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Jung Hoseok and Jeon Jungkook have been happily in a relationship, for the past five years. The young couple – Hoseok twenty-four, Jungkook twenty-three – met in Hoseok’s final year of college and have been together ever since.
Jungkook can remember that day as if it were only yesterday. He had been walking past the entrance gates, absorbed in his phone where he was talking to his “date” for that night, when a group of students came rushing out of the exam hall. Equipment went flying into the air, boys and girls were jumping and running around the courtyard hugging everyone in sight. Amongst the chaos, it had been one senior student who managed to catch the infamous playboy’s attention; a beaming smile, crescent eyes and glowing high cheekbones made the younger student fall head over heels upon the ethereal sight. He quickly found himself wishing to be the only one on the receiving end of that expression.
It took a while, but his wish came true.
Hoseok was, and still is, the best thing that ever happened to Jungkook. The younger – who is more than ashamed to admit – was not a good teenager; growing up in the foster system, moving from house to house where there would be one bad family after the other. He managed to find himself mixed in with some less than pleasant people, dealing drugs and committing crime to make a living.
Due to his issues with family, attachment was something he lacked and generally stayed away from, which frequently led to multiple women warming his bed for a night, each one hoping to melt the ice around his heart only to fail and be kicked out of his apartment.
The days of his crime eventually came to an end, when one of his friends had a fatal overdose from the drugs Jungkook had sold to him. It was the metaphorical wakeup call that the teen had needed to escape that toxic lifestyle.
So, he moved out of Busan and fled to the capital, applying to as many colleges he could find that were nice enough to even let him within the building. It had been an agonising process, with the desire to give up making a regular appearance, but he made it; being accepted into a nice location with sympathetic staff, managing to find a small job within his neighbour’s family run grocery shop.
He was finally moving up in the world.
Old habits die hard, though; evident in that his one night stands grew to be more of a necessity in his life.
It became clear to him, when he laid eyes on Jung Hoseok, that he needed to do everything in his power to be with the older male.
Jungkook went the extra mile for the other, and it must have worked since Hoseok has been with him for over five years. They had their issues, of course, but the biggest had been Jungkook’s past. The night he told Hoseok the latter had remained scarily silent before walking out of the younger’s apartment. He let the elder go, not wanting to make the situation worse, but when one day turned into a week he couldn’t help but worry about the other.
The evening Hoseok returned – his expression neutral but guarded – Jungkook explained anything and everything he could think of, not leaving anything open ended and readily confessing his heart out to the older male. The conversation ended with them both on the couch, cuddling and crying into each other’s shoulders.
“I needed to think.” Hoseok had confessed, when questioned about his absence and Jungkook didn’t blame him.
Their relationship bloomed into something that Jungkook never thought possible, especially with someone as pure and kind hearted as Hoseok. After three years they moved into a new apartment and started to put more time into finding better work. Hoseok quit his job at a locally run café to become an editor and publisher for a magazine company within the city, whilst Jungkook went on to become an engineer within the army. Hoseok hadn’t been too pleased when he was given the news but supported his younger partner with his dreams and ambitions; understanding the difficulty in joining the army with a background of crime, as well as having to hide his relationship with the other soldiers.
Jungkook, to this day, curses the judgemental society he grew up in. Honestly, he always will.
With this in mind, of course he jumped on the offer to move out to America with the military. His boss gave him a couple of months to decide, which he was grateful for, knowing that Hoseok would be the most hesitant to move away. It surprised him when his older boyfriend agreed almost immediately, with explanations as to how he has been dreaming of living in America since he was a child.
It had been hard to say goodbye to their friends, but everyone supported their choice and wished them the best for the future. Neither had family members to say farewell to, since Hoseok’s family kicked him out and disowned him as soon as they discovered he liked men.
The military gave the couple a house on the outskirts of New York, providing them with the perfect distance when travelling to the military base or into the centre of the city.
