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— Yoongi-yah, sit down.
Yoongi desperately wants to make a run for it, but he can't ignore his only hyung when he is serious like this. And he knows he's at fault here, so even less room to make a case for himself.
— Hyung…
— Unless you're about to explain yourself, I suggest you shut your mouth.
The silence that follows Seokjin's words make him even angrier.
— Yoongi-yah, what's wrong? Why do you want to ruin our shot here?
— It's unfair! We're not even a couple; we're being greedy, hyung. We already got a free trip out of this, we don't need to win every single contest!
It was funny back home, when they pretended to get engaged to get some free complimentary dessert from the restaurant (Seokjin's idea).
It was even funnier when the restaurant gave them an all expenses paid trip to a resort that had just opened up and was having a show filmed there, some marketing thing, of all the ways you and your partner could enjoy it there, along with a contest for the "best couples" to win prizes.
It was even funny when Seokjin went all "of course they'd call us" and Yoongi made the mistake of asking why. "Because we're gorgeous, Yoongi-yah!".
It was a little less funny when they arrived and a lady straight up asked them to kiss on camera right there on the entrance, because the lighting was just right.
Seokjin, never one to back down, smooched Yoongi's lips and then smiled so bright that Yoongi's world spinned for a second there.
Then, they were immediately rushed to a game where they had to serve themselves dinner while wearing an oversized T-shirt. One. The same. At the same time. It was more skinship than they shared in the many years they've been friends, even with how touchy Seokjin has decided to be with Yoongi.
So, after they won that, they were told the next couple of contests and their times, so they could either participate or enjoy the resort's facilities. Seokjin was already signing them up to everything when Yoongi began itching to confess they weren't a real couple, and Seokjin sensed it, because of course he did, and just took over and got themselves into their room.
— Look at this place, Yoongi-yah. If these people can afford to be here they can afford to lose a game or two.
— It's not just that. There's no need to lie more than we already did.
Seokjin sits next to him and pats his leg affectionately.
— You take the fun out of everything, kitten.
It was long ago that Seokjin decided to give Yoongi a pet name, mostly to annoy Yoongi, but it's been a while since Yoongi stopped being bothered by it. Such a long while that now, whenever he hears it, he feels his chest tingling a bit — he doesn't understand it fully, but it's a good feeling, so he lets it be.
— Hyung!
— But that's fine. We can just enjoy being an old couple and doing boring stuff together instead of taking these fools' money.
— Stop doing that.
— It's not wrong to do it if you see right through me.
Yoongi takes a deep breath and stands up to go through his suitcase. He's not looking for anything in particular, he just feels like he's way too close to giving in and he doesn't want that.
— I mean, Yoon-ah, is it really lying if we just know each other well? If we are great as a team?
— I could argue that yes, it is.
— But will you? Remember the speakers, little one!
Oh yeah, that. He forgot for a second he broke both his speakers in one go, and the ones he's got his eyes set on are more expensive than what he can afford right after buying the also expensive keyboard. And he can't live without music, can he?
— You're a menace to society, hyung.
— I know! I work very hard to be so!
— But you also have so much fun while doing it.
— My life is great! — The next thing Yoongi knows is he's being throttled to death. He'll be gone in five— then Seokjin turns him around on the hug and oh, did they always fit just right together?
The thought slips away alongside Seokjin as he unglues from Yoongi and throws himself on the bed.
— Come join me, lover?
— That's terrible, hyung.
— Don't you love me? Cause I sure love you, Yoongi-yah.
— Shut up. You know that's not the usual meaning behind that word. — He gropes aimlessly around his bag, fully turning his back to Seokjin, before he continues. — And fine, I do.
Before he knows it, Seokjin comes and drags him to bed, saying something along the lines of "let's just take a nap before we get ready to sleep".
It sounds counterproductive to Yoongi, but somehow he can't sum up the strength to leave Seokjin's embrace, so of course they end up falling asleep like that.
The next morning presents a mini walk of shame from the bed to the bathroom for both, and neither would go back in time and change it.
Seokjin caves a little; he lets Yoongi pick the contests they'll participate in, and Yoongi picks the ones he thinks are the safest bet: the ones with more thinking and less… Touching.
The thing is: they turn out to be unsafe pretty quickly with how much Seokjin knows about Yoongi — and not standard stuff, but stuff you gotta pay attention to notice.
Seokjin has always put effort into being a good friend, a good hyung to their group of crackheads, but this feels different somehow. Like when they ended up on the contest to find out who knows their partner best and Seokjin wrote Yoongi's exact thoughts on pretty much every single question, and most of them weren't remotely easy. In some even he had to think a little bit, and Seokjin always had the answer on the tip of his tongue.
He even thought for a second Seokjin was cheating, but how. How would he even accomplish that if Yoongi himself was struggling to think of the answers?
— Hyung, you don't need to—
— Just let your hyung pamper you! You never let me!
— You buy me stuff all the time! And—
— And you always complain about it, you ungrateful child! I know you're not used to being a dongsaeng around those pests we call our chosen family, but it's just me now. Let yourself be taken care of.
