Archive of Our Own

In all honesty, he had it coming.

“What a scammer,” Jeongguk sighs as he watches the rediffusion of last night’s episode on the changing room’s tv screen, “I’m sure I could find a way to communicate with the pigeons on my balcony like I’m fucking Snow-White, too.”

Taehyung snickers as he turns his attention away from the tv for a second, “You’re so bitter, dude, honestly all that anger in you can’t do you good…”

On the screen, Hoseok Jung –aka the reason for Tumblr’s fanfics recent growth and Jeongguk’s five-year-old pestering him about getting a dog even though they live in a cramped NYC apartment, smiles as he recounts his last trip to Honduras. And to say, Jeongguk is fed up, sure is an understatement.

“I’m not bitter!” Jeongguk defends himself, “Am I honestly the only one not believing anything that guy is saying?!”

He looks around the changing room towards his colleagues and finds them all glued to the guest’s lips.

“He talked a python out of eating a whole woman once—” One of them says.

“He has the best veterinary clinic in New York,” another adds.

“And he has a cute dog,” Yoongi concludes as he sucks out the life of his Starbucks cup with all his might.

“You’ve all been brainwashed by Seokjin’s propaganda…” Jeongguk comments with obvious disgust.

“Well, whatever,” Taehyung says with that awful east-coast college kid drawl he hasn’t got ridden off after months of internship at the tv station, “Nightly conversations with Seokjin Kim is the best night show on NBC right now, and I don’t know if you’ve seen but the whole world adores Dr. Jung!”

He thinks he’s being a smartass, confronting Jeongguk with facts only a hermit would ignore.  

Jeongguk still raises to the bait because he’s petty like that and being thirty doesn’t mean he has to be the bigger person when taunted by someone a decade younger than him, no matter whatever Yoongi says. “Just because horny teenage girls are willing to spam his Instagram DM’s and all his YouTube videos exceed eight million views, doesn’t mean everything he says isn’t just bullshit,” Jeongguk says.

By now, he must sound really bitter cause even May who has worked as the head make-up artist on the show for too long not to agree that all celebs are just childish pricks, turns to him and smiles dreamily as she says,

“Even you have to admit he’s charming…”

And okay now, Hoseok Jung is hot. Jeongguk has watched enough TMZ footage of him walking his dog in Central Park in tight Nike leggings to recognize that. Is he Jason Momoa type of attractive, though? No.

“He’s barely attractive,” Jeongguk lies through gritted teeth.

Taehyung rolls his eyes, and May lets out a strangled laugh, “Oh c’mon!”

Before Jeongguk can explain to them his reasoning and pull out a PowerPoint presentation on Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, and Yoongi can comment on how this is exactly why Jeongguk is still single, his phone rings and saves them all from yet another lecture on Hollywood men Jeongguk wouldn’t mind make babies to.

“Shit, my babysitter’s calling!”

Taehyung’s attention shifts briefly from the tv as he asks, “Oh, did the little angel ate legos again?”

“Forget I’ve ever introduced you to my daughter!” Jeongguk retorts as he leaves with a wave only Terry, one of the lighting designers, responds to.

Jeongguk has barely made two steps, with his babysitter on the phone, and a very elaborated lie on the tip of his tongue about how he’s currently in the subway when he crashes into him.

To be very fair, Jeongguk has only ever seen Hoseok Jung on stage, on-screen, or on his Instagram feed, and the man doesn’t look that shiny nor tall in real life. He’s still hot, though. Wait—what?

“Sorry,” Jeongguk blurts out before he can flee.

Hoseok Jung smiles like he does when too many cameras are pointed at him. It’s a great smile on the face of a universally known nice guy, could almost fool Jeongguk.

“Oh hey, you’re one of the cameramen of the show, right?! You’re doing great!”

The real term is camera operator but Jeongguk isn’t about to let his pride get the best of him, already dealt him a great number of problems when he was much younger.

“You too,” And because Jeongguk never learned to shut up when he feels nervous, he feels the need to add, “Loved the section about the python, quite entertaining.”

“Do you mean barely entertaining?” Dr. Jung asks with a smirk.

“Uh?”

Jeongguk thinks he’s must have heard it wrong because there’s no way that—

Hoseok Jung’s grin broadens, “You guys should really be mindful of those changing room’s echoes…I’m sure a lot of us passing strangers have had our share of embarrassing stories while strolling innocently in the hallways.”

“I’m—”  Jeongguk starts, but Hoseok Jung shakes his head with humor.

“Don’t worry, at least you think I’m a good storyteller and not only a pathological liar, right?!” He disappears down the hallways, leaving Jeongguk to desperately try to understand what the fuck just happened.

______

Without surprise, Jeongguk hasn’t find sleep knowing his career might be utterly fucked over inappropriate comments and eaves-dropping sneaky veterinarian with good legs. He finds himself queuing in Starbucks for the first time since he’s got that internship with the mid-2010’s version of Miranda Priestly out of college.

It’s just his luck that he nearly misses spilling the americano first thing on Seokjin Kim’s ugly dotted Armani tie before ten a.m.

“Shit,” Jeongguk grumbles as he gets out of the way like his life depends on it. And maybe, it does.

“Hey, hotshot, look where you’re going!” Seokjin exclaims, before letting his gaze drops to the Starbucks’ cup. “Is this for me?”

The funny thing is that Seokjin Kim was once feared by Jeongguk, back when he debuted in the industry and called everyone “sir”. Took him a few months and his share of embarrassing encounters to realize Seokjin was neither impressive nor funny without a script to read.

“Not really,” Jeongguk says as he dodges Seokjin once again, “It’s for your guest…”

“Drew Barrymore?”

“No, the—the doctor.”

Seokjin raises an eyebrow as if the idea of his camera operator sucking up to the new Internet sensation concerns him, “Dr. Jung? Really? I’m not sure he tolerates caffeine.”

“Really?” Now, it’s Jeongguk’s turn to look down at the cup he’s holding onto like a life suit.

“Me on the other end…” Seokjin adds, and that’s all Jeongguk needs to walk past the night show’s host as he rolls his eyes.

“Get lost.”

Hoseok Jung arrives early onset. Now, everyone knows that since Taehyung is not only a stalker but also under the impression that he should share every tiny bit of information he gathers in his daily life. Jeongguk knocks on his changing room’s door and almost backs out in the two seconds he takes the veterinarian to answer.

“Hey,” Jeongguk salutes hesitantly, “I brought you coffee…”

Hoseok Jung is seated on the floor in what appears to be a yoga mom’s pose targeted for a specific Instagram millennial audience. He’s also wearing leggings. Not that Jeongguk is staring or anything…

“Americano?” Hoseok Jung asks after taking hold of the cup, “Do cameramen usually take Starbucks commands around here?”

Camera operators, you uncultured clueless being.

“Only when they want to ask for a favor,” Jeongguk replies instead.

Hoseok pauses, “Well, at least you’re honest!”

“I wanted to apologize first for my unprofessionalism, yesterday,” Jeongguk starts, and he’s hyper-aware now of the fact that Hoseok Jung barely blinks at all, “And also ask you not to share what you’ve heard with Seokjin.”

“Oh?” 

“I don’t want to have to go back to working for Ellen!”

Hoseok raises an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed, “That awful, uh?!

“So the great patron of night shows, Seokjin Kim could fire you on demand. Interesting.” Hoseok contemplates out loud as he strokes his chin in a cartoonish way, “I thought you two were close.”

“We’re all close around here,” Jeongguk defends, and he suddenly feels like the incompetent intern he once was, “Koreans maybe more than others…”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Hoseok says after another pause, “I won’t tell a soul, it’d be petty of me to make you lose your job because you don’t find me to your taste. We’re not in Fox News after all…”

“Oh thank god,” Jeongguk contemplates out loud. Maybe wearing legging make for chiller dudes, after all… “Well, enjoy your coffee. Bye.”

_______

It’s very rare but sometimes, under some circumstances, Jeongguk has to be that annoying dad that has to bring their kid to work when day-care gets their third case of lice emergency in a year. The thing with bringing your kid to work is that you can’t just let them walk around. Especially when Dr. Jung has been showing up for two nights in a row with exotic pets to adopt.

“Daddy, can I pet the bearded dragon?”

