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It was a week after they had all watched Sweet Home on Netflix together in the dorm. Jimin, Hoseok, and Namjoon would not stop talking about it, and while it was a great watch, Yoongi had had enough of the chattering.
He decided it was time to take matters into his own hands and put them to the test. (This was primarily because the week had been filled with Hoseok and Jimin insisting that they could now progress onto scarier films because they had both managed to sit through ONE thriller series.)
“Have you guys ever watched Insidious ?” Yoongi asked casually over dinner one night, interrupting, once again, a conversation about the drama and how Jimin and Hoseok had miraculously managed to sit through it without being scared.
Hoseok quickly answered, stating the obvious, “Of course not, hyung. Insidious is, like, really scary.”
Jimin murmured his agreement, between a bite of food, “Yea, hyung, I’ve never seen it either.” He swallowed and then added, “But, I bet that Hobi-hyung and I can take it on now.” Jimin looked at Hoseok to gauge his reaction.
Hoseok gulped, but didn’t want to back down after all the talking up he and Jimin did throughout the week, “Y-yea, we definitely can!”
“Great! So, it’s settled then, you guys can watch it tonight, after dinner,” Yoongi proposed, “since you’re confident you can handle it now.”
“B-but, hyung, won’t you join us?” Hoseok asked, hopeful to drag Yoongi into it too, knowing how much he hates watching horror flicks.
“Of course not,” Yoongi quipped slyly, grinning, “you said it yourself, it’s ‘like, really scary’.”
--
That was how Hoseok and Jimin found themselves in the dark, wedged on the couch next to Namjoon, with Jungkook sitting in between his legs, and Taehyung resting his head on Jungkook’s lap.
“Taehyungie, you don’t want to sit by my legs?” Jimin asked and pouted, wanting Taehyung, or anyone really, to be closer during this whole ordeal.
“You’re gonna kick me when you jump,” Taehyung responded matter-of-factly, resting his head more comfortably on Jungkook’s thighs.
Jimin frowned and mumbled, “Well, now I’m gonna do it anyway,” kicking him gently in the back with his foot, causing Jungkook to snicker.
Namjoon looked for the movie, while Hoseok called out to Jin, who was standing off to the side watching them with his arms wrapped around Yoongi and chin resting on his shoulder, “Jin-hyung, are you sure you don’t want to watch with us? If I can do it, you can do it!”
Jin lifted his head from Yoongi’s shoulder and shook it, declining, “I’m much more comfortable watching all of you from a distance while cuddling Yoongi rather than watching the movie, thanks.”
Jungkook shushed them both and shooed Yoongi and Jin away, “The movie is starting!”
Hoseok nodded absentmindedly and frowned, leaning back as the movie began, his hands clenched in fists around the blanket he had placed over his lap.
Beside him, Jimin tucked in his legs, hugging his knees to his chest, and let out a slow breath.
The five of them watched for a while, with Yoongi and Jin watching on from a distance at their reactions when without any warning, something appeared on the screen. Jimin let out a startled yelp, before coughing to disguise it. It wasn’t that bad, and he certainly wasn’t going to give Yoongi the satisfaction of being right.
He glanced over at Hoseok who was now cringing away from the screen. Hoseok met his eyes briefly and tried to neutralize his facial expression, but failed when something else appeared on the screen, accompanied by a loud sound, causing him to cringe again.
“Are you scared?” Jimin asked Hoseok, hoping that he would admit it and they could both stop watching this horrendous film.
But to his dismay, Hoseok shook his head and answered, voice small and quivering, “No, I’m not scared.”
Jimin nodded, not that anyone could see it in the dark, and replied, “Good, me neither.”
They both continued watching, their heart rates slowly returning to normal when yet another jumpscare appeared, and this time, their hands unconsciously reached for each other and they held on for dear life as they both winced at the loud noise.
Hoseok let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding but didn’t dare let go of Jimin’s hand. “Are you scared now?” he asked him.
“N-no,” Jimin whispered, but he didn’t move to let go of Hoseok’s hand either, feeling his clammy palm against his own.
They continued watching the rest of the movie like that, their hands clasped together, with neither one admitting how scared out of their wits they were.
The movie ended and Jimin let go of Hoseok’s hand to get up to turn on the light, leaving the other members sitting in silence.
Jimin flicked on the light, and Namjoon began clapping, applauding the film for living up to its reputation, and Hoseok jumped again from the sudden noise.
Yoongi wandered back into the living room now that the movie was over and asked, “So, you guys survived! What did you guys think of it?”
Jimin cleared his throat and replied nonchalantly, “It was fine, not really scary.”
“Yea, hyung,” Hoseok agreed, nodding absentmindedly, eyes wide, “not that scary at all.”
“Did I see you guys holding hands during the movie or was that my imagination?” Yoongi asked skeptically.
“We were holding hands,” Jimin admitted sheepishly, reaching out for Hoseok’s hand again.
Yoongi zeroed in on the weakness and raised his eyebrows, “But you weren’t scared?”
