Chapter Text
Jungkook takes a deep breath, adjusts a few strands of hair that stand on the wrong side of his side-part, and takes one last look at himself in the mirror.
"You've got this," he whispers at his reflection. "You're gonna kill it today. You're gonna-"
"Make Yoongi hyung's heart soft and his dick hard," Taehyung interrupts him, reminding Jungkook that he, in fact, isn't home alone.
"Have Yoongi hyung ask for your hand in marriage," Namjoon adds, not even bothering to look up from the Rubik's reading cube in his hands.
Right, Jungkook is not by himself at all. He has company. Too much of it, actually.
"Get Yoongi to take your horse to the old town road and ride 'til he can't no more," Seokjin adds cheekily, already giggling at what he has just said when Taehyung joins him with his own deep laughter.
They high five as Jungkook rolls his eyes. "Quit it," he half-whines, turning around to look at his friends who are lounging like house cats around his studio apartment. The apartment that is far too small for Jungkook himself on a normal day, and even smaller for all four of them to be crammed into.
All of his close friends are camping out in his apartment for reasons unbeknownst to Jungkook. It's the best and worst kind of company Jungkook could possibly have on this very specific, very important Valentine's Day.
"I was gonna say," he starts matter-of-factly. "That I'm gonna make Yoongi hyung my boyfriend. I have exactly three days to make Yoongi hyung my boyfriend."
"You technically have all the time in the worl-" Taehyung begins to say.
"I have three days," Jungkook interrupts, determined. He gives himself two soothing pats on the sides of his thighs, feeling how tight the ripped jeans hug his body. He grimaces, thinking about the fact that he actually tried to dress nicely to get Yoongi's attention for once, but ended up with a glaring thirst trap of an outfit.
"How do I look?" he asks, knowing pretty much word for word what his friends, who practically dressed him, are going to say.
"Exquisite," Taehyung begins, twisting his hand around in the air as if he is swirling expensive wine in a fancy glass.
"Hot," Namjoon adds shortly, looking him up and down. "I don't know what will get Yoongi hyung's attention if not this."
"You look like very expensive wagyu," Seokjin is last to reply.
"Beefy," Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows building off of Seokjin and they high-five again. This time Jungkook can't help but also grin himself.
They are right. He does look good, his best probably, and this is definitely vastly different from the way he normally dresses around Yoongi, so hopefully, Yoongi will take the visual hint before Jungkook even starts laying the physical and verbal hints on thick.
After turning around again to get one last look at himself in the mirror, Jungkook checks his watch. He doesn't want to be late to the train station to pick Yoongi up - that surely wouldn't be the best start for the day he has planned.
Yoongi is arriving in Seoul soon for a three-day trip on his days off to get the last of his things from his ex's place and say goodbye to some of his friends before he completes his move into Goyang for work-related reasons. Needless to say, Jungkook has been very much anticipating as well as dreading the next three days for over a month now, ever since Yoongi called him up to ask if he could stay over at Jungkook's place during his visit, and Jungkook said yes.
It's a simple visit, merely a weekend-long sleepover. Yet it means so much more to Jungkook, who has been harboring big, bad, strong feelings for Yoongi probably ever since the first day he saw him.
Unfortunately for Jungkook, Yoongi has never been both single and emotionally available at the same time for the whole time that Jungkook has known him - that time period being four whole years. It's as long as the age difference between the two of them when Jungkook thinks about it, and it's definitely too long of a time to be crushing on the same person. Which is why Jungkook thinks it's safe to say that his big, bad, strong feelings are definitely more than just a crush at this point.
It's not like Jungkook has been crushing on his friend all these years, trying to get something out of their friendship, either. He has tried going out with other people. He has tried hooking up at clubs and having flings. He even had something close to a relationship, albeit for a short period of time. But no matter what he tried, experienced, or got involved with, nothing could take away from his feelings for Yoongi.
Yes, he fancied other people. Yes, he had other crushes. Yes, he felt even greater things for some. Yet what he felt for Yoongi stayed with him throughout all the years, like one of those stubborn little flowers that grow from between the stones of a sidewalk and stay there for ages, withstanding any and every kind of weather.
It was only about a year ago, though, that Jungkook became desperate enough to actually act on his feelings for Yoongi. It was around six months after Yoongi broke off his previous long-term relationship and announced that he would move away with a new job contract for the next few years.
This brings Jungkook to today, where he has been trying for months to make it obvious to Yoongi that he is definitely 100% in love with him and would literally catch a grenade for him if it meant that Yoongi will return his feelings for a full minute.
He's had no luck so far, but he is nothing but determined to give it one last try over Yoongi's last three days in Seoul before he mentally and emotionally cuts ties with the city for the upcoming years and leaves Jungkook behind along with the city.
This is Jungkook's last chance to initiate something, anything. And the universe seems to be on Jungkook's side for once, making this particular trip align with Valentine's Day.
