Work Text:
“Do you read fanfiction?”
The unexpected question caught him unprepared and Beomgyu immediately glanced up in confusion.
“Fanfiction?” He says in puzzlement, furrowing his brows.
The older man sitting in front of him remains unfazed by the unusual question that had slipped out between the gaps of his lips. He leans in towards Beomgyu expectantly, awaiting his answer, and swiftly glances around as if he was on the verge of revealing a super top-secret to the younger boy.
He emits a giggle, “Yeah, fanfiction. Fiction written by fans,” Jungkook states as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, Beomgyu assumes, to some extent is true, considering how the name given to the term is an exact description of what it generally means.
“I know that, Jungkookie hyung,” Beomgyu says as he takes a small sip of his Iced Americano. He allows his eyes to flicker towards the baristas dashing around the Hybe café and exhales a sigh of relief when he notices how engaged they were in their respective tasks. None of them were paying any attention to the odd conversation the two idols were exchanging. Good good, he doesn’t need his manager calling him up at 8 am in the morning asking him why he was discussing fanfiction of all things with his Jungkook sunbaenim.
“It's just amusing to me that you would even consider something like that, hyung. What makes you think I would enjoy reading ship fics written about me?” He twists his expression into one of exaggerated disgust.
Jungkook releases a soft chuckle, “Oh Beomgyu-ah, the secret here is to not take them too seriously.” Beomgyu watches with a newfound curiosity as Jungkook fishes out his phone. His fingers swiftly type in the passcode before turning the screen in Beomgyu’s direction.
“Is that a fic?” Beomgyu wonders aloud as his eyes rapidly scan through the page.
“Yep.” Jungkook giggles in excitement as he whispers out, “It’s a Namjin fic.” He reminds Beomgyu of an excited middle school girl whispering out their crush’s name to their best friend.
Beomgyu’s mouth drops open and he is immediately thankful for the closed windows. The flies would have loved venturing inside his opened mouth.
Beomgyu taps Jungkook softly on the arm. “Jungkookie hyung,” he scolds, trying to hold back laughter of his own. “Why are you even reading Namjin fics? Joonie hyung and Jin hyung would have a coughing fit if they ever found out.”
“It’s just for entertainment purposes,” Jungkook defends as he scrolls back out into the Namjin relationship tag before saving a second fic that appears to catch his interest. “Besides, I tend to stay on the…'' he pauses in thought, “The non explicit side of things. Oh my god, Beomgyu-ah, imagine reading something like that and then having to look both Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung in the eyes the very same day without wanting to puke my insides out,” He says as he makes a gagging face for emphasis.
He peers into Beomgyu’s eyes, a curious expression adorning his features. “Don’t you ever want to see what your fans are getting up to, Beomgyu?”
It would be a lie to say that the interest hadn’t ever conjured up inside of him, but before the events of this very… let’s just say - unusual conversation - he had always chosen to tame it down instead. But now, with Jungkook opening the door for him without a hitch, the newly gained opportunity appeases itself to be quite tempting, even if he didn’t say so himself.
Besides, like his Jungkook hyung said; It’s just for fun. A desire fuelled by a burning curiosity. Their schedule had also relatively eased up in the past few days, with the members gaining a well deserved break following the aftermath of the release of their latest album. Yeonjun would probably savour that break and indulge himself in frequent online shopping sprees. The older man had been embracing his love for fashion by exploring various styles and designs. Almost everyday, Beomgyu would walk out of their dorm to a package lying outside by their front door, a newly purchased item of clothing, left outside by one of their staff members as it awaited collection by Yeonjun.
Soobin would be occupied in teaching Odi new tricks and acrobatics or whatever it is that Soobin was teaching that little rascal these days. Beomgyu never goes to find out, unless he was willing to allow Soobin to push a slimy mealworm into the palm of his hand and hold it out for Odi as a form of positive reinforcement on the other side of the mini obstacle course he had constructed for the hedgehog.
Huening Kai was spending the majority of his free time texting his newly debuted sister with words of encouragement and praises. And Taehyun was taking multiple trips to the gym.
So honestly, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do by himself. Which was actually a big fat lie. Accompanying Taehyun to the gym was always an available option. But Beomgyu rolled off their sofa onto the tiled ground and went out of his way to slither behind the sofa whenever he saw Taehyun approaching him with his gym bag hanging off his shoulder. His eyes would flicker around their living room, searching for Beomgyu before shrugging and skipping away to the gym, happy as a clam. So while going to the gym with the younger boy was always an available option, it was not a desired option.
