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The one thing about the potions class is that there is always something brewing. And, sometimes, what is brewing is people’s secrets.
There are potions that make people tell the truth and only the truth, there are potions that make people fall in love, and there are potions that make people reveal what disgusts them, resent them, or reveal any other ugly side of them.
There are also potions that make people aware of their feelings. For some reason, someone somewhere deemed it a good idea to put all these kinds of potions in the same class as 6th-year Hogwarts students.
It's potion class again, with Seokjin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jimin barely making it to class because Namjoon for some reason just couldn’t find his Potions textbook. Apparently, there is a spell for everything but finding your missing books.
They make it just in time for Slughorn’s pop quiz on the names of the potions displayed in the front of the class.
“What is the name of the first one?”
Jimin raises his hand. When Slughorn nods towards him, he answers, “This is amortentia, sir.”
“Yes, yes, Mr. Park. And what does it do?”
“Well, they say it is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is rumored to smell differently to each person according to what they love or what attracts them.”
Slughorn looks extremely satisfied with his answer. “Very good, Mr. Park.” He then turns around to look at the rest of the students and says, “Now, can I have a volunteer to come closer and tell us what they smell?”
When nobody volunteers, Slughorn keeps looking around the room and finally, his eyes set on Seokjin.
“Yes, Mr. Kim. Come on, now don’t be shy.”
Yes, of course, Slughorn was going to pick him out of all people.
Seokjin takes a tentative step forward. He doesn’t want to do this, not really, but he tells himself it could be fun to smell things he loves, and therefore gives himself to the task at hand.
“I smell… tteokguk, gaming consoles, the metallic scent of a microphone…”
“Ever the best singer,” Hoseok prompts.
A few people from Gryffindor laugh fondly, knowing their prefect is indeed the king of their karaoke nights.
“And a ta-”
Seokjin stops himself before he finishes that thought. Did he just smell what he thought he smelled?
Oh.
Oh.
Oh no.
“Tuna!” Seokjin quickly recovers. “I smell tuna. Like a lot. Lots. It’s all sea up here. Yeah,” he ends in a loud voice, loud to an almost exaggerated degree. His hands are moving all around like he is showing a sea to all these people.
“There should be a limit to how much a man can love tuna,” Smith from Slytherin mocks him.
Or rather, tries to mock him, as Yoongi quickly replies, “There should be a limit to how much you are allowed to talk in a day.”
“Hey, hey, let’s all calm down,” Slughorn intervenes, in his gentle yet stern way.
At least, with this exchange, the attention is directed away from Seokjin. After all, with the loud way he talks, the squeaky way he laughs, and his joking demeanor, it is easy for Seokjin to fool others that everything is fine.
But not Yoongi. Never Yoongi.
🔮🔮🔮
The realization that came with smelling amortentia hits Seokjin like a truck.
For the rest of the day, he walks around looking like he has seen a ghost.
Whenever someone talks to him, he laughs loudly and yells “Yah!” or talks at the speed of light to distract them from the fact that now he knows.
He knows it now, and he doesn’t know what to do about it.
And even though he can fool others, Yoongi knows better. And, Yoongi may be someone who usually lets people be, someone who doesn’t put his nose into other people’s business, it seems like Seokjin’s special situation has appeared too worrisome to ignore.
He corners Seokjin in the fifth-floor boys’ restroom.
“You know I am the last person to butt my nose in your business and make you talk about something you don’t wanna talk about, but you’ve been acting weird ever since Slughorn’s last amortentia class and I can see it hurting you,” Yoongi says sternly. Then, locking his eyes on Seokjin, he extends his hand to hold Seokjin’s arm, and in a more gentle voice, he says, “What’s wrong, hyung?”
Seokjin, having had to deal with all sorts of emotions all day, just feels defeated at that point. What could be the worst thing to happen if I share it with Yoongi, he thinks to himself. Then, with a resigned sigh, he reveals the truth. “What I smelled was tattoo ink.”
Yoongi furrows his brows. “Tattoo ink? Wha-” It is so easy to pinpoint the moment realization washes over Yoongi. “Oh.”
Seokjin gives him a defeated sigh. “Yeah.”
Yoongi tentatively asks, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Not really,” Seokjin assures him. “But it felt good opening up about it to someone. Thank you.”
Yoongi gives him a defeated smile and then does something that they so rarely do in their friendship. He opens his arms for a hug.
“Come on.”
Seokjin lets out a startled laugh, but then finds himself gravitating towards one of his closest friends, letting the hug wash over his newfound realization and the worries that come alongside it.