He sighs. He's got this. He made an extensive plan to pick Yoongi up from the train station and take him to the café that is one of his recent obsessions, where he'll treat both of them to a nice brunch. Jungkook is hoping to rely on the general atmosphere of the café on Valentine's Day with the subtle decorations in every corner and hopefully a few couples around to ease into flirting with Yoongi while they eat and catch up - it's the perfect setup.
The rest of his plan involves some window shopping which will eventually lead to this very fancy chocolate shop Jungkook found specifically for the occasion, and buying Yoongi some Valentine's Day chocolate, which in Jungkook's eyes is the closest thing to a confession he can manage without actually grabbing Yoongi by the shoulders and yelling 'date me' in Yoongi's face like he actually wants to.
Going over his plan in his head one last time gives Jungkook the encouragement he needs to finally leave his appearance alone and just get the hell out of the house already. He picks up his phone and his wallet in both hands and shoves them into the pockets of his jacket.
When he's got all that he needs, he walks over to the entrance to start putting his chunky shoes on, facing his friends as he ties the laces. "So are you guys gonna hang out here all day long or?"
"Probably," Seokjin shrugs.
"Unless things escalate and you're bringing Yoongi hyung back for a bang and not a whimper," Namjoon adds, inviting himself to the pun parade at the very last minute. "In which case, just text and we'll be out in no time."
"As if," Jungkook mutters to himself. "Well, I'm out then. Wish me luck."
"Good luck!"
No luck.
It seems that luck isn't on Jungkook's side as he paces around in his tiny apartment three hours later.
His friends haven't left. They're doing pretty much the same stuff they were doing hours ago before Jungkook left, just in different positions. Namjoon sits on top of his single kitchen counter, hunching his back in order not to hit his head on the shelves above; Taehyung is in Namjoon's previous spot on the second-hand armchair; Seokjin is lounging on Jungkook's bed. They are, much to future Jungkook's chagrin, witnessing the emotional roller coaster that Jungkook's going through as a result of his unsuccessful date with Yoongi.
"And then- and then he- he just- UGH," Jungkook groans in frustration and grabs a fistful of his hair as he stops pacing for a minute.
He just stands there, in the middle of the room, thinking back at the blank, oblivious look on Yoongi's face, parted lips pink and shiny around the straw of his iced coffee. All good-natured and sweet as he went along with anything and everything that Jungkook did.
"And then he goes, 'is there something on my face Gguk-ah?'" Jungkook imitates the confused, lower tone Yoongi uses. "Like, no," he yells, turning around to look Taehyung, who is very unimpressed with Jungkook's meltdown, in the eyes before continuing: "I'm trying to kiss you!"
"You should've just kissed him," Taehyung rolls his eyes.
"He clearly doesn't want to be kissed," Jungkook yells in disbelief. "Especially not by me!"
"You didn't even ask him, though, how would you even know?" Taehyung half-yells back, looking equally as frustrated. Not with Yoongi, but with Jungkook's stubbornness.
"I gave him chocolate. On Valentine's Day."
"It's not the same thing!"
That makes Jungkook think back again on their time together, at the way Yoongi was giving him all this love and attention, yet not in the way that Jungkook wanted him to. The way he let Jungkook take and take and take from him, yet never asked for anything in return.
Taehyung isn't wrong, Jungkook didn't ask Yoongi outright if he wanted to kiss him. He didn't ask if Yoongi wanted to hold hands and date him and maybe stay in his life forever and ever. Even if he tried, he wouldn't know what words to put together to convey to Yoongi just what exactly he felt for him. Not when Yoongi was about to go meet his ex in a few hours. Not when Yoongi looked all tired, not having gotten enough sleep the previous night.
Words were too much and in his desperation, Jungkook just wanted to kiss Yoongi and deal with the rest later. When that didn't happen and Yoongi seemed oblivious to Jungkook's advances, Jungkook had to return home by himself in complete misery, as Yoongi made his way over to his old apartment.
"All of my plans are ruined," he whines. "What if he visited on Valentine's Day specifically because he wants to get back together with his ex?"
Jungkook is mortified thinking about what might be going on in that apartment with Yoongi and his ex in the place they called home.
"What if he calls me tonight just to say 'Oh, sorry Jungkook-ah, but I'm not staying over at yours after all. Me and Sungjin are back together, so don't wait up for me! See you later!"
"I really don't think that's what's happening here," Namjoon tells him, cautiously, as if approaching a feral animal.
"Oh, really? How do you know?" Jungkook brushes him off. "For all I know, they could be cuddling in bed post-makeup sex right now!"
"Hey, hey," Seokjin finally interferes. "Calm down for a second. Let's try to come up with another idea."
"Like what?" Jungkook asks, sinking down on his butt to the floor, miserable.
After some consideration, Seokjin suggests: "How about you make a short-lasting love potion?" He is nonchalant as if he is just suggesting to eat fried rice for dinner or something. When he feels three pairs of eyes on him and doesn't get any reply, he continues: "You know, just to find out if the feelings are mutual or not."