Jeongguk honestly doesn’t know when or how the animal got in the middle of the hallways, but he stares the lizard down as he stands immobile in his vivarium, and decides such creatures has no business being in an almost five-years old’s vicinity.

“Lu, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?! It’s perfectly harmless,” Another voice intervenes before Jeongguk can distract his daughter with a grimace or encourage her to go bother Yoongi in the studio control room, “Actually bearded dragons are best with young kids…”

There go Hoseok Jung and his random facts. Jeongguk thinks the guy has been popping out of nowhere since the incident, and he’s starting to believe some subreddit theories about how industry plants find themselves randomly catapulted into some hostile environment just to charm their way up to the top.

Jeongguk barely has time to turn back to his daughter that she’s already elbows deep in the vivarium.

“Lu, don’t touch it!”

“That’s Moira, she’s really gentle,” Hoseok Jung says with a smile that should look reassuring.  

“Please stop forcing my hand in front of my child,” Jeongguk retorts before he can tone-down the aggressiveness in his voice.

“I’m sorry—”

“Lu, go wash your hands.”

He watches as his daughter reluctantly makes her way to the bathroom and turns back towards Hoseok. Without surprise, the veterinarian has stopped smiling.

“You really don’t like me, do you?”

It’s not much the question Jeongguk expected, but it almost makes him reconsider how much he’s allowed to be the asshole with a low bun and finger tattoos behind most of the camera work on the show. After all, if there are things Jeongguk is proud of, it’s bringing up his five-year-old alone, finally agreeing to taste broccolis by the age of thirty, and monitoring that infamous subreddit on how fake YouTube veterinarian star Dr. Jung is.

“I—” Jeongguk hesitates before sighing, “I don’t like being taken for a fool, and I don’t like when some take advantage of gullible people, either…”

“You really think I’m a liar, then?”

“C’mon, you’ve said you volunteered in Ecuador and adopted fifteen turtles there, you lived amongst a lion pride for weeks and once helped deliver a baby sea lion. You are referred as the gentlest veterinarian in New York and you go around telling people how to treat their pet parrots and domesticated squirrels!” Jeongguk cites, “Honestly, I can deal with over-exaggerated stories and a huge ego, I work with Seokjin… What I really can’t deal with is—” And there, Jeongguk seems at a loss of words, before he points at Hoseok’s face and declares, “All that!”

To say Hoseok Jung looks offended would be an understatement. Jeongguk had once ventured as far as reading the comment section of Jung’s YouTube videos and almost had an aneurysm over all the middle-aged women’s commenting “you dropped that halo, king <3” Surely it must be heart-breaking for such man not to have his ass kissed every time he meets someone.

“None of these are lies, though…” Hoseok Jung finally states, “You’d know that if you actually watched my videos.”

Jeongguk finds nothing more mature than to roll his eyes to the back of his head, “Please. I’ve watched your videos! My daughter can’t sleep if she hasn’t watched your puppy dressed up in a shark costume dancing to Boogie Wonderland! Which, by the way, is really cute.”

“Oh, thanks, man!” Hoseok Jung’s smile comes back on his face in full force, and Jeongguk realizes belatedly he just threw a compliment in the mix.

“God damnit,” Jeongguk grumbles as he walks away in defeat.

______

They’re all gathered for their lunch break when Taehyung decides to act on his crush and address Hoseok Jung as he discusses with Yoongi over poke bowls.

“Sir, I wanted to ask—”

“You can call me Hoseok!”

“Sir Hoseok, it’s about my adopted pet hedgehog.”

“I’m sorry what?” Jeongguk almost chokes on his wings, “When did you get a pet hedgehog?”

“Yesterday,” Taehyung tells him with a dismissive gesture of the hand, “Almost run him over with my bike.”

As the saying goes, you can trust Taehyung Kim to live that 90s sitcom life.

“Oh my god, is the little bean okay?” Hoseok asks.

Jeongguk stares at him and the veterinarian looks genuinely concerned. And cute. A bit.

“Fine. I think he’s getting along just fine with my geckos…”

“You have GECKOS?!” Jeongguk interrupts once again, “You know what, I’m late and I promised my babysitter I wouldn’t be!”

He’s halfway wrapped in his duffle coat when he hears Hoseok’s voice telling him to “Go home, safely…”

“Uh thanks,” He responds. In the subway, he wonders when was the last time a guest took lunch with staff folks and blended in so naturally.

The answer comes to him long after he put Lu to bed: never.

______

As September rolls in, it seems like Jeongguk is 10 times more likely to get ran over by a car or fired for ruining yet another one of cable tv god Seokjin Kim’s suit with overpriced coffee.

“Hey, watch where you’re going! Are you in a hurry?” Seokjin looks a mess as he steps out of his changing room, and Jeongguk, who just nearly crashed into him, feels the need to point out that fact and finally decides against it because he’d much rather keep himself alive.

“I am, actually. I have to go get Lu at her babysitter’s place!” Jeongguk says, and he looks Seokjin up and down until he realizes the older man wears a wrinkled button shirt. Seokjin Kim never wears wrinkled anything, though.  “What were you doing—just now?”

“Hum?”

Seokjin looks anything but innocent. He looks short of breath, a bit red in the face and his tousled chestnut hair is pointing in different directions.

The realization comes unto Jeongguk after two long seconds, “Are you kidding me? Is there someone with you in there?”

Seokjin’s mouth morphs into a sly smile, “You’d like to know, right?!”

“I don’t think I would,” Jeongguk grimaces.

“Then, shoo, begone!”

______

“Are you going to the karaoke bar on Saturday?” Taehyung asks as he bites into his slowly falling apart bagel.

Jeongguk itches to ask him if he really has to eat tuna and mayo before ten a.m. In their changing room, the tv still plays out the previous’ night highlights of the show, and conversations seem to die out as people consider the question.

“To bring Jin home by the time he’s drunk enough not to remember his door code? No thanks,” Felix, one of the editors, responds as he keeps his eyes riveted on his phone.

Someone throws an amen in the distance, and Jeongguk suspects it might be one of the channel’s weathermen, though they have no business being in this building. 

“Last time he threw up in an Uber and bullied me into giving him my bed; I slept on the couch,” Someone comments.

“He once fell asleep under the shower, I had to crack the door open because I was scared, he’d drown!” Another one recounts for the hundredth time.

“That guy can’t honestly be almost thirty-eight,” Yoongi mutters under his breath as he hides a jaw-breaking yawn behind his hand.

“Yeah, I don’t have time for this shit,” Jeongguk concludes, “I’m already handling a child.” 

Taehyung nods belatedly, knowing fully well they’re all going.

Before Jeongguk knows it, there’s a fuming Starbucks’ cup in front of him as he sits in the director’s chair and is trying to make Seokjin laugh during his screen tests.

Hoseok Jung looks exceptionally good, but then again, when doesn’t he? He wears a floral button shirt and maroon slacks, oh and those horrendous boat shoes rich people find fashionable. It reminds Jeongguk that despite being past thirty he never got over his emo phase.  

“Uh, hi?” He says when he realizes neither the coffee cup neither Hoseok has budged.

“This is for you,” Hoseok says pointing at the Starbucks cup.

“Coffee?”

“You can see it as a peace offering,” Hoseok says with a shrug, a gesture so endearingly boyish, he looks ten years younger, “I know you don’t like me, and that is perfectly okay, I just feel like we’re about to work together for a long time and—”

“What do you mean, a long time?” Jeongguk interrupts before he realizes how impolite he sounds.

“NBC has just decided to appoint me as a regular anchor on Nightly Conversations with Jin. I’ll be working here now…”

Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do with that new information, so he turns his attention back to the drink and asks, “Is this Americano?”

“It is,” Hoseok responds with a smile.

Jeongguk murmurs thanks as he sips into it. And it tastes. It tastes like Christmas, being eight, and seeing Central Park covered in white powder for the first time, falling in love with New York and the city lights.   

“Wait, where did you all get that coffee?” Taehyung asks Jeongguk when he finally decides to prop himself on a seat next to the show’s director, Kit, who barely seems bothered by the idea of Taehyung still finding his way to the studio floor half an hour after everyone.

 “Hoseok just brought me that cup…” Jeongguk replies.