Jimin fiercely defended it, “That has nothing to do with the scary movie, hyung!! Aren’t I allowed to hold hands with my boyfriend whenever I want!? I hold your hand when we walk from the kitchen to the dining room!”
Yoongi raised his hands in defeat, “Okay, okay, so you both weren’t scared then. I’m proud of both of you for making it through in one piece.” He leaned in to kiss both of their foreheads, “With that, I think we should all go to bed now. It’s getting late.”
Hoseok sat with bleary eyes, staring off in a daze, nodded absentmindedly, and agreed, “Yea, let’s go to bed.”
--
It began to thunderstorm shortly after the movie ended and Hoseok couldn’t help cowering every time the thunder rumbled.
His train of thought was a slippery slope: the thunder would rumble, the next strike of lightning would hit their building, the power would go out, the demon would grab him in the dark, pull him to the depths of God only knows where, and that would be the end of Jung Hoseok, never to be heard from again.
Hoseok was settling into his bed for the night, leaving Jimin to be the one to turn off the light. Just then, the light flickered after a particularly loud clap of thunder and Hoseok let out a startled cry.
“Hobi-hyung, are you okay?” Jimin asked, in a gentle tone. He felt more settled now that he’d watched a few cute cat compilation videos on his phone, but he just wasn’t ready to turn off the light and face the things that go bump through the night yet.
Hoseok nodded and replied, “Yea, I’m fine, just, maybe we can leave the desk light on, tonight?” He added an explanation hastily to cover up his fear, ”You know, so we don’t have to navigate through the dark, in case we need to get something or go somewhere.”
Jimin agreed wholeheartedly, “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” as if it were completely necessary for them to get up in the middle of the night regularly.
He switched on the desk light and was reaching to turn off the room light when another clap of thunder rang out, this time timed with the bright flash of lightning as it struck their building.
The power went out causing Hoseok and Jimin to both let out screams and leaving Jimin to scramble in the dark.
“Hyung?!” Jimin called out, arms outstretched in front of him as he blindly fumbled.
“I’m here,” Hoseok replied from under his covers. Jimin made his way over to him, startling Hoseok and causing him to cry out again when his hands finally reached him.
Their eyes both adjusted to the darkness and Hoseok threw back his covers, so Jimin could join him in his bed.
“Are you scared, Hobi-hyung?” Jimin asked him, hugging Hoseok and tugging the blanket back over both of them. He could feel him trembling with fear in his embrace.
Hoseok nodded, knowing he couldn't hide it anymore, and, even though Jimin couldn’t see him, he felt it.
Knowing Hoseok was afraid filled Jimin with a need to comfort him, so he cuddled him closer and whispered, “Don’t be afraid of the dark, hyung.”
He brought his hand to Hoseok’s face and turned it to look him in the eyes, brushing his cheek gently with his thumb. Then, Jimin leaned in to press his lips lightly on Hoseok’s and kissed his forehead as reassurance, as if to let Hoseok know he was not alone and that Jimin was not going to let him marinate in his fear alone.
Hoseok smiled, comforted in knowing he had Jimin beside him, and teased, “Shut up you cheesy dork, you were scared, too!”
“Shush, hyung! It was dark and I couldn’t see anything!” Jimin whined, “What if the demon grabbed me?”
Hoseok shook his head, “No, no, no, don’t remind me,” pulling Jimin closer.
--
Hoseok was about to fall asleep like that, wrapped up in blankets and Jimin when he noticed a movement in the corner of his eye.
“Jimin, did you see that?” he asked him. “See what?” Jimin replied sleepily.
“Who’s there moving in the shadow?” Hoseok called out, sitting up.
Suddenly, Yoongi jumped up in front of him, shouting, “AHHH!”
Jimin and Hoseok screamed and held on tightly to each other, before realizing it was Yoongi trying to scare the shit out of them (and succeeding).
“Hyung!” Hoseok yelled in disbelief, “You’re so mean, you know that!” as Yoongi laughed at their reactions.
Jimin sighed and scolded, “Why would you do that in the middle of a blackout in the middle of the night?!” holding onto Hoseok closer. “Only someone possessed would do such a thing! We’re gonna have to hire a team of paranormal investigators to exorcise you, Yoongi-hyung!”
“Yea, hyung, it’s for your own good,” Hoseok agreed, “How would we know you’re not possessed otherwise?”
Yoongi laughed and peeled back the covers to join them in their cuddles, “You should’ve seen your faces!”
Jimin pushed him away gently and cried out, “Stay away, hyung!! You haven’t been exorcised yet!!”
Yoongi rolled his eyes and pulled them each closer to him for soft goodnight kisses on the lips and forehead. “See, I’m not possessed,” he reassured them, “Now will you both please stop talking about how you can handle watching scary things? We love you anyway, despite your inability to. It isn’t such a bad thing to avoid watching them if you can’t handle them.”
“Okay, okay, we'll stop talking about it,” Hoseok conceded, “I never wanna watch a scary movie again.”
“Me neither,” Jimin agreed, “But you’re still not allowed in our bed for cuddles until you’ve been exorcised, hyung.”
Yoongi groaned, “Ugh, I can’t win!”