The pair rarely hug, and their hugs are reserved for times when the other’s support is more than essential to survive the situation at the time.
At that moment, finding himself in Yoongi’s rare embrace, one thing is more clear to Seokjin than anything else.
He is fucked.
🔮🔮🔮
The following days pass with Seokjin avoiding Jeongguk.
At least, him trying to.
It is really hard to avoid your best friend of all people. Someone you meet in between classes, someone you spend your evenings and meals with.
But Seokjin succeeds. For two whole days.
On day three, Jeongguk finds him and doesn’t let him go.
“Hyung, what’s going on?” Jeongguk prompts. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“It’s only been a couple days, Jeongguk-ah. Hyung’s been busy,” Seokjin tries to answer as collectedly as he can.
But Jeongguk does not look impressed.
“You do realize we talk every day, right? Even if we don’t see each other, we talk on the phone, at least,” Jeongguk tries again, less patient this time. “And, you’ve been radio silent for two days, we never do that.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Jeongguk, I’ve been busy,” Seokjin tries again, but he is also losing patience.
He didn’t ask to be in this situation. He didn’t ask for things to turn out this way.
Jeongguk doesn’t look like he is buying any of it, but he takes a deep sigh and appears to be giving Seokjin a chance. “Okay. Busy with what?”
Seokjin should have had an answer, really. He should have.
But the panic of being found out must have gotten to his head more than he realized, because for a second, just for a second, he stutters, and he can see it in Jeongguk’s eyes.
Jeongguk knows.
Not Seokjin’s feelings, but the fact that he is lying. Which can be considered much worse, since he is someone who finds honesty utterly important in any relationship, but especially in theirs.
At least, that is what he always says.
So, when Jeongguk lets out a huff and turns around to walk away without looking back, there is nothing Seokjin can do but watch him go.
🔮🔮🔮
It has been four days since Seokjin last spoke to Jeongguk. He quickly finds out that being away from Jeongguk is a special kind of torture.
Avoiding him was hard enough, but now that they are not hanging out anymore because they argued, Seokjin feels like he cannot breathe sometimes.
There is a heaviness in his chest. It keeps spreading through his body, from his shoulders to his stomach. And he cannot bear it. He doesn’t want to bear it.
So what if he realized he was actually in love with his best friend? What if he realized that anything that he loves or is attracted to carries a part of Jeongguk with it? What about it?
He just needs to learn how to deal with it.
The thing is, it is especially hard to imagine his life without Jeongguk considering they have known each other basically their whole lives.
They met when Jeongguk was just four and Seokjin was five years old.
It was when Seokjin had gotten to the park one evening and saw four other boys from their witch-kindergarten cornering Jeongguk that he had stepped up towards the boy. The other boys were surrounding Jeongguk and were clearly aiming to rough him up, either verbally or physically, Seokjin never found out which. Because he didn’t let things ever come to that point.
There was a full moon that night. Moon was in its full form right above Seokjin, in a way illuminating him. His anger had literally resulted in electric sparks flying around him. He didn’t even need to lift a finger. He had just shouted a “Yah!”, and seeing him in that agitated and intense state, made the boys stumbled backward and started running away. But not Jeongguk. Never Jeongguk.
Because even then, Jeongguk knew that whatever Seokjin did, would never be to hurt him, but to be right beside him.
“You are like the moon,” Jeongguk had said once they grew up. “You are always watching from afar, but you have the power to both illuminate and protect me.”
Ever since then, Jeongguk had followed Seokjin around and the two had become inseparable.
Since Jeongguk was one year younger than Seokjin, he also needed to wait for a year to catch up with him. When Seokjin first started Hogwarts at age eleven, Jeongguk had been the most agitated he had ever been, constantly reminding everyone, especially Seokjin, that he would be beside him in one year’s time, so he better not make any new best friends.
When Jeongguk found out Seokjin was sorted into Gryffindor, he kept wishing for a year to be put in the same house as him, and then requested the Sorting Hat to put him into Gryffindor as well.
He was successful.
When Seokjin started playing Quidditch, Jeongguk also practiced day and night to be selected for the team.
He was once again, to nobody’s surprise, successful.
This in no way meant Jeongguk did everything the way Seokjin did. In terms of their specialties, Jeongguk wanted to be a professional Quidditch player, whereas Seokjin wanted to be an Auror. Jeongguk was a fan of Overwatch, whereas Seokjin had a clear preference for Maple’s Story.
Jeongguk once said to Seokjin, “Time spent with you is time well spent.” Ever since then, Jeongguk would do anything in his power to maximize the time he would and could spend with Seokjin. This included meal times, study times in the library, extracurricular activities like Quidditch, tea times with Hagrid, or visits to Hogsmeade.