Since he’s become a father and has learned how to catch his daughter when she rolled off the table he used to change her diapers on, Jeongguk thinks he’s developed pretty good reflexes.  Still, when Taehyung takes his cup into his own hands, and he finds himself empty-handed, the only thing running through his mind is that this kid would make a good smuggler damn…

“Yeah, and Seokjin got the same Americano with low-fat almond cream and sprinkles of nutmeg on top,” Taehyung comments.

“Did you just sniff my drink?”

The intern ignores him, “Did you know that Dr. Hoseok and Seokjin knew each other?”

“Stop calling him that.” Jeongguk tells him, and then, “From where?”

“Oooh, you’re curious. I’ve got insights,” Taehyung replies with a smug smile.

“Just say your cousin told you—”

“Hey! Shhhh, people don’t know we’re acquainted!” Taehyung interrupts, “If they knew, they’d think I got that internship thanks to that!”

“You got your internship thanks to that, though…” Jeongguk points out.

“Actually, Yoongi told me,” Taehyung admits after another roll of his eyes.

“And how does Yoongi know?”

“Maybe cause Seokjin told him… They went to high school together.”

“Wow, it’s actually thrilling news…”

“Why do you have to be such a bummer?!” Taehyung whines, and because the stage coordinator shushes him, he adds in a whisper, “Anyway, now that Hoseok works with us, I guess Seokjin is going to be overjoyed!”

Jeongguk sure isn’t.

______

Someone once said, and Jeongguk believes it was in the Hamilton Broadway musical, there’s nothing like summer in the city. Well, there’s nothing like late nights in the crowded subway getting them to Central Queens. There’s nothing like Manhattan broody crowds getting packed in a place where everyone sighs at the idea of spending the next twenty minutes of their lives between a man-spreading Wallstreet guy and a tourist eating churros.   

Lu who’s seated on Jeongguk’s lap, starts getting agitated by the time someone decides to start playing Hey Jude on the harmonica, “Daddy, can we have pizza tonight, please?”

Jeongguk’s stomach chooses that moment to start growling uncontrollably. God, how hard it is sometimes to act as the responsible adult when he’s craving Domino’s on Wednesday nights.

Jeongguk sighs and braces himself for the inevitable disappointment to morphs his daughter’s entire face, “Baby, we already talked about that; I know you’re tired of eating nana’s Brussels sprouts soup but it’s not daddy’s fault she made so much of it.” 

“Can I have your phone?” Lu asks by the next stop, and Jeongguk digs into his pocket before she’s pronounced the whole sentence.

With her messy ballet bun and the last iPhone model in her too-tiny hands, Lu looks every part the Supernanny nightmare, and a woman seated in the opposite row seems to disapprove as she keeps glaring at Jeongguk over her life motivational book. She’s just watching Dr. Jung’s dog on Instagram, leave me alone, Jeongguk almost shriek out. Trust New Yorkers to make you question your entire existence with a stare.

When he first moved into Jackson Heights with Lu in a baby wrap sling, Jeongguk didn’t think much of the place, except for the fact that it was both cheap and safe, not too far away from public transportations and with the best Indian restaurants close-by.  It helped that an elderly woman lived on the same floor and had started taking care of Lu like she was her own, and taught Jeongguk how to interpret his daughter’s cries.

But then, she had moved to her son’s house in Minneapolis, and left her former neighbour thoroughly depressed.

It shouldn’t surprise Jeongguk then, that the staircase is invaded with boxes when they come home. Someone is grunting, though, and Jeongguk knows from experience these noises are clear sounds of distress.

“Hello,” Jeongguk says, “Can I help you with anything?”

“Oh, hi!” The man says behind his boxes, “I’m sorry for leaving all my stuff around…”

Jeongguk notices the cut on the stranger’s arm, and asks, “Are you bleeding?”

Lu squeaks as she hides behind her father’s leg.

“Oh, yeah,” The man doesn’t look too alarmed as red drip on his shirt sleeve, “I’m a bit of a clutz, I think I scraped my forearm, it’s noth—”

“Let me help you out, man!” Jeongguk interjects as the box sways dangerously in the stranger’s arms.

“I’m so sorry for being such an inconvenience to you…”

“Stop apologizing, it’s okay, really!”

“Sorry, a bit too Canadian of me!”

Jeongguk doesn’t tell him he suspected he wasn’t from around here since nobody has fucking manners in this city but tries to remain civil for a short while, mostly because Lu hasn’t let go of his leg yet. 

“I just arrived at JFK two hours ago…I’m not used to New York yet, but I guess I might, given some time.”

“I’m sure, you will! Don’t hesitate to ring our bell if you need anything, though,” Jeongguk tells him as he gets a good grip on a box labeled books that might just contain bricks. “I’m Jeongguk, and the little frog right here is Lu.”

“Nice to meet you two, I’m Namjoon,” Their new neighbour smiles, and the sight of dimples is enough to cause Jeongguk’s brain to short-circuit.

On a scale of one to Jason Momoa, that’s a very attractive man.

_______

The evening has barely begun when Lu’s babysitter sends a pic of the little girl draped in her Winnie the Poo blanket as she eats Mac N Cheese on the sofa, her face turned blue in the reflection of the tv screen. Jeongguk is too bothered smiling at his phone not to walk directly into dog shit.

Taehyung starts laughing before Jeongguk can get a look at his Nike’s. “Fucking fuck!” He grumbles once he does.

“Do you have to curse so much when Lu’s not around?” Sellah, one of the show’s executive producer, asks with a smirk.

“Frat habits die hard…” Yoongi comments.

“Go to hell, all of you,” Jeongguk tells them as Taehyung’s wheezing intensify.

Their little group stops in front of Mo’s karaoke bar –the best in Downtown Brooklyn, and everyone starts looking around as they wonder under which name the reservation has been made.

Jeongguk is still desperately trying to get rid of the smell of his right shoe when Seokjin’s voice emerges, “Sorry we’re late!”

“We?”

“I brought Hoseok with me!”

Hoseok Jung is indeed here. In all his bright-eyed, gorgeous smile and impeccable suit glory. On karaoke night. The Saturdays’ tradition Seokjin is the only tv host to participate in and no regular guests have ever been invited to.  Jeongguk stares at the newcomer with something unsettling taking over him.  

“Hi guys!” Hoseok says, and pretty much everyone he directs his smile to simply melts on the sidewalk’s pavement.

“Is everyone here?” Yoongi finally asks impatiently.

Everyone seems to agree.

Taehyung finds his way beside Hoseok and points successively at Seokjin and Jeongguk before telling the veterinarian, “I hope you’re not a competitive one, cause these two are exhausting!”

“So you’re a singer,” Hoseok tells him when Jeongguk sits beside him on the couch after yet another aggressive rendition of Lenny Kravitz’s It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over.

Jeongguk, after sweating way too much, and drinking too many shots as Yoongi butchered Rehab by Amy Winehouse, feels himself relaxing –a bad sign, really, and smiles back to Hoseok, “I had a band in high school, we were called Rock Paper Scissors and I was the frontman.”

He honestly doesn’t know why he feels the need to admit such a thing, but Hoseok’s smile grows impossibly large at the news.

“Are you kidding me?! I was in a band, too!”

“What instrument did you play?” Jeongguk asks, as he slowly tunes out Taehyung’s Britney Spears performance.

“Bass,” Hoseok answers with a flustered smile, as if it wasn’t the world’s sexiest instrument, “I had a one-meter long fringe that made it quite difficult to see what I was playing but I made it work, I guess!”

Jeongguk chokes on a laugh and tries not to think about Hoseok’s long, elegant fingers playing with strings.

“Well, in my defense, it was the early 2000s,” Hoseok adds, “I actually believed I’d end up making it big, but the band split up after a year.”

“Did you continue to play?”

“Med school is no joke,” Hoseok offers as a sole response with his usual dimpled smirk.

“Got it,” Jeongguk nods, “I guess college sounded fun and stress-free until I got my girlfriend pregnant before I got my diploma…”

“Oh,” Hoseok says.

Though Taehyung is done channeling his inner hoe with Circus, Jeongguk finds it difficult to look away from Hoseok and fight Seokjin for the mic. 

“Yep, left college, started working my ass off,” He admits after a pregnant pause. “Yoongi was the one who took me under his wing actually, believed in me when no one else would!”

