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Jungkook drives to the Red Oven alone. It’s a high-end Korean barbecue place that serves some of the best meat in Mapo-gu; a personal favourite that Jungkook indulges in too often. The staff greet him as such, more than familiar with him after years of takeouts and dine-ins with his friends and family.
He finds the table his fellow alumnus have booked with ease. It’s a little jarring to see all his high school classmates grown up into fully functioning adults—for the most part. Chanwook seems to be just as boisterous as he was back then.
Jungkook goes through greetings with the people seated closest to him and, surprisingly, a few reintroductions.
“I didn’t recognise you at all! Wow, you’ve changed,” seems to be the footnote of every iteration of the sentiment.
“He used to be a scrawny little thing!” someone at the far end of the table chimes in. “Couldn’t even run the width of the football field!”
“We used to rib you about it, old days huh?”
Ribbing is a gross understatement. Some of the people Jungkook is carefully sitting the furthest from had made his school life hell. Just because his life didn’t revolve around their common interests of people they wanted to fuck, sports, and more people they wanted to fuck, Jungkook spent a lot of time as the social outlier.
He’s comfortable and happy with himself now, which is what matters, but it’s hard to forget the years he lost to self-loathing when the people who planted the seeds of his doubts are seated across the table.
“Jungkook,” Won Seung says from beside him, offering him a glass of soju.
Jungkook takes it with a smile, grateful for an abrupt end to his spiralling thoughts. “Thank you.”
To his surprise, Seung turns red. “N-no problem.”
It’s a tad bizarre. Seung had been one of the most popular guys back then, breaking hearts left and right. Jungkook is sure high school Seung would never trip over his words, especially not in front of Jungkook.
But people change—Jungkook is the biggest example of that. From a scrawny, insecure boy emerged a strong, confident man. It took years of growth and a lot of self-reflection, but he’s proud to admit that he made it out the other end.
He can say that he has everything a man could want at the moment. Well, except…
“Where is he?” Daehyun asks sullenly. “Did he RSVP?”
A few people shake their heads in cluelessness.
It’s obvious that the whole table is ripe with anticipation.
Park Jimin.
Even Seung’s popularity pales in comparison to the grip Jimin had on the student population. The worst part is that he didn’t even know it, Jungkook thinks. He was simply a nice guy; quick-witted and very easy on the eyes.
Valentine’s gifts were banned because the sheer amount that fell out of Park Jimin’s locker one year blocked the corridor for a good five minutes. He’d been red-cheeked and apologetic, a little confused by the attention but kind to his admirers regardless.
Jungkook remembers his heart thumping erratically when Jimin had gently picked his poorly-wrapped gift up and placed it in the front pocket of his overflowing backpack.
“I’ve kept in touch with him actually,” Minho brags, breaking Jungkook out of his reverie.
“What?” come the inquisitive shouts of the others. “Really?”
“Well, yeah,” Minho says. “He has an instagram, have you guys seen it?”
There’s a collective groan.
“Really Minho? Instagram?”
“He rarely even uploads! There’s a grand total of one picture of his face on it. Come on.”
“Wait, I haven’t seen what he looks like now. Show me!”
“Morons,” Seung says under his breath.
Jungkook raises an eyebrow at him.
“Well, it’s a bit creepy isn’t it? Keeping tabs on him even now.” Seung shakes his head.
“No, really, I sent him a DM, see?” Minho is pointing at his phone screen.
“More like a hundred,” someone snarks. “He didn’t even read them, idiot.”
“Yeah, it’s getting weird,” Jungkook agrees.
Seung pours him more soju in response. Jungkook knocks his glass against Seung’s and gulps it down.
“What if he’s married now?” Daehyun says wistfully.
Jungkook chokes on his drink.
“Shut up Daehyun!” Chanwook shouts.
“You shut—“
“Hey, sorry I’m late.”