But now, their interactions are limited to stolen glances in Gryffindor’s Quidditch practices, passing by each other in the common room, and hearing from their mutual friends how the other is doing.
Is this what we’ve come to?, Seokjin cannot help but think. Is this what will come of us if Jeongguk ever finds out about my feelings?
So, the decision comes very easily to him. He will not utter a single word of it. He will bury it, deep down where most of his secrets already exist, and keep Jeongguk in his life in return. He doesn’t see any other way out, really. Even the thought of a life where he has to learn about how Jeongguk is from others and not from the man himself is suffocating. And, he will not bear it anymore.
However, there is one problem with his plan: He doesn’t know how to keep secrets from Jeongguk. He never had to do that before. He doesn’t know how to talk to him and hide a part of himself.
So, maybe, avoiding Jeongguk, no matter how unbearable it is, is the best and maybe the only option for now.
🔮🔮🔮
It is once again Yoongi who corners him in his room and talks to him when it’s been almost two weeks since he last talked to Jeongguk.
“This has gone on long enough,” Yoongi tells him exasperatedly.
“What is?” Seokjin counters, once again feigning ignorance.
Yoongi takes a deep breath and cuts to the chase, “You can’t ignore or avoid Jeongguk forever.”
“Yes I can and I will,” Seokjin explains. He adds, “Even though not being able to talk to him is…” killing me, he doesn’t say it. He sighs and desperately says, “He can’t know the truth, Yoongi-ah.”
The way Yoongi’s expression softens whenever he hears Seokjin’s sincerity always tugs on Seokjin’s heart. Because he knows Yoongi understands him. But, Yoongi has also never been the one to avoid confrontation. So, he keeps going. “I know. But if you can’t tell this to him, you need to at least tell him something. Do you know how much he is freaking out right now?”
“… He is?”
Yoongi doesn’t even feel the need to nod. And Seokjin understands that in fact, yes, Jeongguk is freaking out right now.
In hindsight, how can he not? How can someone not freak out when their best friend stops talking to them so suddenly, and without any apparent reason?
Guilt fills Seokjin’s guts so fast that he gets a whiplash. He doesn’t know what to do with it. Guilt and Jeongguk aren’t things that he had experience connecting.
So, he quickly changes his game plan and decides to suck it up. Nothing, and Seokjin means nothing, is worth or would ever be worth breaking Jeongguk’s heart.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him.”
🔮🔮🔮
Deciding to talk to Jeongguk is easier said than done. He sees the other sometimes, from afar, without having the guts to make a move. But, he feels like he has no choice once he crosses paths with him in the common room, and Jeongguk almost passes by him without greeting him. And, Seokjin’s heart breaks. So, he stops Jeongguk by asking, “Jeongguk-ah, can we talk?”
Jeongguk turns to him, almost too fast. “What about?”
“Please, Jeongguk-ah.”
His desperation must be glaringly obvious in his voice, because Jeongguk’s expression softens, with him letting out a gentle “sure”.
So, they go out to one of the towers, where others will not follow or find them, and they talk. It is hard, the talking part. But, Seokjin pushes through. He doesn’t tell the truth, not by any means. Not the whole story, at least. Instead, he tells Jeongguk about how hard the past couple of weeks have been for him. He tells him there was something he had to go through on his own, and it killed him not being able to share it with Jeongguk. But that it was something he didn’t want to share because he didn’t want to burden him (which was not a lie), and that yes, he should get better at sharing his problems and that he will work on it.
This does get somewhat of a desired reaction out of Jeongguk. “Hyung,” he says, “you know you can tell me anything, right? I am always there for you. Always.”
He says this with a reassuring squeeze of Seokjin’s shoulder, and Seokjin can do nothing but melt into the touch.
“Okay,” Seokjin replies. Then, he remembers the plans for that night and decides to shoot his shot. “So I will see you at Jimin’s tonight, then?” Seokjin asks Jeongguk tentatively. Hopefully. Secretly pleadingly.
That was another thing. There was a party at Jimin and Taehyung’s that night. And, Seokjin even considered not going because he knew Jeongguk was going and knowing where they stood, Jeongguk might have implied he was not welcome. But, now that the two had resolved the issue, he wanted to spend time with Jeongguk. It almost felt like a need after having to deal with his absence for such a long time.
His tentativeness is quickly resolved when Jeongguk gives him one of his reassuring smiles, the ones that Seokjin had been deprived of for days now. “Yeah, I’ll see you tonight.”