“Glad he did,” Hoseok declares, “You’re a brilliant cameraman.”

“Thanks,” Jeongguk responds sincerely, and he finds it impossible for once to correct Hoseok, even in his head.

“So,” Hoseok finally asks, “Are you still with Lu’s mother?”

“Not really, we didn’t work out, and let’s say I’m the one who’s invested in her upbringing,” Jeongguk says quietly, “Lu’s mom is abroad. Where? I’ve stopped asking a long time ago, she always lied anyway…”

Before Hoseok can say anything back, Seokjin’s voice interrupts them both, “Hey you two! Get your asses over here!”

Jeongguk obeys reluctantly, joining his colleagues as they gather around Seokjin with his eyes focused on the karaoke machine.

“What do you plan to sing, now?” Hoseok asks.

Then, before Jeongguk knows it, the whole group starts doing a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s happy birthday song. Jeongguk knows he’s the only Virgo on the team; they’ve pretty much bullied him on the matter countless times. Still, he looks around for good measure and he’s pleased when he meets Hoseok’s eyes and finds him equally confused.

“It’s your birthday?” Hoseok asks him once Yoongi has stopped holding the same impossible note forever.

Jeongguk wishes he could really go back to drinking, but he responds nonetheless, “It was a week ago.”

“Well, a week ago, we didn’t have that booth reservation,” Seokjin justifies as he drapes his arm around Jeongguk’s neck and carries him to the bar.

In all honesty, the night isn’t that much of a bad idea.

_______

It’s only fair that at some point, Jeongguk gets on the other end of some incident leading to his Nirvana shirt getting soaked in lukewarm coffee. In her defense, the intern whose name Jeongguk has not yet memorized is utterly mortified. Jeongguk can’t really go on set with that kind of stain, and Taehyung has a closet full of spare clothes he’s willing to share, so that’s the only excuse he has why he’s running around in the hallways wearing something that spells ‘Vaccines cause adults’.

“Nice shirt,” Hoseok comments when he materializes himself as he exits the stage.

It’s like he’s always close by when Jeongguk has to embarrass himself, and he stands with a devilish smile and those damn Naomi legs.

“It’s Tae’s,” Jeongguk doesn’t add that it was either that or a ‘Mother Of Dragons’ crop top.

“It suits you,” Hoseok comments with the hint of a genuine smile.

“Whatever that might mean…” Jeongguk replies as Hoseok disappears.

Jeongguk realizes belatedly the veterinarian has left a cup of coffee behind, and it spells his name.

“Why are you smiling at your coffee?” Taehyung asks by the time he decides to grace the team with his presence on the studio floor.

“I’m not smiling at my coffee,” Jeongguk lies.

“No, you totally are…”  

“Whatever.”

_______

“I think I have a date on Friday night…” Jeongguk announces during lunch.

“What?”

“Excuse me?!”

“You think?”

Jeongguk looks around his colleagues’ reaction and shrugs, “Well that was all really unclear, my neighbor asked me to come to his apartment for dinner, but I guess he just wanted to be nice.” He’s quick to add, “He looked nervous and kept staring at my biceps, though…”

“Understandable,” Yoongi mutters under his breath. But then again, Jeongguk has already spotted people staring at his sleeve of Mirko Sata’s tangle of snakes. He knows it’s sick ink, as Taehyung has once pointed out.  

“Look,” The latter finally intervenes with an exasperated sigh, “it’s clearly a date!”

It’s not a date, though.

First, because Namjoon is surprised not to see Lu with her father. Second, because he’s dressed in jogging pants covered in paint. Third, because they’re eating take-out on the couch because Namjoon hasn’t been able to install his Ikea dining table and ended up in ER in the middle of the afternoon with his pinkie finger broken. Jeongguk is only sad that he’s put a good shirt on.

The conversation still flows easily because Namjoon is a good conversationalist and a lot of things can be said about medical care in the US… It isn’t until they’re done with their Jamaican curry and Namjoon mentions being in a long-distance relationship that Jeongguk truly wishes he wouldn’t have changed off his band shirt and thought about how to style his hair for so long…

“What about you?” Namjoon then asks, because it’s the thing to do when you’re completely unaware of how your interlocutor has been thirsting on your dimples all evening, “Are you dating anyone?”

“Well, dating as a single dad is quite hard…Lu remains my priority as she’s been ever since she came into this world.”

Namjoon doesn’t ask how she came into the world, and Jeongguk can’t shake the feeling that this subject is probably way too intimate to share with a hot stranger.

“You know I never thought New York was so diverse,” Namjoon comments suddenly as they clear the living room low table, “I felt like on a Grey’s Anatomy set, back when I waited for someone to look at my finger.”

It makes Jeongguk laugh.

“I mean, someone like Seokjin Kim hosting the most popular night show in the past decade was a big deal for me,” Namjoon continues.  

Before Jeongguk knows it, he responds, “I work with him, actually, in the Latest show with Seokjin Kim on NBC. I’m a camera operator there.”

Namjoon looks absolutely flabbergasted and Jeongguk fears for a second that he might trip on his own feet as he carries beers to the sofa, “Really? I love that show! It’s probably the only one I genuinely laugh at!”

“Seokjin is a born comedian.”

“Love him!” Namjoon adds, “And the vet guy on the show, what’s his name—”

“Hoseok Jung.”

“Right, he’s amazing!” Namjoon exclaims, “Is he really as nice as he seems or is it all fake?”

Jeongguk thinks back to Hoseok, quiet and attentive when no one else seems to pay attention to whatever Taehyung says, or how he sits with staff for lunch and manage to remember every name, and the Americanos he leaves on Jeongguk’s desk first thing in the morning.  

“No, he’s—he’s a nice guy,” Jeongguk settles on, “I could give you tickets for the show if you’d like…”

“Are you serious? That’d be way too nice, my girlfriend’s a huge fan of the show as well and our anniversary is coming up—”

And just like that Jeongguk is reminded that it’s not a date.

_______

“So how was your date?” Someone asks him first thing first in the morning.

“He has a girlfriend,” Jeongguk replies.

“Ouch.”

“And he loves the show…” He adds.

“Wow, that’s doom, right here,” Yoongi mutters under his breath.

On the other side of the room, Taehyung pays his condolences to Jeongguk’s dick.  

“Wait, what is so bad about someone liking the show?” Hoseok asks.

To be completely frank, Jeongguk has become so accustomed to seeing him around the staff’s changing room that he no longer sees how his expensive attires clash with the neutral colors the rest of them have to wear.

“Well, have you ever hooked up with a Seokjin’s fanatic?” Allan the floor manager asks.  

“His groupies are wild…” Someone says.

“One guy once asked me to take him to the studio and tried to steal Seokjin’s used Kleenex right out of the trash can,” Someone else recounts.

“I have never met anyone behaving like that,” Hoseok declares.

Jeongguk turns towards him and says, “Well, I’d never seen a chimpanzee playing house with a human before…”

Laughter erupts as most of the crew members recall Hoseok showing off his bond with animals on live tv for the past months.

“Ah, he got you good!” Taehyung snickers.

Hoseok can do nothing but rolls his eyes, but there’s fondness all over his face.  

_______

“We are coming right back with a performance by Dua Lipa!” Seokjin informs his audience as the curtains fall and the band starts playing, and then a bit lower, “Shit, this tie is so tight!”

Jeongguk relaxes behind his beloved camera and rounds around the crowd of make-up assistants rushing towards the host.

“How do I look?” Seokjin asks as he rearranges his single trail of hair falling perfectly on his forehead.

“Awful, as usual,” Jeongguk grins in response.

Seokjin scoffs as he turns away from the assistants’ prying hands, “You know what? The next time you wonder why you’ve never been the employee of the month; I want you to remember this precise moment.”

Jeongguk finds it difficult to hold in his laughter and relents to a simple shrug.

“I thought you’d appreciate the honesty.”

“I despise you,” Seokjin offers as sole answer but he still lets Jeongguk gets his hands around his neck to loosen his Givenchy tie.

“What are those?” Jeongguk sees the marks before Seokjin has a chance to cover them, “Are those hickeys?” he whispers-yells, scandalized.

And then, because Seokjin is lifting the collar of his button shirt with a sullen expression, Jeongguk feels the need to add, “No way! Are you fucking someone?”