The couple quickly made friends with two other Koreans that they met within the city. Min Yoongi works as a music producer whereas Kim Namjoon is a philosophy professor and social researcher. Hoseok met the duo first, through the publishing company he found a job with. It was obvious from day one that they would be inseparable; enjoying the vague familiarity of their native language and culture.
Settling in, with Yoongi and Namjoon within their lives, had been easier than the couple originally thought. It was incredible to be able to walk around freely with their relationship out in the open and Jungkook no longer had to hide that part of himself with his fellow soldiers.
All in all, everything was amazing and the couple had reached a stage in their life that they never thought possible.
That is, until Jungkook was deployed to the Middle East with no sense of how long he would be there.
“Promise that you’ll come back.” Hoseok had cried into his uniform, as they stood in each other’s arms, just in front of the security gates at the airport.
“I promise, my Hope. Try not to miss me too much.”
That had been nineteen months ago…
-
“Yoongi! You’re making a mess!” Hoseok scowled at his best friend, hating that the elder demanded to come over and work in his house, claiming that his cousins – his family were over to visit for a few weeks – were too noisy and distracting.
“Shh! I almost have it.” The elder scowled at his laptop; pressing the headphones closer to his ears, allowing his head to move to the beat flowing through them.
“Whatever.” The younger scoffs, eyeing the mass of paper covering his living room floor before deciding it isn’t worth the trouble as he wanders back to the kitchen to continue making lunch.
He is almost done with the preparations when an all too familiar ring tone begins to drift through the house. He drops everything and rushes in the direction of the sound. He is close to panicking when he can’t find his phone until Yoongi holds the device out in front of him.
“Thanks Hyung.” He beams, wasting no more time in answering the call he has been waiting for all day.
“Kookie?”
“Hey baby. How are you doing?”
Hoseok can feel his eyes well up with tears, “I’m okay. I told work that you’re coming back so they gave me a week off!”
There’s a worrying silence coming from Jungkook.
“Kookie? Is everything okay?”
“I’m so sorry, baby… I – I won’t be coming home this week.”
Hoseok can feel his heart drop and lump form in his throat.
“O-oh…”
“I tried, angel…”
He wipes the tear from his cheek, sniffling slightly.
“Hobi, are you alright?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? You’re alive and well… what more could I ask for?”
Yoongi can sense something is wrong, so he removes the headphones and looks at his friend with a look of worry.
“Hobi…”
“Sorry Kookie, I have to go or the pizza will burn. Love you.” He rambles, not waiting for a response from his partner before cancelling the call.
“Hoseok? What’s wrong?” Yoongi gets off the floor, moving towards his friend who has his head lowered and arms loose at his sides.
The elder doesn’t get a response, seeing the younger’s shoulders begin to shake as muffled sobs escape him.
“Hobi I’m... It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Yoongi hugs the crying male, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his back in an effort to comfort his friend.
“I-I miss him, Yoongs… So much that it hurts.”
“I know… I know.”
-
Jungkook feels awful for making his love upset, but he ultimately decides against calling him back to admit the truth in favour of surprising him later.
In all honesty, he will be returning a day earlier than initially planned. He didn’t want to make it the same as all the other occasions, when he had been away for a month or two, deciding to go the extra mile to make it up to Hoseok.
In true Jungkook fashion, he decided to get their best friends involved in his elaborate plan as well. Namjoon and Yoongi were more than happy to help, whilst Namjoon’s husband, Seokjin, burst into tears when he heard the idea.
The soldier knew that he didn’t want to waste any time, so he had Namjoon booked a restaurant reservation for the day he was due to return from the Middle East; deciding to surprise his boyfriend in public for everyone to see.
Seokjin insisted he wanted to film the event.
The moment he arrived at the airport, Yoongi was there to pick him up; with a strong hug and a rare gummy smile only reserved for special situations.
“Hey man, it’s good to see you.” Yoongi greeted, pulling away to grab one of the heavy bags Jungkook returned with.
“Yeah, it’s good to be back, man. Did you bring it?”
“Sure did. It’s in the car.”
Jungkook sends a grateful smile in his friend’s direction, thankful that he has these amazing people to help him with moments like these.