What I would do to see you scrunch up your nose that way for the rest of my life, Seokjin thinks.
Very unhelpfully, if he may add.
But at least, he would be seeing Jeongguk that evening, and the relief that tingles under his skin is brand new. And even though he is reluctant to admit it, it is all too exciting.
🔮🔮🔮
That evening, they met at Jimin’s.
It is a low-key Friday party, more of a get-together than anything, with the seven of them coming over to Jimin and Taehyung’s room. They sneaked some butterbeer into the facilities so that they could play some card games mixed with some drinking.
In the background, the gramophone is playing Lofi hip hop music, with the notes literally spilling out of the gramophone. Jeongguk and Taehyung, the two 5th years of their group, are throwing little spells at the notes to see who can make them disappear the fastest.
Jeongguk becomes the fastest, to nobody’s surprise.
Seokjin wants to be his cheerleader and cheer for him, but then tells himself to behave and reminds himself that his feelings are there to be hidden. That Jeongguk should not find out.
They are well into the evening, having already played a few rounds of games when the topic of their conversation circles around to the event from weeks ago: Seokjin and his test with the amortentia.
“What was it that he smelt?” Hoseok asks, trying to remember the list of things Seokjin said as he smelt the potion.
“Microphone,” Namjoon answers first.
“Tteokguk,” Jimin answers second.
“And gaming consoles,” Yoongi answers finally.
“But there was a fourth thing he was going to say,” Jimin adds, with some mirth sprinkled in his voice.
“You mean tuna?” Hoseok asks with his laughter abrupting as he says it like he couldn’t believe that is what Seokjin said as one of his loves.
“No, no, I’m not talking about that fake-ass tuna,” Jimin quickly answers. “I’m talking about before that. He was like ‘ ta -’ and then he froze,” Jimin explains.
That is when panic starts to creep up on Seokjin. He didn’t realize people had picked up on his ‘ta’ before he said ‘tuna’.
“I was seriously curious what ‘ta’ could be,” said Namjoon, continuing the conversation, not picking up on Seokjin’s silent pleas to just let it go.
“Tablespoon? Do you like cooking that much, Seokjin-hyung?” Hoseok laughs.
“Tarantulas? Don’t tell me you actually like spiders after the incident of 2020,” Jimin exclaims.
The incident of 2020 involved Seokjin being in the middle of doing a number-two business in the bathroom and suddenly realizing a spider was climbing up from the stool of the toilet.
Needless to say, the bathroom session did not end well.
They are all enjoying this conversation a bit too much for Seokjin’s taste.
“Tachistoscope?” Namjoon adds.
A silence follows.
“What does that even mean?” Jimin finally asks.
“It is a device that displays an image for a specific amount of time,” Namjoon explains.
“Only you would come up with that word, Joonie,” Hoseok says in between giggles.
They continue playing around like that for a bit. Completely ignoring or unaware of Seokjin’s suffering.
Other words starting with ‘ta’ fly around: ‘takeout’, ‘tapestry’, and ‘tapeworm’ being the highlights.
Just as they seem like they are coming to a halt and things seem to calm down, Jimin’s eyes shine the way they signal he is about to be mischievous.
“Could it be…” Jimin says, with a suggestive smirk on his face, “... tangerines?”
And that is enough for everybody’s attention to go from Jimin to Yoongi. It is a widely known fact, accepted by anyone and everyone, that Yoongi is in love with tangerines.
And Seokjin smelling tangerines when he smells amortentia can only mean…
A chorus of “uuu” s and “aaa” s rise in the room, with everybody waiting their turn to tease either or both Seokjin and Yoongi in this newly made connection.
Everybody except one person.
Even though Seokjin is not looking at Jeongguk, he can feel his eyes burning holes into him. The air around him feels hot oh so suddenly.
And all of a sudden, Jeongguk abruptly gets up from where he is sitting and leaves the room.
“Jeongguk-ah, wait!” is all Seokjin can say before he also gets up and follows the younger, leaving their friends confused in Jimin and Taehyung’s room. He follows Jeongguk until they reach the younger’s room. Once they reach the room, Jeongguk immediately turns around to look at Seokjin.
His eyes are so red that Seokjin doesn’t know what he should do.
“Is this what you were hiding from me?” Jeongguk pleads. “That you were in love with Yoongi?”
“What? Of course not!” Seokjin exclaims. He loves Yoongi, of course, but the thought of being in love with him has never crossed his mind. The thing is, the guys were also not actually suggesting he was in love with Yoongi. They were just teasing, being playful.
So, why was Jeongguk reacting like this?