“Why do you have to look so surprised?” Seokjin asks with a grimace.

“Because you have been nothing but miserable ever since the one who shall not be named cheated on you two years into your marriage.”

“Well,” Seokjin says with a dismissing gesture, “time heals the deepest scars better than any hook-up could ever put band-aids on a broken heart…”

“Is this a Doctor Phil’s quote?”

“Close. It was Khloe Kardashian.”

“We’re back in 5!” The new assistant director informs everyone on stage, “Sir, please come back to your seat.”

Seokjin is saved from Jeongguk demanding further commentaries, yet he can’t help but complain, “Great, now I’m being scolded by assistants as well…”

“The nerve,” Jeongguk comments.

“You were worse on your second day here, I raised a monster,” Seokjin says as he gets back to his place behind his desk.

Jeongguk watches him go back on stage and hitches to tell him to be careful with his heart this time around.   

_______

Jeongguk knows he could never be the employee nor employer of the month as he runs from the metro station to his apartment building. It’s the fifth time this month alone and he grows tired just to think about the excuses he’ll serve to his babysitter. The day has been hard enough, Jeongguk doesn’t need to think about the expression his daughter might wear by the time he knocks on his neighbor’s door.  

“Hey, I’m so sorry for being so late—”

“Your babysitter had to run home!” Namjoon says as he opens his door wider and reveals a little Lu seated on the sofa as she eats something that looks dangerously close to candies…

…On a weekday. Jeongguk can’t even blame anyone but himself because he knows how his daughter could convince a cannibal to turn vegetarian with a gaze alone.

“Yeah I know, it’s date night… I’m the worst employer ever,” His babysitter had at least reminded him that a dozen times the past few days. To Lu, he adds, “Baby, are you ready to go home?”

“I’m watching Frozen,” Lu replies as she sits in her Ladybug Halloween costume, which she’s worn for a week straight.

“Yeah, but you can watch it home as well, baby.”

“I don’t wanna. I want to watch it here,” Lu responds, pouting.

Oh no please, not that kind of day. Jeongguk can’t help but throw a glance at Namjoon as a way to say kids, am I right?! It’s the same look parents give him when their children decide to throw a tantrum in the cereal’s aisle of Costco, and they’re all but helpless on how to deal with that in front of a bunch of strangers so they look at another parent for some compassion. Jeongguk usually has a lot of that.

“Lu, you know I don’t like repeating myself,” Jeongguk says and he sees his daughter fidgeting because she definitely knows that tone of voice on her father and the last time he used it she couldn’t play with his phone on the way home no matter how much she looked at him with watery eyes.    

But then, as she hops off the couch, Namjoon suggests, “Well you guys can always stay for dinner, so she can finish her movie.”

Jeongguk turns to Namjoon and responds in a low voice, “I don’t—She’s in a contradictory stage right now and I’m trying to make her understand that when I say no, it’s no.”

“I get it, but I assure you there’s only fifteen minutes left to that movie, and pizzas will brighten your day for sure,” Namjoon tells him.

“It’s been a long day, I’ll admit.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s just a shitty stressful day at work,” Jeongguk sighs, he watches as Lu waits for his permission to sit back on the sofa.

“Well, we’ve got time,” Namjoon responds with a smile.  

_______

It only takes Jeongguk to say “My neighbour’s so hot, man…” before he gets a pool of hot coffee all over his lap. Hoseok has never looked so horrified, and that’s the guy dealing with tigers and pet tarantulas on a daily basis.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” He says as he starts putting several paper napkins on Jeongguk’s slacks.

“Hey, no, don’t worry about that,” Jeongguk tells him by the time it’s becoming clear that Hoseok is not aware of how close his hands are to Jeongguk’s crotch.

Hoseok still looks a bit red in the face but he just murmurs another of his heartfelt sorry’s as he puts down the cup of hot coffee beside Jeongguk,

“This was for you.”

Jeongguk sees Seokjin strolling around the studio floor with his attention fixed on the both of them as he sips his own coffee, and the way he raises his eyebrows at the pair is enough to make Jeongguk wonder why it must look like to his colleagues, seeing the new addition to the show bringing coffee to the usually brooding head camera operator of the crew, he decides that whatever it is, he doesn’t like putting Hoseok in much jeopardy.   

“Thanks,” He tells the veterinarian, “But it’s been a month since you’ve brought me an Americano every morning, I think you should stop by now, people are going to get the wrong idea…”

Hoseok suddenly looks down as red colours his cheeks, and mutters,

“You’re probably right.”

“Also, I’m pretty sure we’re all good by now, right?” Jeongguk adds because he really doesn’t like the look Hoseok just gave him.

“Sure,” Hoseok says but his smile looks anything but natural. Anything but fine, really.

_______

“I’ve met someone,” Taehyung announces over lunch.

“Really? Where?” Hoseok asks around a mouthful of Chipotle they just had delivered at NBC headquarters.  

“On Boost! I’ve created a profile last week and I met my soulmate there!”

“Boost, Tindr’s new extension app?” Yoongi repeats, “Are you serious?”

“Very.”

“Sounds like a fifth-grade romance.”

“Please, you don’t know anything about romance, you bitter old man,” Taehyung replies as he points at Yoongi with his spork.

“He’s not that wrong…” Jeongguk adds with a grin.

Yoongi has his burrito falling apart and a two weeks sleep debt but he still wastes time replying, “At least, I’m smart enough to realizes Taehyung is going to end up with a catfish nutcase…”

“How could I get catfish when I haven’t even seen their face? They have an avatar!”

“I mean having an avatar is a bit sus,” Larry from the lightning department intervenes in the bickering.  

“How is it sus?” Hoseok asks, “Some people are just not confident showing their faces on this app!”

“Speaking from experience?” Jeongguk turns towards him with a raised eyebrow.

Hoseok grows red, and Jeongguk can’t help but think a flustered Hoseok Jung is a sight that deserves to be put on every billboard.  

“I—I used to have Mickey as my avatar,” Hoseok explains quietly.

“Now, that’s weird,” Taehyung points out, “Who wouldn’t recognize your dog? He has 3 million followers on Instagram…”

“Wait, so you use this dating app, too?” Jeongguk asks Hoseok. Maybe that’s the place all handsome New Yorkers hide…

“Oh no, I deleted it months ago, I decided I was too old for this…”

Yoongi throws a look at Taehyung that seems to say, see? Fifth grade stuff.  Taehyung proves his point by rolling his eyes and showing him the finger.

_______

Taehyung doesn’t stop talking to his Boost match in the following weeks unlike what the ongoing betting pool had predicted. He doesn’t stop mentioning random conversations they had, and if they sound anything like what he’s saying, Jeongguk agrees that he’s either talking to his soulmate or a complete weirdo.

“Will you stop sexting your match for a second?” Jeongguk asks as he passes by Taehyung smiling at his phone screen.

“What? I’m on lunch break!”

“You must have been on lunch break for the past five months…” Jeongguk throws back at him. He comes to a halt when he spots a package on the changing room’s table, “What’s that?”

“I believe that’s a box with your name on it?” Taehyung comments without tearing his eyes away from his phone.

“Who put it here, though?”

“It was delivered here, actually. And there’s no signature at the back. Wait,” Taehyung says abruptly, “Did you delivered this to yourself?”

“What? Did you just accused me of pulling a Cher Horowitz move?” And okay, Jeongguk remembers being a teen and watching Clueless in the cinemas, thinking that there were some sick seduction techniques to use in that film…except he later grew up and was confronted with the reality that doesn’t go well with Hollywood romcoms.  

“Is it because I betted with Yoongi you won’t find a date for Hot Christmas?” Taehyung continues, and now Jeongguk is just outraged.

“First off, I’m coming to Hot Christmas with the prettiest darling in New York’s state, I don’t need a date. Second of all, are you planning to bring your phone?”

“Ha ha. Very funny, I’m going to meet the love of my life and live happily with them for the rest of my days, while you pathetically simp for your straight neighbor.”

Jeongguk only knows what simping means because he spends his evenings on Reddit like a total loser, and he suddenly feels the age difference between Taehyung and him greater than back when he tried explaining to his father what a meme is.