Jimin’s hair is tousled and he’s wearing tight trousers with a tucked-in shirt, looking for all intents and purposes like he has just gotten off work but still managing to be the most stunning person in the room. Jungkook is certain he hears someone audibly gasp.
“Jimin! Wow, it’s so nice to see you,” Daehyun says, and just like that the momentary silence is broken.
“You look fantastic,” Minho declares, “wow. It’s been too long.”
“Ah, you don’t have to stand,” Jimin says, throwing a helpless look over the shoulders suddenly crowding him in.
Jungkook catches it and gives him a small, reassuring smile.
Seung shifts next to him. “Jungkook.”
“Yes?” Jungkook asks.
“This might come off as a bit straightforward,” Seung says, “but do you… maybe want to get coffee after this?”
Jungkook opens his mouth to respond but most of his attention is still on Jimin. Jimin seems to be trying to refuse people’s offers to sit next to them for the evening. The ‘help me’ eyes are intensifying by the second.
“Just a minute Seung,” Jungkook excuses himself and stands up, walking around the table towards Jimin.
“This place has the best maekjeok,” Minho is saying, “I just remembered how much you liked it.”
“Yeah, it’s one of my favourites,” Jimin responds politely.
“Mine too,” Jungkook says, sliding into the crowd and placing an arm around Jimin’s slender shoulders. “Come, I saved you a seat.”
“Hey, it’s rude to grab someone like that out of nowhere—“ Chanwook starts to protest.
“Thanks Jungkookie,” Jimin says with a bright smile aimed right at him.
“Jungkookie?” someone whispers, shocked.
Jungkook tunes them out and turns to Jimin, focusing solely on him. “How was your flight?”
“Hectic.” Jimin sighs. “I missed you.”
Jungkook runs his fingers through Jimin’s hair, gently detangling a few strands. “Told you that you wouldn’t last a week without me.”
“Told you to come with me,” Jimin counters.
Jungkook pinches Jimin’s nose, eliciting a yelp from his fiancé. “If we both go, who would do the wedding preparations, hm? You’ve already been slacking off, don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“Jungkook,” Jimin whines, leaning his chin on Jungkook’s chest with a petulant pout, “you can’t lecture me yet, I just got back.”
“Okay, okay.” Jungkook finds himself smiling. He leans down plant a chaste kiss on Jimin’s waiting mouth. “Happy now?”
“I feel recharged, battery twenty to one hundred percent in a matter of seconds,” Jimin declares dramatically. “An incredible innovation, you should patent it.”
Jungkook rolls his eyes and pulls Jimin into a hug, only then realising that they have an audience. A gaping, stock-still audience.
He pokes Jimin’s side and whispers, “Uh Jimin, I think we broke them.”
Jimin breaks away from the hug and turns his charming smile onto the crowd. “Ah, let’s all sit and proceed with dinner. Sorry, we’re not usually this affectionate in public—“
Jungkook raises a disbelieving eyebrow.
“—ha ha, anyways!” Jimin clears his throat and elbows Jungkook into moving.
Jungkook mutters a quiet ‘oof’, then winds an arm around Jimin’s waist and gestures for everyone to take a seat as they walk to their own.
“I think you just crushed everyone’s dreams,” Jungkook teases Jimin quietly.
“What?” Jimin’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.
God, his soon-to-be husband is just as oblivious as he was eight years ago.
“Nothing. I just love you.” Jungkook kisses the top of Jimin’s head.
Jimin practically melts in his seat, a beautiful smile spreading across his face. “I love you too. Marry me.”
“Stop proposing to me every time I say that, need I remind you we’re already engaged?” Jungkook tries to sound exasperated but it comes out painfully fond.
“Let me have it,” Jimin whines, “I won’t be able to do that in a month.”
“So, you two?” Chanwook cuts in, loud and bold.
Jimin recovers from the interruption quicker than Jungkook. He raises his left hand to proudly flash the diamond ring Jungkook had put on his pretty little finger six months ago. “Yeah, can you believe my luck?”