He would much rather read fanfiction than ever engage in a hefty work out session with Taehyun for over an hour straight.
“Fine,” Beomgyu huffs. “I’ll give it a try today.”
Jungkook grinned in satisfaction as he took a sip of his own cool beverage. “You’re more than welcome to scroll away if anything you read makes you feel uncomfortable,” Jungkook assures him. “But I suggest you don’t read about a pairing that includes yourself. ”
The beeping sound of a notification causes Beomgyu to glance down at his phone, and panic engulfs him when he remembers the promise he made to Soobin the previous day to assist him in baking a cake for their Bang Si Hyuk’s upcoming birthday. It was quite frank that neither of them knew how to bake, yet Soobin had exclaimed that it was the thought that would ultimately count. Still, he hoped Taehyun or somebody else would have a fire extinguisher on standby.
Then there was also the promise he made to Yeonjun about helping him select a skirt online for a potential selca he could share with their fans. Beomgyu was undoubtedly certain that Yeonjun had a far greater share of experience in areas that involved fashion or design, yet he had asked Beomgyu for his opinion and Beomgyu was determined not to let him down, although he was sure that even the ugliest skirt he may select wouldn’t falter Yeonjun’s beauty.
📓
And that’s how Beomgyu finds himself cocooned under the warmth of his cotton blanket, scrolling through the Tomorrow x Together tag a little after midday. He didn't select any particular relationship tag, wanting to gain a scope of the entire page first. Eventually, his wavering finger presses down on a Yeonbin vampire au, because well- who doesn’t love a good vampire au?
But perhaps his Jungkook hyung should have also warned him against reading a fic that included your crush as the main love interest, because as Beomgyu found out the rather difficult way, even something as mere as reading a piece of writing of your crush courting another man (even if that other man happened to be a hundred year old blood sucking vampire), is able to easily rip a hole in your heart.
What did a hundred year old vampire Choi Soobin have that he didn’t, huh?
But his Jungkook hyung was right. Apart from that it was strangely entertaining and an efficient time consumer.
“Beomgyu hyung? There you are.” Beomgyu almost leaps out of his bed as Kang Taehyun’s disappointed face appears in his bedroom doorway. The younger boy had beads of sweat trickling down his neck and his damp hair was glued to his forehead.
“Oh Taehyun-ah, how was your workout?”
Taehyun huffs as he walks closer to Beomgyu before settling himself on the bed a few centimeters away from him. Beomgyu quickly shoves his phone containing the half-read Yeonbin fic under the blanket.
“You would have known if you came with me, hyung.” Taehyun replies glumly. “I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me this morning but you were nowhere to be found.”
“Ahh Taehyun,” Beomgyu says apologetically as he pats Taehyun on the head a few times. “I went out for breakfast with Jungkook hyung.”
“What?” Taehyun gasps, his disappointment towards his hyung quickly draining away. “You were with Jungkookie hyung?”
Beomgyu smirked at seeing the evident curiosity glistening in the younger boy’s eyes. He knew, more than anyone, how much Taehyun adored and looked up to their sunbaenim. In some ways, he could see a clear parallel between the way Taehyun idolised Jungkook and the way he idolised Yeonjun, except the very obvious difference- Taehyun wasn’t secretly pining over Jungkook the way he was over Yeonjun.
“Yep,” he answered, a smug smile blossoming across his face. “But don’t worry Taehyun-ah, Jungkook hyung told me he was planning to make a trip to the Hybe gym tomorrow. Who knows?” He shrugs, “You may run into each other.”
“I hope so,” Taehyun sighs, “I miss working out with Jungkookie hyung. But he’s been so busy these days with the sunbaenim’s latest comeback that I don’t have the heart to ask him if he wants to join me for a work out session.”
Taehyun cuddles up next to Beomgyu on the bed a short while later after excusing himself to take a quick shower, and both boys lie enveloped in the cool breeze emerging from Beomgyu’s open window as they indulge themselves in scrolling through their phones. Having lost the patience to finish the 51k slow burn Yeonbin vampire au he had previously started, Beomgyu decides to scout through the Beomjun tag instead, against Jungkook’s prior warning. Reading a fic that included himself was fine, Beomgyu decides, as long as he didn’t take it to heart.
“Hey, hyung?”
“Hmm, yes Taehyun-ah?”
“Do you smell something… burning?” Taehyun asks as he scrunches his nose.