"Isn't that a bit extreme - even for me?" Jungkook asks, frowning, even though Seokjin's fresh idea sounds like a good one to him right off the bat if he lets himself be honest. He is desperate at this point, okay?
"Not really," Seokjin pouts, looking off to the side in thought, considering Jungkook's question. "Everyone does it nowadays," he answers finally.
It is true. Love potions have become quite the popular way to ease into relationships in the past couple of years after someone discovered a way to adjust the ancient formula just so that it doesn't last a decade long but only a couple of weeks instead.
“That’s... kinda not cool,” Namjoon looks from Seokjin to Jungkook with a grimace. "Right?" he asks, looking at Taehyung to back him up when neither Jungkook nor Seokjin look like they actually care about the ethical side of things.
Taehyung just shrugs, resting his chin against his palm, looking bored. "I’m pretty sure hyung is in love with you already, but go ahead, I guess," he says.
Which gives Jungkook the last push he needed.
The one Seokjin is referring to is far more innocent than the illegal, very complicated version that straight up makes people fall for you. The way the popular, legal one works is by making it a little difficult for the person affected to hide any existing feelings.
Is it the best way to pursue a relationship? No. Has society been so desensitized to its use that most people collectively stopped caring about it years ago? Yes. And to reiterate, Jungkook is desperate, so in his eyes, it looks like the best route to take to get some clarification on Yoongi's feelings for him in the limited time that he has.
"You're out-voted," he points at Namjoon. "We go with Seokjin hyung's plan. I mean, realistically speaking, what could go wrong?"
Namjoon looks horrified for a second. "Listen," he starts in a hurry. "Potions - those things are dangerous," he tells him seriously. Once in middle school, I-"
"Nope!" Jungkook covers his ears with both hands and closes his eyes. "Don't wanna know. It can't be good."
"Yeah," Seokjin shudders. "No offense, Namjoon-ah, but I've seen you cook and I certainly don't want to imagine how your potions turn out."
"Hey," Taehyung interrupts with almost an angry bark. "Don't be mean, Namjoon hyung's trying his best."
"The point is," Namjoon emphasizes, sighing, looking frustrated. "That it's not pretty in the slightest when potions go wrong!"
"It won't!" Jungkook says. "I had good grades in high school potion-making," he tries to reassure Namjoon, as well as himself, not sounding the least bit confident. "I'll do just fine."
Spoilers: Jungkook doesn't do fine.
After getting a text from Yoongi letting Jungkook know that he will be out having dinner with old colleagues for the evening, the others say goodbye to their hopes of seeing Yoongi before their scheduled meet-up tomorrow and leave.
Jungkook spends the rest of the day doing research about love potions, about how exactly they work, how they're made, about which ingredients and tools he needs.
This is what he finds out: 1) they only work if the subject already has feelings for you, but Jungkook already knows that, it is kind of the whole point. And 2) you must be the first person that your subject sees after consumption.
He skips the parts that talk about the moral consequences of using a love potion, and the physical consequences of consuming a faulty love potion and makes up his mind.
After hours of staring at his Rubik's reading cube and researching, he goes out on a quick run to the nearest apothecary to pick up the ingredients and comes back. He is determined to get this done before Yoongi comes back so that he can slip it into Yoongi's breakfast the next morning when no one else is around.
It's a considerably quick recipe, doesn't require more skills than your average person needs - no wonder it's gotten so popular - and Jungkook would very much consider himself an average person with the required set of very average skills, so he gets to work.
Things go smoothly on the potion-making part until he hears his doorbell ring, after which everything starts to crumble.
Jungkook, frozen in place mid-stir, briefly considers pretending to not be home and then decides that standing Yoongi up is a very bad idea considering Yoongi is probably the most important guest he has ever had and will ever have, not to mention Jungkook is in the middle of trying to make him his boyfriend.
What he ends up doing is quickly throw everything on his countertop including the leftover ingredients and some of his kitchen and potion-making tools into the trashcan and buzz Yoongi in. His plan is to pour the potion into a bottle or something as Yoongi climbs the stairs, which he can seal with magic afterward and pass off to Yoongi as a strength potion if asked.
What ends up happening is that Yoongi climbs the stairs before he can seal it and Jungkook has to run back to his kitchen counter as soon as he opens the door for him. And in his absolutely panicked state, Jungkook accidentally casts the wrong spell.
And the thing blows up right in Jungkook's face.
When he turns around with pain and horror, Yoongi is right there behind him, wearing a look of concern as their eyes meet. His cheeks are flushed pink and his lips are chapped from the cold. His hair is windswept and he has got a fluffy scarf wrapped around his neck, chin buried behind it. His face looks like a dumpling that Jungkook wants to eat right up.
Oh, Jungkook hears his inner voice go.
Oh fuck.