It's not clear how Yoongi found himself lying in such a comfortable loveseat, with Seokjin right next to him, at the SPA, getting a facial, while Seokjin buys him his speakers with the money they just won on the contest, but that's Yoongi's life now, by the looks of it.
So what if he's apparently lost his personal space to Seokjin? He can admit he likes the presence of his hyung pretty much squished onto him. He can't admit it out loud, never, but he can admit it to himself as he's high on whatever drink it is that the lady handed him as she was telling him to relax for a few minutes while the lotion works its magic.
— Do you think I should pay for the express delivery? Ah, no, wait, we'll still be here by then. Nevermind.
— How many days left?
— Four. Four precious days…!
Their next contest is cooking lunch together.
At first, Yoongi annoys Seokjin just for fun, making Seokjin get all red and fast-spoken, but then they ease into a rhythm and before Yoongi can even register it they're done and his heart is at the same time heavy and light after the minutes they've spent working together seamlessly.
If they were at home, Yoongi would probably be giving Seokjin some excuse and disappearing for who knows how many days to have his gay panic moment, but being there he can just excuse himself from the contest and run away to their room.
A few minutes later Seokjin knocks on the door, and Yoongi can't help the little pirouette his heart does at the sound of Seokjin's voice.
— Hyung's got food… Let me in and I'll feed you, little bird.
The acrobatics show was short-lived, but it was replaced by the joy he experiences every time Seokjin makes a little fun remark next to him, so who's to say things didn't remain the same.
He opens the door and Seokjin somehow kisses him on the head as he's entering with his arms full of food and beverages.
— Why are you like this?
— Gay panicking much?
The way that Yoongi splutters doesn't help him defend himself.
— What?
— Kitten, I know a gay panic moment when I see one. I've been the cause of many!
It should be then that Yoongi realizes how fucked up he is — he doesn't mind Seokjin's ego because he's thinking "yeah, sounds about right". But Yoongi is nothing if not stubborn.
— Hyung, what if it was a plain panic attack, huh?
Seokjin gets all serious and approaches Yoongi slowly. He studies Yoongi's face for a second and just dismisses him with a nah.
— You can't just say that!
— Sure I can! Also, I think I broke a couple up after you left.
Yoongi flinches a little at the sudden change in topic, but he knows his hyung enough to be sure it's connected to their conversation. Somehow. Even if only in his mind.
— I was telling them how you get overwhelmed sometimes, you know, to explain why you left in such a hurry, and then how amazing you are in the kitchen and how you're always looking after us… — Seokjin managed to organize the table and pet Yoongi on his head, arms and even belly at least four times as he tells his story. And he's not finished. — And the guy in one of the couples there was paying a lot of attention to me. A lot. So I decided to test him and I told them you like to kiss me while we're cooking, so that it's not only the food that's spicy, and I mimicked a kiss and let me tell you, his eyes didn't leave my lips for a second until I left the kitchen!
It's so much at once that Yoongi can't even focus on a thing to disagree with, when all of a sudden Seokjim is pouting at him and he's the one that can't take his eyes off of those damned lips.
— Tell me you don't think these could turn a guy gay! I dare you!
Yoongi is glad bickering comes easily to them, because his only defense is attack right then.
— I'm pretty sure Namjoon has given you at least three lectures on how you can't turn someone gay. — He surprises even himself when he manages to form a whole coherent sentence after Seokjin threatened to kiss him at least three times while he was trying to defend his case.
— If you've been paying attention then you saw me debunk that right after with this brilliant mind of mine.
— You just threw Jungkook under the bus, that's what you did.
— I mean, the kid took one look at Namjoon's thighs and said "gotta have them", how am I wrong?
— He was already gay, hyung.
Seokjin rolls his eyes at Yoongi but makes them sit down before he continues. He serves Yoongi a very generous glass of whisky as he speaks.
— OK then, smartpants, what about the three guys I've turned so far? Three and counting, might I add!
— That's not… Hyung, even if those guys realized they were gay because of you, it still doesn't mean that you made them become gay. That's just not how it works.
— Well, it figures you would be the one saying that.
— What does this even mean?
— You're my only failure!
— Excuse me?
Seokjin drags his chair until it's side by side with Yoongi's. For the dramatic effect. Yoongi both enjoys and dreads it.
— Out of everyone I've ever hit on, you're the only one that's denied me.
— Um. What?
— You haven't said yes to even half a proposal of mine so far. Except for the ones where it's all a joke, like being here, and let me tell you, it does wonders to keep a guy's ego in check.
Yoongi stands up and holds the back of the chair for balance. Seokjin doesn't move from his spot, used as he is to give Yoongi his space whenever he's dumbfounded by one of Seokjin's pick-up lines.
They might not work exactly, but Yoongi is always a little bit in shock before he shoots Seokjin's suggestions down, and Seokjin has learned to appreciate these moments, where it seems for a second there that Yoongi might say yes, from afar.
— Hyung. What?
— I mean, I've been coming onto you since we've met and you're as sturdy as you were back then, so that means you've got a strong mind, at least.
— No, you haven't.
— I think I can vouch for my own intentions?
— You were just joking around.