He follows the elder towards the car park, feeling the nerves welling inside him as he’s hit with the pleasant warmth of New York summer heat, appreciating how much cooler it is in comparison to where he’d been deployed to for nearly twenty months.
Before he knows it his stuff has been flung into the back of Yoongi’s car and he’s sitting blissfully with the air conditioning blasting in his face.
“God! I can’t wait to have a cheeseburger!” He shouts, relaxing into the seat with a content groan; listening to the gentle sound of music drifting from the speakers.
Yoongi chuckles, “you sure that’s the only thing?”
“Don’t go there… my nerves are making me all twitchy. I wasn’t this nervous for my graduation ceremony.” Jungkook laments, rubbing his sweaty palms across the trousers of his uniform.
“You’ll be fine. You know he loves you more than anything. You have nothing to worry about, Kook.”
“I know… Just can’t help but worry, you know?”
“Of course. If you weren’t worried then I’d be concerned.”
At this Jungkook releases an unattractive snort, which the older male responds to with a knowing smirk.
-
“Come on, Hobi! I’m absolutely starving and if they sell out on the rib eye then it’s all on you!” Seokjin ushers – more like shoves – a pouty Hoseok into the fancy steak house frequents on a concerning amount of occasions.
“For God’s sake, Hyung… No matter how many times we’ve come here – be it afternoon of evening – they always have the rib eye!”
Namjoon, like the smart man he is, decides to ignore the bickering duo in favour of talking to the hostess that greets them.
“You never know, Hobi.” The elder attempts to reason.
“I do know, because your fat ass has their number on speed dial, ready for when your stomach begins to growl.”
Seokjin’s jaw drops to the floor, and if Hoseok wasn’t so upset by his lover not returning home he definitely would have taken a picture.
“You know what? I’ll let you off… but just because you’re sad!” The elder exclaims, as they follow Namjoon to their table, “next time you won’t be so lucky.”
Hoseok rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless, happy for the distraction.
They settle into their seats, hurrying to look at the extensive menu placed in front of them despite the fact that they all know what they’re going to be eating. It took a few minutes for a waiter to approach their table, ready to take their drinks order.
Seokjin is the one to speak up, “we’ll take two margaritas, one pint of IPA, a bottle of alcohol free Peroni, a medium glass of house red and a bottle of Champagne with five glasses. Oh! And a jug of iced water, please.”
“Of course. I’ll get those to you as soon as possible.” The waiter replies – scribbling the last of the drinks onto his notepad – before smiling and rushing off to attend to other customers.
“Why order so much? Are we having a rave?” Hoseok questions, resting his head against his hand; which is propped up against the thick, wooden table.
“Have you forgotten already?”
Hoseok glares at the older, but the latter swiftly ignores it.
“Yoongi is joining us… and he’s bringing his younger brother along.”
“It will be nice to see him. Yoongi never shuts up about how annoying he is and I’d like to see just how true those words are.”
-
“Right… We’re here.” Yoongi pulls to a stop, in a parking spot just outside the entrance to the restaurant. When Jungkook glances at the building, he suddenly feels his head spin and leans forward until his forehead is rest against the dashboard.
The older man smiles sympathetically, placing a reassuring hand on his younger friend’s shoulder.
“You’ll be fine, Jungkook. If he didn’t want to be with you then you wouldn’t be where you are right now.”
“I know. I just… What if I mess up again? What if something happens and I go back to my old ways? I can’t fail him, Hyung.”
“And you won’t, because you have us to be there for you both. Do you have any idea how many times Hoseok has come crying to me? Because he thinks he’s not good enough for you?”
At this, Jungkook straightens in the passenger seat; eyes wide and full of surprise towards the other’s confession.
“W-what?”
Yoongi removes his hand, smiling and glancing through the windscreen to look at the clear blue sky, “it’s true. Especially at the beginning of your relationship. He’d always say that he never brings anything to the relationship… that he’s too dependent on you… it’s less frequent now but it still happens. He wouldn’t leave the bedroom for the whole week after you left. Seokjin would have to show up every day just to ensure he had food and water. It was a joint effort in actually coaxing him out of the bubble he’d built for himself.”