…
“FUCK! Bang PD-nim’s cake is still in the oven! Taehyun-ah quick! Grab the fire extinguisher!”
📓
“So which skirt do you think will suit me better?” Yeonjun asks as he squints at the two skirts displayed on his phone screen. “I think the black skirt would compliment my hair better but I love the faded blue in the other one.”
“Hyung,” Beomgyu declares confidentiality. “You could be dressed in a potato sack but will still manage to look like a three course meal.”
Yeonjun visibly cringes as he delivers a light punch to the side of Beomgyu’s arm, “I appreciate the ego boost cutie, but that was kind of cringe.”
“And calling me cutie isn’t?”
Yeonjun shrugs as he continues his task of analysing the skirts, dipping his face closer to the screen of his phone. “Your ears are red so I think it had at least some impact.”
Beomgyu huffs and shuffles closer to Yeonjun on the couch and peers over his broad shoulder to look at his phone. “Stop teasing me, hyung.”
That’s what this’ll ever be between them. As far as Beomgyu was certain, their whole relationship consisted of them either bickering and attempting to get a rise out of the other, or lighthearted teasing remarks that conveyed no actual depth or meaning. At least from Yeonjun’s side.
Yeonjun loved him and doted over him like a brother would. Beomgyu initially thought that he did too- that their relationship was nothing short of platonic feelings of adoration and affection. But somewhere along the way, the line between platonic and romantic had significantly blurred and Beomgyu had unknowingly crossed over it. He wasn’t even aware of his romantic feelings towards Yeonjun until recently. It hadn’t hit him like a train raging towards him at full speed or like being pushed into an ocean of icy, cold water and immediately being drenched with the realization.
Oh, not at all. It had been rather slow and subtle, rooting at his heart and then gradually spreading and vining towards every muscle and fibre of his body until Beomgyu couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t in love with Choi Yeonjun.
Choi Yeonjun. The boy who stayed behind after practises to accompany and assist Beomgyu when he was struggling to grasp a certain section of their intense choreography. The same boy who Beomgyu ran towards for comfort and reassurance when he was facing a particularly tough day.
He always noticed the fragments of sadness pooling in the depths of Beomgyu’s dark eyes, even when Beomgyu faced the world with a smile he believed was convincing enough to mask his sadness. Choi Yeonjun noticed everything, apart from the way Beomgyu gazed at him like he was the reason the stars illuminated the sky every night. Or perhaps he did but brushed it aside as being mere idolisation, so Beomgyu never told him that the mere idolisation and admiration now held traces chunks of romantic affection. It wasn’t worth the potential dent in their friendship.
“Personally, I really like the black skirt and I think our MOA would too,” Beomgyu tells him.
Yeonjun's wavering finger instantly clicks on the buy option and Beomgyu immediately hurries to explain. “But hyung, that’s what I think. You can choose whichever one you like better.”
Yeonjun turns to look at him, a fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He places a warm hand on Beomgyu’s thigh, causing Beomgyu to startle and briefly glance down before focusing his attention back on Yeonjun’s face. “I trust your judgement, Beomgyu-ah. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked for your opinion, now would I? I like the black skirt too.”
And so he buys the black skirt and posts a selca on Twitter.
(And if Beomgyu was the first one to like it from his secret stan account with a Kim Taehyung Dynamite era display picture- well no one else had to know).
📓
Beomgyu finally finds the time to return to his newfound hobby of scouting through Tomorrow x Together fanfiction after aiding Taehyun in cooking dinner. The youngest boy had recently found a newfound love towards the activity and had spent any time they had off experimenting with new recipes. Today Taehyun had decided to try making jajangmyeon and they had settled on ice cream for dessert. Beomgyu wasn’t going to lie, despite only having developed a passion for the hobby recently, Taehyun was already a marvellous cook. But when Taehyun had asked him how he had found dinner, Beomgyu had smirked and said the food only turned out the way it did because he had assisted him in making it. Which was a blatant lie. He was aware he couldn’t cook even if his life was on the line. Take Bang Si Hyuk’s cake for example, which was now lying in a sad, crumpled heap in the bottom of their bin.
His eyes flicker over the assortment of stories accompanying the space under the Beomjun tag. In his defence it had been a pretty eventful day, but at that moment he was bored and had nothing better to do. His roaming vision lands on a fic that was only uploaded recently, that very same day he concluded after checking the date of release. And canon compliant too. “This should be interesting,” he chuckles as he opens the fic.