— I mean, at times, yes, but not all the time. I always tell you when it's a scam!
— No.
— What do you mean no, you punk? Of course I do! I explicitly asked for your permission before proposing at the restaurant, for one!
The fact that it's true and that Yoongi's mind is being flooded by two very distinct kinds of scenes is not helpful. He can clearly separate the two: the ones where Seokjin tells him they're in for a fun time and the ones, much higher in number, where it's just Seokjin complimenting him and asking him out.
And Yoongi turning him down as soon as he can speak clearly.
Now it makes much more sense how baffled the boys always get whenever Yoongi just laughs it off and he's the one left baffled and speechless.
— Are you serious right now, Yoongi-yah? You really thought I was kidding the whole time?
No answer is answer enough to Seokjin. He stands up and leads Yoongi to the little bench on the foot of the bed. Yoongi just lets him, too busy trying to figure out how many times he's misunderstood Seokjin.
— Hyung…
— Yes?
— You can't have been serious.
— I see we haven't left denial yet. Yoongi-yah, I was and still am serious.
Yoongi is grasping at straws there, trying to combine what Seokjin is saying with what he believes in. These do not match.
— …Why?
— Why what?
— Why do you want to… date me?
— Oh, that's easy! Because you're the cutest little thing ever, kitten.
— Ah, ok.
Yoongi seems more relaxed all of a sudden, which makes Seokjin get suspicious.
— What just happened in this noggin of yours?
— Nothing? Just realized you're still joking.
— Yah! Now, seriously, those mental gymnastics are impressive, but unnecessary. I'm giving it to you as it is, don't try to find a hidden meaning or whatever. I'm serious, Yoongi-yah, are you paying attention? I want to date you. This is not a joke.
— No.
Seokjin is getting exasperated by the second. He runs his hands through his hair to give them both some time.
— So when Hoseok asked you out you thought it was a joke as well?
— I mean, he had a boyfriend.
The hand that was still on Seokjin's hair tightens its grip on the strands. He wants to be calm, to understand Yoongi's reasoning, but it's starting to ask too much of his patience.
— Yes, OK, but then what happened?
— Hoseok met Taehyung, he and Jimin fell head over heels for him and now they're all together.
Seokjin is quiet for a second, waiting to see if Yoongi pieces the puzzles by himself, but alas he doesn't.
— And it never crossed your mind that he— they wanted that with you?
— Why would they…?
It's starting to sadden Seokjin how Yoongi doesn't seem to see he is the epitome of boyfriend material.
OK, maybe he doesn't need to be that confident right from the bat, but he could at least see he is a very caring, gentle and cute person all wrapped up in a deliciously compact package. And maybe Seokjin has mentioned that last part to Yoongi and he's not taken it well. It was mainly the height thing, but he blushed violently at the delicious part as well.
— Yoongi-yah, you're just gonna have to believe your hyung. Hoseok is still half in love with you, but he's got his hands full with Jimin and Taehyung. I'm sure he'd make room for you if you asked, though… No, wait a second, why am I making a case for him, I'm the topic here! Yoongi-yah. Stop thinking. Be mine.
— I can't just stop thinking—
— Listen to your hyung! No thoughts, just feelings! Would you like to date me?
When two seconds pass and Yoongi still hasn't answered, Seokjin places his pointer finger right between Yoongi's eyes and presses lightly. Yoongi goes cross-eyed to look at it, which makes Seokjin's heart do the little twitch it does whenever Yoongi is being cute — it's a miracle he doesn't have a heart condition by now.
For the sake of his heart, Seokjin stands up and faces away from Yoongi for just a second there. Just to gather his strength again. Maybe refill his patience a little bit as well.
— Hyung, you've liked me all this time? Liked liked me? Why didn't you stop after I turned you down?
— Believe me, I've tried stopping it! There is no way out for me, I'm afraid, Yoongi-yah.
— No, I mean, not that, why didn't you stop… trying?
Seokjin realizes Yoongi is looser when he doesn't have eyes on him, so he sits down and picks on his food to keep his eyes focused somewhere else.
— You never told me no, you just dismissed me. I assumed that if anything, it amused you to have me coming onto you, and it was fun for me too, so I just kept at it.
When many moments pass by and Yoongi doesn't say anything, Seokjin looks at him, and he's staring so hard at the floor it's surprising it hasn't caught on fire yet.
— I never thought you were serious because it would never occur to me that someone like you could like someone like me.
Now that's something that makes Seokjin angry. He goes back to Yoongi and kneels in front of him.
— We're gonna have to work on your confidence levels there, Yoon-ah. I just can't have my kitten unaware of precisely how wonderful he is.
— This! Right here! How do you expect me to believe this is for real?
— Because I'm telling you it is.
— Huh.
Yoongi still looks unconvinced, to say the least, but he seems to be starting to accept it, because he raises his hands and tentatively touches Seokjin's shoulders, and then just lets them stay there.
— So now that this is settled, can we be in every contest from now on? Papa wants some new kitchen supplies!
That earns Seokjin a shove to the chest and before either of them knows it they're both toppling down on the floor, together, laughing.