“YOUR luck?” Minho blurts.
“Yeah,” Jimin continues on, clueless to his tone, “who gets to marry their high school crush, right? I certainly didn’t think I would!” He giggles, looking a little bashful as he covers his blushing face. “I used to send him love letters, hoping he’d notice me. It was really embarrassing.”
“It wasn’t, it was cute,” Jungkook automatically defends. “I still have them.”
“No you don’t!” Jimin says, horrified. “Jungkook, you told me you burned them!”
“Yeah, burned them into my heart,” Jungkook flirts shamelessly. Jimin turns redder and smacks Jungkook’s chest.
“You—it was you who—“ Jinsang stutters.
They’d teased Jungkook about it back then, Jungkook suddenly remembers, the anonymous letters they claimed he was writing to himself. How could he have forgotten?
Jimin is kind of melting their brains right now, but Jungkook is petty enough not to stop him when he says, “Yeah, well, he was just so—so wonderful, wasn’t he? I was too nervous to talk to him directly.”
“You were nervous to talk to Jungkook?” Minho sounds more disbelieving by the minute.
A frown replaces Jimin’s smile.
“Babe, it’s fine,” Jungkook whispers urgently.
“Do you have a problem with Jungkook?” Jimin asks coolly.
“We’re all just a little surprised,” Daehyun says placatingly.
“Yeah, you’re kind of an unlikely pair, aren’t you?” Minho adds with a nervous laugh. “I mean, you dated people like Taehyung back then.”
“Tae—Kim Taehyung?” Jimin asks, baffled.
Jungkook suppresses a laugh at his fiancé's expense.
“Jungkook, stop laughing!” Jimin catches him anyway. “I didn’t date Taehyung-hyung!”
“You didn’t?” Seung asks, surprised.
“Why would you think that I did?”
“He used to pick you up after school even after he graduated. You guys seemed pretty close…”
“Oh my god,” Jimin says, “no. I mean we were close but not in that way! He was my older brother’s boyfriend, they’re married now. Why—“
“To be fair, I thought you were dating too,” Jungkook supplies unhelpfully.
“No you didn’t, shut up. You and Yoongi-hyung are insufferable,” Jimin says. “Will you give it up anytime soon? It’s been years.”
“Jimin and Taehyung-hyung accidentally wore matching shirts to an amusement park once,” Jungkook tells everyone because he loves telling this story. “It was amazing. Yoongi-hyung and I kept untying their shoelaces. We would clap really loudly and scream ‘say yes!’ every time they would kneel down to retie them.”
Daehyun bursts into laughter. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
“No it’s not! We had to reject each other all day,” Jimin whines. “We were nearly crying by the end of it. Taehyung-hyung said no to Yoongi-hyung’s actual proposal because it was reflexive to him at that point.”
“Hey, at least it helped loosen up Yoongi-hyung’s nerves,” Jungkook points out.
“You’re lucky I said yes to you. All you do is annoy me.”
“You love me too much to leave, that’s on you.”
Jimin sticks his tongue out at Jungkook. Jungkook fakes grabbing it with his fingers and Jimin immediately retreats. “Gross,” he says, scrunching his nose.
“You guys are cute,” Daehyun comments.
“Thank you,” Jimin says, eyes sparkling with happiness. “Isn’t he great?”
“Jimin,” Jungkook whines in embarrassment. However, he’s giddy with joy on the inside. Jimin never fails to make him feel like the most special person in the room at any given time.
There’s some merit to what the others think, Jungkook really is the one who lucked out with Jimin.
“Hush Jungkook,” Jimin says. “I’m so lucky to have him,” he tells Daehyun.
Yeah, Jungkook thinks as Jimin silently fills his plate with the best cuts of the meat, he has all he’s ever wanted right here. Other people’s approval is the furthest thing from his mind.