He wasn’t expecting the fic to be an accurate description of their lives before he began reading it. It was very amusing to him how fans were able to build up a whole story revolving around their escapades inside their dorms, a place they had no access to and knew nothing about. But the unexpected accuracy of the fic caught him off guard. And when Beomgyu says accurate, he doesn’t mean a slight accuration where the fans were able to describe their relationships inside their dorms based on the interactions they displayed on camera. Oh not at all. It was accurate accurate.
The fic began with Beomgyu helping Soobin bake a birthday cake and Beomgyu would have willingly brushed it off as being a coincidence if the cake they had been making in the fic wasn’t also for Bang Si Hyuk! Not to mention the Beomgyu and Soobin in the fic couldn’t bake either and the poor cake ended up burnt to an ugly brown crisp. Still, Beomgyu was open to depicting it as being a mere coincidence for the sake of his own sanity, if not for the next scene which followed shortly afterwards. He helped Yeonjun pick out a skirt. But unlike the events that had occurred in real life, after the Beomgyu in the fic selected the black skirt, Yeonjun called his choice of taste poor and bought the blue skirt instead. Like what’s up with that? Beomgyu would like to have the author known, Yeonjun appreciates his taste, thank you very much.
“Stupid author,” Beomgyu grumbles (not too meanly- don’t worry), before a sudden realisation strikes him. The cake scene. The skirt scene. The fic even had him assist Taehyun in cooking jajangmyeon for dinner. The number of coincidences that could occur in one setting had a limit and Beomgyu could wholeheartedly declare that this fic had way too many coincidences to be called coincidental.
There was no way a fan would have been able to precisely describe the events that had occurred that day, unless they had secret cameras nestled around the dorm that Beomgyu was not aware of. He lets his eyes wander around the perimeter of the inside of his room.
No cameras. That could only mean one thing.
“WHO WRITES FANFICTION IN THIS DORM?!”
📓
Beomgyu barges into Soobin’s room where he finds the older boy snuggled up under a blanket with Taehyun on one side and Huening Kai squished next to him on the other.
“Rude,” Soobin mutters, “Ever heard of knocking, Gyu?”
Beomgyu pays him no attention. He marches up next to the edge of Soobin’s bed and holds his phone out towards them. Taehyun tears his eyes away from the laptop lying on Soobin’s lap, which was playing some kind of drama (Beomgyu assumes).
“Yes?” Taehyun questions nonchalantly as he raises a brow at Beomgyu. “Can we help you?”
“Yes you can,” Beomgyu deadpans as he pushes the phone closer to Taehyun’s face. “Want to tell me who wrote this?”
Taehyun clicks his tongue in annoyance before pausing the drama. The other two boys shoot Taehyun a dirty glance before glowering at Beomgyu. “AHH! And we were up to the good part too,” Soobin cried dramatically.
“Is that a fanfiction?” Taehyun asks in puzzlement. “A Beomjun fanfiction?”
That catches their attention. Huening Kai immediately wriggles away from Soobin’s arms, causing the oldest boy to whine and attempt to pull him back, but Kai was far more fascinated on seeing the page of writing adorning Beomgyu’s phone screen.
“Ooo,” Kai starts. “Well if you can’t ask your crush out in real life, then you might as well read fics about it, am I right Beomgyu hyung?” It earns him a smack in the arm from Beomgyu and Kai bursts out into a fit of giggles.
“Yah, be quiet you brat. It was Jungkook hyung’s idea. Plus I didn’t come here to be disrespected like this.”
“Then why did you come here, Beomie?” Soobin pouts. He must still be sour over the fact that Beomgyu had disturbed their drama along with his cuddling session with Kai. Beomgyu feels a satisfied smile forming across his face. Good. It’s what Soobin gets for almost burning their dorm down. Well, he was equally responsible for it but that’s beneath the point.
“Who wrote this Yeongyu fic?”
“Beomjun,” Kai interjects.
“Fine, Beomjun, ” Beomgyu throws him a look, “Who wrote this Beomjun fic?”
“The better question is, hyung. Why were you reading a Beomjun fic?” Taehyun asks, raising a brow at Beomgyu.
Beomgyu splutters, “Stop dodging the question. Now who writes Beomjun fics?”
Soobin sighs as he moves the laptop aside. He wraps an arm around Beomgyu’s waist, dragging the younger boy to join their cuddle pile. Beomgyu whines but allows himself to be engulfed in between Soobin and Huening Kai.