“Are you two done?” Yoongi interrupts before any of them can go further, “I don’t know which one of you I pity the most; the guy bringing his daughter to Hot Christmas or the one thinking he’s bringing anyone at all…One thing I know for sure is that we don’t pay you for whatever you’re doing right now.”

The package is from Busan, filled with snacks and Korean treats by Jeongguk’s cousins on his mom’s side. Taehyung takes a look over his shoulder and his eyes lit up instantly.

“I’m sorry about what I said about your neighbor. Lu’s gonna make a perfect date.”

“Please, shut up already.”

_______

“Baby, enough with Dr. Jung’s videos,” Jeongguk says as he tries to pry the iPad from Lu’s hands, but before he knows it, she asks for just another one and clicks on the latest video before her father can even sit next to her on the bed.  

The video starts and Hoseok is seated on a red couch that looks straight out of some low-budget sci-fi movie in the middle of his loft, and Jeongguk is not surprised to see that Hoseok Jung is rich. He guessed it from the way he sometimes dresses like a Real Housewife going to her child’s soccer game, or a dangerously charming 90s mafioso all draped in Gucci. Jeongguk knows Hoseok is rich like he knows the sky’s blue, but he still takes a moment to observe his interior decoration as some Architectural Digest front cover with Jackson Pollock paintings on the wall, and a Murakami pillow dog bed next to the Victorian tiled fireplace.

And then, Hoseok grabs his bass and starts playing Come Together and Jeongguk just—

“Woah.”

His daughter smiles that smile that says I’ve won myself ten more minutes before I get to bed. “He’s really really good, right?”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk whispers back as he scrolls down, “Yeah, he is.”

_______

It all comes to shit rather quickly. And you can count on Taehyung to deliver the news by Monday morning.

“Ask me what I’ve seen,” He tells Jeongguk as they meet at the subway station on their way to work.

“Is it another person reading Ivanka Trump’s book? Because I assure you, I don’t really care,” Jeongguk responds as he checks his texts, waiting for his babysitter to inform him by the time Lu has been dropped to school.   

“Are you sure?” Taehyung insists as he wiggles his eyebrows, “It involves Seokjin and hickeys.”

“I’ve noticed them weeks ago, Tae…”

“Oh, so you know who did plant them on my cousin’s neck?” Taehyung asks.

“How would I –wait, is it someone that works at the studio?” Jeongguk frowns, and before he knows it, there’s a smile on Taehyung’s lips the size of Manhattan, “Who is it?”

“You know what, now that I think about it, you really didn’t seem interested...” Taehyung starts.

“Don’t.”

“I mean would you really like to know?”

“Alright,” Jeongguk concedes as he presents his badge at the security guard and enters the NBC headquarters, “you’re the smartest, hottest, beautifulest—”

“That sounds really insincere, and beautifulest is not even a word. Talk about going through preschool again...”

“Taehyung, I will kill you if you—”

“It’s Hoseok,” Taehyung reveals once the elevator doors have closed behind them.

Jeongguk pauses.

“Heh? You can’t be serious…”

Because Hoseok and Seokjin don’t make sense together. Or maybe they do—a bit too much, probably.

“I’m extremely serious,” Taehyung retorts, “And I’m so glad to be no longer the only guy living off nepotism in this damn place!”

_______

So maybe Jeongguk doesn’t take the news well. Maybe Jeongguk gets irrationally mad thinking of Seokjin and Hoseok sneaking backstage to make-out and appearing dishevelled on stage later. Maybe Jeongguk is disappointed in their lack of professionalism. Maybe Jeongguk thinks that Reddit thread about youtube stars was right and Hoseok Jung is just another industry plant that just got his part because he turned the head of the show’s host and co-producer.

Of course, Taehyung drags him to karaoke night where he’ll have no other choice but to look Hoseok in the face, even from afar. Except Hoseok is quite distant, keeps looking at his phone and ignores Seokjin’s desperate attempts at dragging him out of the booth to sing a cheesy duet with him. Taehyung is on his phone as well with his Boost match until he takes pity of Yoongi butchering Mariah Carey’s Always Be My Baby.

It’s not until Hoseok gets out by the karaoke bar’s back door with his phone glued to his ear that most of them start looking at Seokjin who’s drinking his third cocktail of the night. Jeongguk is on his feet before he even registers it and follows him.

“Wait—wait, hold on. I’m coming to get you,” Hoseok is murmuring into his phone, “I promise I’ll be here soon. Love you.”

Jeongguk watches him hang up and asks, “Leaving already?”

Hoseok startles as he turns around and looks directly into Jeongguk’s eyes, “Something came up. Sorry.”

To be frank, Jeongguk has prepared his speech; he’s never been more ready to be the asshole delivering the shovel talk and emphasizing how Seokjin is the nicest person and deserves to be respected and loved. But Hoseok’s expression is one of open distress and he can’t say anything but “Is everything alright?”

“That was my godson, he’s stranded at a party and his friends just left him there…”

“Your godson?” Jeongguk repeats.

“Yeah, he’s a college kid with a lot on his mind so I think we can excuse the fact that he was irresponsible enough to drink more than recommended. I got to go before something happens—”

 “Let’s take a cab!” Jeongguk interjects.

Later, as he seats beside Hoseok, he wonders why he just made such proposition in the span of two seconds after he saw the expression on Hoseok’s face, but truth is, he’s a dad. Even though he only knows the sheer panic of losing Lu’ at Costco for half a minute.  

“I’m sure he’s going to be okay,” Jeongguk says once he sees Hoseok’s fingers drumming against the leather seat of the car.

“Yeah, he better! I promised his helicopter parents that New York wouldn’t destroy him and that I would take care of him like my own,” Hoseok responds.

“New York isn’t going to destroy him…” Jeongguk says with a smile he hopes is comforting enough, “We’re going to find him safe and sound.”

“Yeah, I hope so—”

“We forgot to tell the rest of the crew we were leaving!” Jeongguk fetches his phone quickly and realizes at the same time that in his hurry to help Hoseok he forgot his coat at the bar.

“Are they worried?” Hoseok asks.

“Not anymore,” Jeongguk tells him as he shows the text he quickly sent to respectively Taehyung, Yoongi and Seokjin. Hoseok smiles back, and Jeongguk wishes he could apologize for a lot of stuff without knowing exactly where to start.

“Wait, that’s him!” Hoseok suddenly says as he points to a lone silhouette.

Seated on the side walk, in front of a brownstone that seems filled to the brim with an overly enthusiastic crowd, the young man is wearing a large hoodie over an impeccable suit, he turns around as he hears the klaxon, and it looks like –

“Mr. Jeon?” Jimin asks as he takes a look at the backseat of the cab and finds Jeongguk seated next to his godfather.

“Jimin?”

“Do you guys know each other?” Hoseok asks as he looks back and forth between them.

“Where is Luna?” Jimin persists in asking.

“I dropped her at her grandmother’s house,” Jeongguk explains, “I thought tonight was a date night.”

“Well, it was…” Jimin replies.

Hoseok, who hasn’t stopped staring at the two of them, asks again, “Wait, how do you two know each other?”

And Jeongguk points at Jimin with a smile as he says, “He’s my kid’s babysitter.”

_______

Jeongguk gets a few messages by the time he gets home.

One from Yoongi assuring him that he’ll take Seokjin home. One from Taehyung wishing they could’ve done another rendition of I Want It That Way. One from Jimin thanking him again with a smiley and Hoseok’s name signed at the bottom of it.

When he’s done brushing his teeth, his phone vibrates again with a message from Seokjin that solely consists of a dozen winking emojis. Jeongguk doesn’t think too much of it, though. Making sense of Seokjin’s drunken texts has proven itself as useless as searching for a nervous system in a jellyfish.

_______

The day, Hoseok’s dog-sitter fails him, is also the day Lu’s kindergarten explain they can’t take Lu back just yet due to protocols when a child recently had the flu. Jeongguk tries to explain to them how he took half a week to take care of his daughter –even going as far as learning new braiding techniques on Tik Tok, and how she doesn’t present any symptoms anymore. But rules are rules, especially in the best public school in Brooklyn as Jeongguk is bitterly reminded.   

That unfortunate event still allows Lu to meet Mickey for real, and even Walt Disney studio creators couldn’t have dreamed of a better match.