He finishes, returning his gaze to a teary eyed Jungkook before grabbing his phone, wallet and keys.
“See? You have nothing to worry about. He loves you more than you know, Jungkook… Come on! Let’s head on in! I’m all for this sappy shit but I’m starving.”
-
Hoseok is sipping on his margarita when it happens. He had been so zoned out that he failed to notice the silence that had fallen over the table, or – more specifically – the entire restaurant. Seeing a new figure next to him is what truly snapped him out of his thoughts, looking up to see that a smiling Yoongi had finally made an appearance.
“Hyung!” He exclaims, standing up to draw the elder into a tight hug, knowing very well that his friend could never say no to physical contact when it came to him.
“What took you so long?” He questions, pulling away after a few seconds; completely oblivious to the camera pointing in his direction.
“Well… Someone very important needed to be picked up from the airport.” Yoongi smirks, hearing the younger gasp before turning around to see his boyfriend walking up to their table.
The tears are immediate in both men’s eyes, as they hurry towards each other. Jungkook effortlessly lifts Hoseok into his arms, the latter’s legs wrapping around the taller male’s strong waist, clinging to the soldier as if his life depends on it.
“You’re so mean.” Hoseok whines into Jungkook’s shoulder in between sobs, letting his fingers curl into the back of his boyfriend’s jacket.
“I know… I know… I just had to make it special for you, my love.” Jungkook whispers in return, pressing gentle kisses to his lover’s face. It’s only then that the reunited couple finally register their surroundings; Seokjin filming the surprise while the whole restaurant claps and cheers in celebration for their reunion.
As the tears finally subside, Jungkook looks to Yoongi for one last nod of confirmation before he’s lowering Hoseok to ask the question that has been plaguing him for the past few years.
“Hobi – “ He begins.
“Nope. Keep cuddling me.” His boyfriend protests, which just makes Jungkook’s heart flutter as if he was seeing his small lover for the first time.
The taller chuckles, “baby… Come on.”
His lover pouts but pulls away from the soldiers embrace, reluctance very evident in his movements. Before the other can move too far away, Jungkook takes Hoseok’s hands in his own; supressing the urge to chuckle at the furrow in his partner’s brow.
“Jung Hoseok…”
“Jeon Jungkook.”
“… we have been through thick and thin together, always wanting an adventure but never having the time or money to go on that journey. From day one you have held my hand… guided me to better myself and strive for a life that I never thought possible for a screw up like me…”
He can see the tears beginning to form in his lover’s gentle gaze. He focuses on the sensation of Hoseok’s soft skin against his own battered fingers, trying to be rid of the nervousness building within the pit of his stomach, all whilst tuning out the hysterical cries of an already sobbing Seokjin.
“… you have showed me what happiness truly is and supported me when no one else would. You are the most selfless person, the most loyal partner and the most beautiful lover anyone would be lucky to have. Every day I question what I did to deserve you and find that I never want to lose what we have. With that being said… “ He lowers himself to one knee, producing a white box his shaking hands pulled from the trouser pocket of his uniform; opening the lid to reveal a plain platinum band with a square diamond crowned in the middle.
“Jung Hoseok… will you do me the absolute honour of becoming my husband?”
With a single happy tear trailing down his cheek, Hoseok holds out his left hand with a nod of his head; his eyes never straying from Jungkook’s beaming smile, displaying the cute bunny teeth that he grew to adore.
The ring is a perfect fit, when the larger male slides it onto Hoseok’s finger, but that’s the last thing on their minds as the entire restaurant – once again – becomes alight with applause towards the successful proposal. Jungkook and Hoseok share a heated kiss before being pulled into the arms of their friends.
When Jungkook finally shifts his eyes away from his glowing lover, he looks over to Yoongi who has a rare, sly grin plastered across his face as he winks at the soldier.
Everything always works itself out in the end.