“A lot of people write Beomjun fics, Beomgyu hyung,” Kai tells him as he places his chin on Beomgyu’s shoulder.
“I know that,” Beomgyu explains, “But who in this dorm writes Beomjun fics?!”
The silence that stretches around them is long and daunting, and Beomgyu starts to doubt his decision to confront his friends like this, especially when he had no actual proof that they were involved in such a scheme in the first place.
Thinking back on it, it was silly, really. Why would his bandmates write a ship fic that involved two of their other bandmates?
Taehyun was the first one to shatter the silence. A small smile begins to form across his lips before he bursts into a hysterical fit of laughter right there on the bed. “Fuck, hyung. You’re so funny,” He chortles. “Why would we ever write a ship fic about two of our friends?”
“That’s what the little voice in my brain said!” Beomgyu whines as he places a firm hand over Taehyun’s mouth in an attempt to muffle his laughter. He didn’t need Yeonjun hearing the commotion and peeking his head into Soobin’s room to investigate. “But, Taehyunie. There were so many accurate descriptions of things that I did today!”
It just didn’t make sense to him.
Soobin hums in thought before reaching for Beomgyu’s phone, “Show me this fic, Gyu. Let Hyung figure out what’s going on.”
Beomgyu contemplates his decision before handing his phone over to Soobin. The older boy was already aware that he was reading a Beomjun fic, it’s not like he had anything left to hide (well apart from that Yeonbin vampire au. But Beomgyu makes sure to close that tab before giving his phone to Soobin).
Soobin scans the fic for a few minutes before his eyebrows shoot up in bewilderment, “Wait, this is actually pretty accurate. Are you guys sure none of you wrote this?”
“That’s what I said!” Beomgyu pouts as he glares at Soobin, “Hyung, did you write it?”
“What?!” Soobin splutters, taken aback by Beomgyu’s sudden accusation. “Gyu, why would I write you pining over Yeonjun hyung for 20k words. If I had written this, I'd have your dumbasses confess to each other in the first paragraph itself! Do you know how utterly painful it is watching you pining for him in real life?”
“I don’t appreciate being exposed like this.”
“Wait…” Huening Kai starts and all three boy’s whip their heads around to face the younger boy in curiosity. “What if it was Yeonjun hyung who wrote it?”
“Why would Yeonjun hyung write a fic about himself ultimately dating Beomgyu hyung?” Taehyun asks quizzically. “If I wrote a fic about myself, I would make my love interest be one of the Twice members or somebody else. It baffles me, why would anyone pick Beomgyu hyung?”
Beomgyu bellows out a battle cry as he leans his torso over Soobin and tackles Taehyun, all three boys almost toppling off the edge of the bed in the process. “Take that back, Hyun! Anyone would be happy to date me! Even if it’s just in a fic! You know what?” Beomgyu decides as he releases his iron grip from around Taehyun before Taehyun could obtain the opportunity to gain the upper hand. “I’m gonna go ask Jimin hyung to help me figure this out.”
And without another word, Beomgyu wriggles out of Soobin and Huening Kai’s grasp and skips away to go visit his sunbaenims.
“I thought he said it was all Jungkookie hyung’s idea.”
Huening Kai shrugs at Taehyun as he steadies the laptop on his lap. “Do you guys want to continue watching our drama then?”
Soobin pauses in thought for a few seconds before pulling out his phone, “I kind of want to check out fanfiction now.”
📓
“Where are you going?”
Beomgyu was slipping on his favorite pair of black Dr Martens when Yeonjun’s voice resonated across the living room.
“Oh hyung, I didn’t see you there,” He chuckles as he submerges the top of his head in a white cap. “I’m gonna go visit Jimin hyung but I’ll be back later, okay?”
Yeonjun doesn’t look convinced. He shuffles up next to Beomgyu before removing the wooly scarf from Beomgyu’s firm grip and gently wraps it around the younger boy’s neck. “Gyu, it’s already 8 pm. Let Hyung come with you then. Just to make sure you get home safely.”
If this had been any other day, Beomgyu would have felt euphoric at the knowledge of Yeonjun wanting to go with him, just to keep him safe. But this was not any other day. His phone weighed heavily in the left pocket of his sweatpants and a surge of guilt rushed through him. In Beomgyu’s defence, the situation was not as easy as it appeared to be, okay? How was he supposed to tell his friend slash bandmate that he didn’t want him to accompany him because the sole reason for the purpose of his trip was to ask his sunbaenim if he can assist him in figuring out who wrote a fic that romantically involved said friend slash bandmate and himself?