When they walk around the hallways, hand in hand, and Lu hears barking, she immediately turns towards her father and asks if Dr. Jung has ever brought lions on the studio floor. Jeongguk doesn’t know if there’s such a thing as too much Nat Geo Wild, but Lu definitely shows symptoms of that.  

Mickey is anything but a lion, and he’s dressed in Hogwarts robes. He just misses a pointy hat. And knowing Hoseok by now, the pointy hat was surely once there.  Jeongguk crouches down at the dog level and offers his palm before inviting his daughter to do the same.

“Hey, thanks for catching up with that little monster!” Hoseok tells them by the time he’s in front of them and it looks like he’s been running there. It’s cute.

Jeongguk lifts up his head and smiles, “So…Why is your dog barking all around the studio?”

“I guess my dog-sitter has the flu,” Hoseok responds.

“Like me!” Lu adds.

“She had the flu, I wouldn’t have taken her here otherwise,” Jeongguk clarifies when Hoseok stares at him.

Before Hoseok can respond anything, Lu points at the puppy she keeps caressing and asks, “Is this the real Mickey or a dopple—doppel—”

“Doppelganger, baby.”  

“It is the real Mickey,” Hoseok answers with wide grin revealing his teeth.  

Lu seems satisfied with the news as she pats Mickey on the head, she looks at Hoseok as she says, “When I first saw you, you looked like a doppel—” She looks at her dad for a second, “Ganger, too.”

Jeongguk nods before turning to Hoseok to inform him, “She always shows me the videos of Mickey running around in Central Park…”

Hoseok smiles, “We go there on Saturday mornings.”

“Like we!” Lu exclaims.

So, when Hoseok asks if they’d like to go to Central Park with Mickey and him next week before Lu gets dropped to her ballet class, both of them can do nothing but nod.

_______

So what if they make a habit out of that?

Lu gets another uncle to bully on stage, Jeongguk comes to terms with the idea that Seokjin scored a date way out of every mortals’ league, and Mickey pics start to magically pile up on his phone. And Hoseok—

Not only is Hoseok an early riser after he earned his beauty sleep, but he also starts each morning vocalizing under the shower and alerting every crawling, flying creature of Manhattan like in that Enchanted movie Lu adores. He laughs a bit too loud every time Mickey steps into a puddle of water as he does on stage when Seokjin swears live. He scrunches his nose when he spots tourists as any true New Yorker does, yet always stops to give directions when he spots elderly couples. He eats his waffles plain like Lu, and also looks equally disgusted when he sees the sugar monstrosity Jeongguk prefers, with ice cream and chocolate sauce and— He always chats with people that recognize him on the streets. He makes Central Park his kingdom. He’s perfection on perfectly sculpted legs.  

Oh, and to add to Jeongguk’s misery, he sings really well. It’s another karaoke night out when Jeongguk nails Sam Smith in a setting and leaves his audience (mostly Seokjin) breathless that he learns that.  

“How was it?” Jeongguk asks as he sits back next to Hoseok who looks stunned.

“Really good, perfect in fact,” comes the answer.

“Thanks,” And because he feels bold, he adds in a teasing tone, “I thought perfection was only a term people used with your name.”

Hoseok laughs, “That’s mostly because I have a dancing dog.”

“Yeah, he might be a strong factor. I know for sure I would’ve swiped right on Boost for that picture of Mickey…” Jeongguk declares, “Would’ve stayed for a chance to hear some bass, though.”

“I don’t play bass until the fourth date,” Hoseok replies.

“That would mean a lot of dancing dog videos before that, then…”

They get interrupted by Seokjin forcing Yoongi out of his seat to cover I Want It That Way, and Jeongguk is brusquely reminded he was just flirting with one of his best friend’s boyfriend. Sure, the boyfriend was flirting right back but uhhh.

“Would you judge me if I told you I plan on singing a Kelly Clarkson song next?” Hoseok suddenly asks after a beat of silence. 

“Judge you? I would be thoroughly impressed!”

And of course, Jeongguk is. Because he’s starting to realize there are few things that Hoseok Jung can’t do. He sings with his eyes closed and his voice is sweet, A Moment Like This has never sounded better.

“You might need a bucket for all that drool?” Michelle, one of the set designers, asks, putting a halt to Jeongguk’s reverie.

“Have we finally convinced you to join the dark side?” Another of their colleague adds with a grin, “Are you thirsting over him now?”

“Shut up,” Jeongguk tells them.

______

In theory, Jeongguk knows he should’ve closed his subreddit thread by now. Hoseok is becoming a good friend of his, and the fact that he finds the veterinarian insanely attractive is only a testament to Seokjin’s good tastes… Right?!

Jeongguk still reads the new occasional comments and feels sad over the fact that Hoseok might be the nicest person alive yet he has haters because that’s how the world works, like how YouTube doesn’t disable dislikes under videos of huskies throwing tantrums in empty bathtubs.

Jeongguk is indeed showing one of these to an overjoyed Hoseok as they seat beside each other for lunch at the far corner of the table.  Hoseok closes the tab accidentally and finds himself on Jeongguk’s Reddit homepage with his latest contributions and it all goes downhill from there.   

“Is Hoseok Jung an industry plant? The worst lies Hoseok Jung ever said,” Hoseok reads out loud before letting out a startled laugh out of utter disbelief. He turns to Jeongguk and  asks him, “Did you create this thread about me?”

“I can explain,” Jeongguk tells him.

________

It turns out, Jeongguk can’t explain.

________

Hoseok gives the silent treatment unlike anyone Jeongguk has ever known. He doesn’t simply cease to address Jeongguk, he refuses to acknowledge he ever existed. He looks at Jeongguk with a blank face and passes him by in the hallways. It’s quite obvious to everyone because Hoseok has never been this cold to anyone, even back when Jeongguk was a total asshole to him. And he wants to tell Hoseok, Lu misses Mickey. She misses you. She watches your videos every night and I fall asleep by her side. I miss being your friend. It really brought me joy. Jeongguk can’t say any of this though, because Hoseok doesn’t let him come near.

Mid-December rolls in and all the staff are obsessed with the upcoming end-of-the-year party, vibrating from anticipation, yet Jeongguk’s thoughts keep revolving around the horse whisperer.  

Taehyung has pictures he shows around of Hoseok napping with Boris his newly adopted hedgehog, Yoongi comments on how he plans on joining Hoseok’s overpriced Tai chi class and Lu keeps demanding where he’s gone.  

It’s only until Seokjin comments on how Hoseok could probably do well with a date for Hot Christmas that Jeongguk wonders why the universe hates him so much…

“Are you not going together, Hoseok and you?” Jeongguk asks as they feast on chicken wings in the secrecy of Seokjin’s changing room.

“Why?” Seokjin asks, “I mean we could but—”

“I know,” Jeongguk sighs.

“You know?”

“I know about Hoseok and you,” Jeongguk clarifies as he refrains from wincing at the sharp look Seokjin gives him.

“It’s not like we tried to hide it,” Seokjin defends, and Jeongguk guesses he’s right. And Jeongguk guesses he has no business feeling this heartbroken.

“He’s my best friend! We’ve known each other since high school, it was natural for me to introduce him to the producers of the show, and Hoseok was impressed on his first day on set. He wanted to work here and I’d like to think he got along just fine with everyone here…” 

Jeongguk nods slowly.

“Everyone here, even you,” Seokjin adds belatedly, and Jeongguk feels guilt to the point of agony, “Let me tell you the first thing out of Hoseok’s mouth when he saw you backstage of the show back in July was wow.”

_________

So Jeongguk takes both Lu and Namjoon to the Hot Christmas ceremony at the Mercer Hotel.  

Not his smartest move but he’s not quite ready to face the shock of his friends when he tells them, “This is my neighbor, Namjoon. ”

“Wait, you’re Jeongguk’s neighbor?!” Taehyung exclaims, “Haven’t we met before?”

“Gosh I hope not…” Jeongguk mutters beside Namjoon who hasn’t yet lost his smile.

“Your face reminds me of someone, too…” Yoongi adds, and Jeongguk doesn’t know if they’re messing with him or being idiots because he knows neither of them ever stepped a foot in Canada.

Namjoon seems to know what’s so familiar about his own face because he simply breaks into a larger grin and says, “Oh, you might have seen me on the news. Back when I was in college, I created with two friends a dating application. It was named Cupid’s Boost and it has recently been bought by Tindr.”

