voice.
“I mean,” mumbles the younger. “Really?”
At this, Yoongi finally looks up; Jungkook just sounds so dejected, and that inkling is confirmed once Yoongi sets his sights on the younger.
It’s worse than the other day in the park, when his shoulders had deflated.
This Jungkook reminds Yoongi of the one from freshman year ━ his own freshman year, when Jungkook had still been in high school, left behind by his two best friends.
He looks as tired and as sad as he’d sounded on the phone that night, all those years ago.
Yoongi’s heart squeezes.
“I just,” says Jungkook, shaking his head. He frowns down at his shoes. “I really don’t want…”
He trails off, and it makes Yoongi’s stomach twist in knots with dread.
“You don’t want what?” he asks against his better judgement.
Jungkook finally looks up again, locking eyes with Yoongi from across the clearing. He doesn’t take any steps closer, looks all but rooted to the spot honestly. Yoongi is glad for that, at least. It’s safer. Plus, he can relate ━ his own shoes feel like they’re suddenly full of lead.
“I don’t want,” Jungkook mumbles, chewing anxiously at his lip. “To leave things like this.”
Yoongi frowns.
“Are you going somewhere?” he asks.
Jungkook looks at him like Yoongi punched him in the stomach, or hung all the stars in the sky, or both.
“No,” Jungkook says through a dry laugh. “You are.”
Yoongi isn’t sure what his face does after that, but whatever expression crosses it makes Jungkook panic, because he starts to ramble.
“I just,” says Jungkook. “I got used to you guys leaving me behind, and it was fine because I knew I could always catch up, I knew you that weren’t that far, but now ━ now I don’t know what’s going to happen, because you’re both graduating and your lives are gonna go on and I’m just going to be left here, you know?”
Yoongi blinks.
“And I know that I’m━” Jungkook stutters, a blush crossing his face. “━I know I can be too much, and I know you’re probably sick of me, because, like, who wants to deal with their best friend’s little brother having a crush on them, and I get it, I do, but I just…”
He trails off again, and this time he really looks stricken.
“I just don’t want to lose you, Yoongi,” admits Jungkook. “I really don’t.”
Click.
Jungkook blinks rapidly, mouth agape in a moment of stupor as Yoongi lowers the camera.
“Why did you do that?” chokes Jungkook.
Yoongi lets the camera hang around his neck, and he steps forward.
“Because you’re an idiot,” he says.
Jungkook winces, and hangs his head.
Yoongi steps closer.
“A really pretty, hard-headed idiot,” he amends.
Jungkook’s head snaps up in surprise.
“Pretty?”
Yoongi laughs, coming to a stop just before Jungkook. He lifts the camera again, the only barrier between them. It’s much too close for a good shot, but he snaps a photo anyway, click, and captures the golden brown of Jungkook’s iris.
“Pretty,” Yoongi agrees.
He kisses him.
Jungkook gasps against his lips, and for a terrifying moment Yoongi fears he’ll freak out and pull away ━ but then, finally, Jungkook relaxes and kisses him back, shaking hands coming to ghost at Yoongi’s cheeks, as if disbelieving that he’s really still there.
But, he is. He definitely is, and Yoongi knows that Jungkook can feel the way that Yoongi’s heart is hammering in his chest.
It’s not a perfect kiss, and it doesn’t last very long at all, but when they pull away Yoongi can tell that Jungkook is holding his breath, like he’s holding onto the sensation of it with everything that he has.
“First of all,” hums Yoongi. “That’s the first time you’ve ever admitted it out loud.”
“Admitted what?” wonders Jungkook, still winded.
Yoongi grins.
“That you have a crush on me.”
Jungkook groans, tipping his head back and flushing full-body with embarrassment.
“As if you didn’t already know!” he cries, looking anywhere else but at Yoongi.
Yoongi traps his face between two hands, forcing Jungkook to look him in the eye. The younger’s face drowns in red, but he doesn’t try to pull away or avert his eyes.
“I did,” admits Yoongi. “But it’s still nice to hear it.”
“It is?” Jungkook asks uncertainly.
Yoongi nods, and takes his hands away.
“I can’t say that before this moment I would have had the same reaction,” he says sheepishly, looking off to the side. “But… I don’t know. All that talk about leaving puts some things into perspective, I guess.”
Jungkook nods, but his face falls a margin as he remembers what had spurred the moment.
Yoongi chuckles again, shaking his head. He picks up the camera around his neck and backs away, stepping backwards and returning to his original spot while Jungkook stays in place, looking wistfully after him.
Yoongi lifts the viewfinder to his eye and snaps another photo.
Click.
“But,” he says. “I never said I was leaving.”
Yoongi snaps several more photos while Jungkook’s face runs through a whirlwind of expressions, laughing each time the younger cycles to a different feeling: confusion, surprise, hope.
“What?” asks Jungkook.
“I’m staying here,” chuckles Yoongi. Click. “For Grad school. I didn’t tell you?”
“No, you didn’t tell me!” squawks Jungkook, marching forward with an astonished look, smile mixing in for good measure. “You jerk! You were just gonna let me make a fool of myself, huh?”
“Yeah,” Yoongi laughs, shrugging. “It’s pretty fun.”
“You’re an ass,” Jungkook laughs wholeheartedly, and kisses him again.
Golden hour passes, but Yoongi can’t find it in himself to be all that upset. They got the shots they needed, and a little more.
*
They get a B+ on the assignment.
In their evaluation, the professor leaves a comment something along the lines of:
Great execution, and fairly good use of outside spaces, but your shots seem a little too emotionally-charged for the assignment at hand. Perhaps consider taking a Photojournalism course? I’ve listed a few of the classes offered here…
Needless to say, Jungkook doesn’t let Yoongi live it down.
*