Beomgyu finally decided to settle on, “But hyung, it might be kind of late when I leave the sunbaenim’s dorm. What if you feel like going to bed early or something?”
Yeonjun chuckles lightly as he pulls on his own boots. “Bold of you to assume I’ll be able to fall asleep knowing you aren’t home yet.”
Beomgyu attempts to extinguish the fire burning in his heart as he croaks out, “Okay then, hyung. If you're sure.”
“I am.”
He’ll just have to take extreme precautions into making sure Yeonjun doesn’t overhear their conversation.
📓
“So you want to know who in your dorm wrote this Beomjun fic?” Jimin asks as he scans the page on Beomgyu’s phone. “Oh Beomgyu, are you sure it wasn’t you?”
Beomgyu startles as the unexpected question envelopes him. He nearly chokes on the water he was sipping and shoots his head up to stare at his Jimin hyung in confusion. “Hyunnggg. Why would I do that?”
“Well if you can’t confess to your crush in real life then you might as well write fics about it,” Jimin shrugs nonchalantly, though the smug smile plastered across his face doesn’t go unnoticed by Beomgyu.
“I- Why does everyone keep saying th- Who told you about my crush, hyung?”
Jimin shrugs again as he sneaks a glance at Yeonjun who was in the middle of aiding Taehyung learn the tactics and skills required for winning a game of pool.
“I want to learn how to beat Jimin without cheating,” Taehyung had whispered to Yeonjun after Yeonjun had found him hunched over the pool table, determination evident on his features.
(“Taehyung, you can’t beat me even when you do cheat).”
And look, if you asked Beomgyu, it was a win-win situation for everyone. Taehyung learns something new and Yeonjun being occupied in helping that happen means he won’t overhear snippets of Jimin’s and Beomgyu’s conversation.
“It might have been a little birdie who told me,” Jimin says. “Well it was more specifically a little penguin but you get what I mean, Beomgyu.”
“I see,” Beomgyu says, a sincere and innocent smile dawning across his face. He makes a mental note to hide Kai’s molang plushies as soon as he gets home.
“Anyway,” Jimin says, diverting Beomgyu’s attention back to him. “Have you checked out the author’s name? Maybe that’ll give you a clue.”
“Oh,” Beomgyu emits a gasp in realization as he quickly scrolls back up the page to inspect the name. “Jungkook1000?”
“Who’s Jungkook1000?”
Beomgyu lets out a strangled cry as Yeonjun’s face appears beside him. The older boy appeared to have concluded his task of assisting his Taehyung hyung and was now leaning over Beomgyu’s shoulder as he attempted to figure out just what his dongsaeng was up to. In the blink of an eye, Yeonjun snatched the phone from Beomgyu’s grasp and Beomgyu, much to his own shock and confusion, shot up from his position on the sofa and leapt onto Yeonjun.
“Hyung! Give that back!”
His legs automatically wrap themselves around Yeonjun’s waist as he places a hand on the older boy’s shoulder to steady himself. His free hand soars up to grasp at the phone in Yeonjun’s clutches, but despite being cocooned up by Beomgyu, Yeonjun manages to effectively hold the phone as far away from the younger boy as possible.
“What’s up, hmm? You’ve been really secretive today. Don’t think I didn’t miss the way you and Jimin hyung were looking at me while you two were whispering between each other,” Yeonjun says as he strains his neck away from Beomgyu as he lets his eyes briskly flicker over the screen. “Beomgyu, is this a fanfiction? A me x you fanfiction?”
“AHHH! Give that back, Yeonjun hyung! Stop looking at it!”
“Who’s Jungkook1000?”
“THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!” A pause, and then, “Are you Jungkook1000, Yeonjun hyung?”
“Beoms, what the fuck! Of course not,” Yeonjun gasps as he suddenly turns his head to stare Beomgyu in the eyes. “Why would I write a ship fic about us?”
The first thing Beomgyu notices glistening in the older boy’s dark eyes was the sincere confusion, speckled with hints of astonishment and shock. He immediately concludes that Yeonjun was not responsible for conjuring up and posting the fic. Much to Beomgyu’s own shock, his right foot decides that this was the perfect moment for it to release the hold it had on Beomgyu’s left foot. He releases a startled cry as both his legs which he had wrapped around Yeonjun’s waist loosens and he almost plummets the few feet left below him to the ground- He would have, if it wasn’t for the arm which immediately wraps around his waist, steadying him and holding him upright in his original position.