Jeongguk has never seen Taehyung lose his smile this fast.

“Wait, you’re the Boost guy?” Seokjin asks while Yoongi exclaims, “Tae, that’s the guy who’s messing up with your love life!”

“Fuck me,” Taehyung says before rushing to the convention room’s balcony.

Namjoon turns towards Jeongguk who in turn asks Seokjin, “What’s wrong with him?”

“I think his date has ditched him tonight.”

“Well,” Yoongi says as he drowns his champagne flute, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

That’s the closest thing to remorse Jeongguk has seen on Yoongi’s face, and he half-guesses alcohol has a thing or two to do with it. Christ, it’s only nine.

“I’ll see what’s up with him,” Jeongguk declares.

Taehyung is miserable. He’s sipping on Champagne like he does on Capri Sun’s and he stares down at the city lights eight stories down below despite suffering from intense vertigo.

“I can’t believe Yoongi was right,” He says once he senses Jeongguk standing beside him.

“What do you mean?”

“Minnie dumped me.”

“Minnie?”  Jeongguk repeats, “Who’s that?”

“My Boost date,” Taehyung answers with a pathetic sniff, “Was supposed to be here for Hot Christmas with me.”

Before Jeongguk can say something stupid about bigger fishes in the ocean and maybe hacking that coward’s account, another voice breaks the quiet of the terrace.

“Taehyung?”

Jeongguk turns and sees that most people inside the room are looking at the newcomer with barely disguised interest. And the newcomer for all his sharp tux and gelled hair looks anything but confident as he approaches them.

“Jimin,” Jeongguk says, “Isn’t it date night?”

“It is,” Jimin replies with his attention solely fixed on Taehyung and oh. What a small world, indeed.

“Jiminie?” Taehyung asks as if he just witnessed the opening of heaven’s gates. “I don’t get it, do you guys know each other?”

“I babysit his daughter,” Jimin responds with a giggle.

“No way??? Minnie was Lu’s babysitter, and I didn’t know!” Taehyung turns towards Jeongguk with an expression of open betrayal and Jeongguk can do nothing but shrug.

“Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t know either, that’s what happens when people use avatars and nicknames.”

“I thought you changed your mind about meeting for real,” Taehyung tells Jimin.

“I was so damn stressed I forgot my wallet home, and then I had to go back and change because I was sweating so bad. But I came because there was literally nothing that could’ve prevented me from meeting you for real.”

That sounds disgustingly sweet even to Jeongguk who’s cried too many times over Pride and Prejudice (The 2005 version, thank you very much.)

“I can’t believe we’re touching,” He distantly hears Taehyung says as he takes his leave, “Wait a damn minute, we both love Luna and hate her dad, we’re soulmates!”

He walks back to Yoongi and finds him with another flute and a flush that has traveled past his neck.

“Is Tae okay?”

“I believe he’s more than okay,” Jeongguk responds as they both observe him making out with Jimin through the French doors.

“Right,” Yoongi says as he turns away, “I’d hate for him to miss Seokjin opening my gift.”

“What is it?”

“A wedding ring.”

There’s a pause during which Jeongguk thinks about taking the flute of champagne out of Yoongi’s hand and sobers him up with a few slaps. Except, Yoongi looks serious as he stares at the bottom of his glass.

“I beg your pardon,” Jeongguk asks.

“You can’t tell me you hadn’t figured it out by now…”

“You guys are dating?!” Jeongguk screeches out, and a few colleagues turn around at the commotion. And the worst thing is that it makes so much sense!

“We have been dating for the past two years,” Yoongi explains, “We thought it’d be great not to rush after his divorce… And since most of you are noisy as fuck we figured we’d like to have a bit of privacy at first.”

Jeongguk could kill them both or crush them into his arms at that moment, or maybe something in between. He looks back to Taehyung who still hasn’t let go of Jimin’s mouth and asks, “Taehyung—did he know that?”

“C’mon it’s Taehyung we’re talking about… He’s the most oblivious guy in New York.”

And there appears Hoseok, gorgeous as ever, with a little cloud of taffeta dancing around him.

“I might be a close second,” Jeongguk says.

_________

“Hey,” Jeongguk says as he approaches the duo.

“Hey,” Hoseok responds.

Jeongguk turns to his daughter and asks, “Baby, could you please go bother uncle Jin for a minute?”

They wait until Lu is no longer within earshot, her puffy white dress out of sight, to turn back towards each other.

“She keeps growing every time I see her,” Hoseok comments with a fond smile. On that Jeongguk must have once been on the receiving end of…

“She’s already one of the tallest kid in her class,” He responds because Lu is always a safe subject, because she’s everything good in him.

“I was told I should come see her dance at the school gala for New Year’s Eve...”

“You’d be impressed.”

“I already am,” Hoseok assures him with his gaze still directed at the spot of white now clinging to Seokjin’s arm.  

A look at the windows indicate to Jeongguk that the lovebirds haven’t much moved since they connected physically, so he turns to Hoseok and asks him,

“Did you know Taehyung was talking to Jimin?”

“I didn’t until two hours ago,” Hoseok admits as his eyes find the match and a smile takes over his features, “But I’m awful at these things.”

“Tell me about it,” Jeongguk laughs, “I just realized two of my best friends are dating because Yoongi admitted to me he was about to propose.”

“They make a great couple,” Hoseok concludes and Jeongguk can only nod to that.

They’re silent for a bit until—

“Hoseok—”

“Listen—”

“Go ahead,” Hoseok finally complies.

“I’ve disliked you from the moment you appeared on my tv screen. I thought you were overrated and a scam. I started reading threads of your haters just because I felt like everyone else adored you for some reason,” Jeongguk starts as he looks into his interlocutor’s eyes, “I was bitter, of course, how could someone so spontaneous, lovely, intelligent, and altruistic truly exist? I felt like you were once again a trendy person we’ll soon get dirt on. Then, you proved to me time and time again that not only you had all those qualities, but you also were willing to ignore my rudeness to be friendly, to make a place for yourself out there. I’m sorry, I really am.”

 “Do you plan on closing the thread?” Hoseok finally asks.

“Yeah, absolutely!” Jeongguk assures, and he puts his hand on his heart to reinforce the sentiment despite knowing how dramatic that might look.

“Some of these posts are hilarious, though,” Hoseok considers, “Like the ones complaining about the fact that I rarely wear shorts anymore, or that my thirst traps are pictures of Mickey napping…” With a smile, he adds, “Is your whole club in love with me or what?”

 “I know I am.”

And the thing is, Jeongguk hasn’t meant to drop it like that. Hoseok is shocked, regardless.

“Seokjin might have hinted heavily at the fact that you once found me hot, but that must have been before I opened my stupid mouth,” He adds, “But if you’d like to give me a chance, I’d love to take you out and—”

“Yes,” Hoseok says, and a blush creeps on his neck as Jeongguk’s face dissolves into a giant grin.

“God, that was awkward,” He declares by the time Hoseok agrees to take his hand.

And when Yoongi gets down on one knee in front of everyone under the giant Christmas tree, and the room erupts into cheers as Seokjin drops his flute on the marble floor, Hoseok is right beside him.  And when Seokjin starts crying, Jeongguk’s hand finds Hoseok’s once again, and the only thing preventing him from dragging that hot piece of ass to the nearest corner is basic decency. Also, they’re not Taehyung and Jimin’s age.

_______

They can’t help kissing when they go skating at the Rock Feller Center on Christmas morning. And over warm waffles and hot chocolate. And as they watch Frozen on Hoseok’s ugly couch. They simply can’t.

Lu is unimpressed.  

_______

Seokjin wins the betting pool on how Hoseok and Jeongguk might end up together before the year ends.

Taehyung wins the pool on how long it will take for Hoseok to parade his boyfriend all over Instagram because he’s the one closest to a year and a half.  

Yoongi wins the pool on who proposes first by simply noting that Jeongguk might while Hoseok also has a ring box in his socks’ drawer.

Seokjin is the second guess for the ring bearer, after Lu and before Mickey which to most people is a bit insane.

Jimin is banned from betting but he still gives everyone his two cents, and his boyfriend the social clues he desperately misses.

The rest of the staff claim the game is rigged.

 (Spoiler alert: it kind of is.)