“Why were you reading a Beomjun fic?” Yeonjun asks, his brows etched together in confusion. However, Beomgyu could also see shards of amusement glinting in the older boy’s eyes. Their eyes were now level with each other’s and the grip he had around Beomgyu’s waist tightens. Beomgyu decides it would have been better if Yeonjun had let him fall instead.
“Because Jungkook hyung told me to.”
“I did not,” A familiar voice resonated across the room. “I did tell Gyu to check out fanfiction but I do remember clarifying that it may be best if he leaves out ship fics that included himself.”
Beomgyu throws him a look as if to say, traitor , but all he receives in return is a smile far too smug for his liking.
“I see,” Yeonjun says, his warm breath tickling the side of Beomgyu’s neck due to their proximity and he turns his head to stare Yeonjun in the eyes once more.
“As much as I would love to help you, Beomgyu,” Jimin’s voice envelopes Beomgyu, dragging him back to reality. “I would appreciate it if you guys would break it up a little. You’re starting to make me feel single.”
Beomgyu utters a gasp as he untangles himself from Yeonjun and clambers back onto the ground. Yeonjun releases him with a soft chuckle.
“Wait…” Taehyung says, realisation dawning across his face. “So you read fanfiction, Jungkook?”
“Don’t act like you guys don’t!” Jungkook says defensively as he shuffles up next to them. “I saw Jimin hyung reading a Namjin au the other day.”
It earns him a nervous chuckle from Jimin in response. “What? I was bored…”
Beomgyu suddenly grasps Yeonjun’s shoulder, causing the older boy to wince and attempt to ungrip the firm clasp he had on him. “It all makes sense,” Beomgyu declares, causing the other four people in the room to bestow him with questioning glances. “Jungkook hyung was the one who told me to check out Tomorrow x Together fics this morning. And what if all this was just a prank on me?” Beomgyu turns to Jungkook with anticipation. “What if Hyung told me to not to check out the Beomjun tag, since you guys all obviously seem to know about my big fat crush on Yeonjun hyung, knowi-”
“Wait, hold on. WHAT?”
“Shhh, Yeonjun hyung. Now’s not the time. Knowing very well that I was going to check out the Beomjun tag. And then you went home and wrote a 20k word canon compliant Beomjun fic with your secret Jungkook1000 account. It would make sense, Jungkookie hyung. I told you I had plans to bake a cake with Soobin hyung today, and I also told you about Yeonjun hyung asking me to help him pick out a skirt so you knew about all that.”
“No, no, Beomgyu,” Jimin exclaims softly. “That wouldn’t make sense, unless you also told Jungkookie exactly what you and Taehyun-ah were planning to make for dinner. But you told me Taehyun decided he wanted to make jajangmyeon after he asked you to assist him in the kitchen.”
“Yeah, Beomgyu. And why would I name myself Jungkook1000, that’s a little too obvious don’t you think?” Jungkook asks.
“Can we talk about how Beomgyu just said he has a crush on me?!”
“Not now, Yeonjun.” Taehyung hushes him gently before turning to face Jungkook with a questioning glare. “Sometimes it’s the things we least expect, Jungkookie. Like how I would have never taken you for the fanfiction reading type.”
“Oh don’t act like you weren’t reading a Namjin fic yourself the other day,” Jungkook scoffs. “You forgot to close the tab before letting me borrow your phone, Taehyung hyung.”
“Shit.”
“CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW BEOMGYU HAS A CRUSH ON ME?!”
“Damn you sound like a broken record. Patience Yeonjun hyung, we can talk about my crush on you later. We’re a little busy here.”
“So unless Taehyun texted me and told me what you guys cooked for dinner, which he didn’t, there was no way I could have even thought about writing that fic, Beomgyu,” Jungkook explains.
Beomgyu slouched down on the sofa next to Jimin, disappointment seeping into his veins. “Oh, I’m so sorry for accusing you, hyung. I just thought I was onto something.”
Jungkook ruffles Beomgyu’s hair in response, a soft smile playing on his lips. “It’s okay, Beomgyu.”
“That would mean that the only person who accurately knew what happened inside our dorm today was Taehyun. The author's name would make sense too, he’s a big fan of you, Jungkookie hyung. But he seemed surprised when I even showed him the fic… unless… oh... TAEHYUN-AH!”
📓
Now that Beomgyu was taking the time to actually think about it (or as much time as he had to run from their Sunbaenim’s dorm to theirs with Yeonjun trailing behind him), he realises the answer was in fact quite evident. Taehyun’s constant dodging of the question paired up with the author’s name should have acted as a dead giveaway.
Beomgyu flings the front door open and marches into their air conditioned dorm, he finds Taehyun hunched over his laptop, his fingers happily typing away.
“Taehyun-ah?” He says, his voice toned with a warning.
“Yes, hyung?” Taehyun glances up at the boy towering over him. Beomgyu could see a slight smirk etched across his features in contrast to the fake innocence he was portraying.
“It was you, wasn’t it? The one who wrote that Yeongyu fic?”
“Beomjun.”
“Not the point, Taehyunie.”
Beomgyu was distinctly aware of Yeonjun standing behind him as he absorbed the unusual conversation happening before him.
“Ok, so maybe I did write that fic,” Taehyun admits, earning an, “Aha I knew it!” from Beomgyu. “But it was payback for you refusing to join me at the gym these past few weeks. Seriously Beomgyu hyung, did you really think I never noticed your feet sticking out from behind the sofa every morning when I came looking for you on my way to the gym? No offence, but this is why you suck at Hide and Seek.”
“But how did you know I would even see your fic?”
“I saw you checking out Tomorrow x Together fanfiction this morning when I came into your room. No offence, but you suck at hiding other things too, like your phone.”
And Beomgyu scoffed, because how dare Taehyun insult his hiding techniques like this.
“I knew you were going to check out the Beomjun tag sooner or later, maybe later after you were done with that Yeonbin vampire au you were trying to hide from me, but eith-”
“What does he mean you were reading a Yeonbin vampire au? AND YES, CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT BEOMGYU’S CRUSH ON ME FOR A MINUTE?!”
“Hush Yeonjun hyung, I’m revealing my villain origin story to Beomgyu hyung right now. Yes so anyway, Beomgyu hyung, I wrote and released a Beomjun fic today because I had a feeling you would see it. And right now, I’m just finishing up the epilogue.”
“Wait, an epilogue?” Beomgyu asks curiously as he shuffles up beside the younger boy, having finished his confrontation. He places his chin on Taehyun’s shoulder as he glances at the word document Taehyun had opened on his laptop. “Why does your Beomjun fic need an epilogue, Taehyunie?”
“The readers requested it. I don’t know if you read it to the end, but you guys don’t actually get a happy ending. It ends on a cliffhanger.”
“Oh.”
No. Beomgyu had not read it to the end. After realizing that the events displayed in the fic were far too accurate to be written by a fan, Beomgyu had been too occupied in figuring out which one of his friends had written it, that the thought of actually finishing the story hadn’t crossed his mind till now.
“Ok, then write me an epilogue, Tyun. I mean, for the readers that is.”
And well, if he considers the likely possibility that Yeonjun might not return his feelings then he might at least get his happy ending in Taehyun’s fanfiction, right?
“So how should I end your story, Beomgyu hyung?”
Beomgyu opens his mouth to answer but is cut short when Yeonjun grabs him by the arm and drags him away to Beomgyu’s room, his patience finally dissipating. And Beomgyu can’t complain, not when Yeonjun lowers his lips onto his and kisses Beomgyu with a sense of longing and passion. Quiet whispers of “I like you too” slips out between the crevices of Yeonjun’s lips. This, Beomgyu thinks. This was far better than any epilogue Taehyun could have ever written (Beomgyu was not discrediting Taehyun’s writing ability in any way. Oh no, not at all. He actually deemed the younger boy to be an excellent writer. But nothing would ever come close to matching the real thing).
📓
“So are you going to publish it, Jin hyung?” Namjoon asks as he takes in the alternative universe college/university, friends to enemies to friends to lovers, Vminkook fic Jin has finally finished typing up.
“Of course,” Jin says as his fingers swiftly typed out a title. “Pfft, they really thought we wouldn’t notice how all three of them have been reading Namjin fics these past few days.”
“But how are you so sure they’ll see our Vminkook fic?”
Jin lets out a soft chuckle as he ruffles Namjoon’s hair, “I may have “accidentally” added the Namjin tag along with the Vminkook tag, despite there being no Namjin in our fic. They’ll obviously check out the Namjin relationship tag again soon, and when they do, our Vminkook fic will be one of the first one’s to pop up.”
And when Jin clicked on the publish option, Namjoon didn't try to stop him. Because he too wanted to see Taehyung’s, Jimin’s and Jungkook’s reaction upon seeing their fic.