“I saw you two last week,” Jeongguk continues. “You two were hugging each other in the fifth-floor restroom. For a long time.”
Seokjin doesn’t understand him for a second, because hugging is something he and Yoongi do so, so rarely, but then it dawns on him. How the two hugged when Seokjin opened up about Jeongguk to Yoongi.
Apparently, Jeongguk had seen the two together that day.
“And you two are roommates, and I just- just tell me hyung,” Jeongguk pleads again. “Is that what it is? Did you really smell tangerines that day in class?”
Seokjin cannot wrap his head around what’s going on, but what is really clear to him at that moment is just how much Jeongguk is hurting. And that is the one thing Seokjin cannot take under any circumstances.
So, he decides to come clean. Regardless of the stakes.
“No, Jeongguk,” he says. “I didn’t smell tangerines. I smelled tattoo ink.”
“Tattoo ink? What does that me-” Jeongguk’s eyes get as big as saucers. “Oh.”
His realization is much more animated than Yoongi’s. Like he is trying to wrap his mind around what is happening. How can someone’s eyes get this big? Seokjin thinks to himself.
Seokjin would freak out, too, if he found out his platonic best friend was in love with him, Seokjin supposes.
“Hyung, what does it mean? I need you to tell me, I need to be sure I understand this correctly.”
Seokjin doesn’t understand how Jeongguk cannot understand him correctly. He remembers everything related to the tattoo ink. He knows Jeongguk remembers it, too. At least, to some extent.
🔮🔮🔮
It was a beautiful day last September. Jeongguk’s birthday was just a few days prior, and he explicitly said to Seokjin that there was a specific late birthday present he wanted from him.
He specifically asked Seokjin to spare his Saturday for him.
And Seokjin, already ready to do anything Jeongguk asked, had replied with a simple yet effective, ‘Of course, Kookie’.
Short reassurances are funny like that. They could either be the most ingenuine or the most genuine words ever. But when it comes to Jeongguk, Seokjin doesn’t even know how any non-genuineness would work.
So, come Saturday, they had met up and Seokjin followed Jeongguk, not having any idea where they were going.
They walked for a bit, talking about anything and everything like they usually did.
And, at the end of their journey, Seokjin looked up to see a sign that said: ‘Bangtan Tattoo Parlor’.
“Kookie, what are we doing here?”
“Follow me, hyung,” Jeongguk retorted, wiggling his eyebrows.
The tattoo shop had been cozy and almost bohemian. Like Jeongguk, in some way. Seokjin could see why Jeongguk would choose this place out of all the possible tattoo shops he could have chosen. But what Seokjin didn’t understand was why they were in a tattoo shop in the first place. Jeongguk had been interested in tattoos, sure, but he always talked about them like they were a distant dream, something he would get when he was an adult. Why then, on his 16th birthday? That part, Seokjin couldn’t understand.
In the shop, they met with a Quick-Quotes Quill, a quill that automatically writes or paints whatever is asked for. The Quill was green with a long feather and was moving all over the place as Jeongguk made its way towards it. The Quill and Jeongguk had clearly met before, and Jeongguk quickly told the Quill a few words before they started. “This way, hyung,” Jeongguk led him.
“Jeongguk, is this even legal?”
“No, hyung, so it needs to be our secret. Between us and the rest of the boys, of course.”
They went into a room that the Quill led them to, which is when Seokjin saw it. The design.
It was a tattoo of the full moon, with intricate smaller designs in its craters like a woven microphone or a face that is half-smiling and half-smirking.
“Wow,” Seokjin said, without even realizing he was speaking.
“Yeah,” Jeongguk said, and if Seokjin was looking at him and not at the design, he would see him blushing.
“Where will it go?” Seokjin asked. At that, Jeongguk took off his shirt. (And if Jeongguk was not busy taking off his shirt and showing his right shoulder to his hyung, he would see Seokjin blushing, as well.) After his shirt was removed, Jeongguk tapped his right shoulder, showing where the moon design would be tattooed.
“Wouldn’t it hurt, Kookie? Are you sure you want to do this?”
With a determined gaze, Jeongguk had looked at him, and said, “This is the most sure I’ve been in quite a while, hyung.”
“Why a moon?”
That question, Jeongguk did not give a direct answer to. Instead, he replied to the question with other questions. “Why not, hyung? Don’t you know what the moon means to me?”
Seokjin didn’t know what Jeongguk was referring to exactly, but he didn’t make a comment. As Jeongguk got into position, the Quill made its way towards his shoulder and got to work.
But the thing was, the tattoo ink was temporarily scented. So, as the tattoo was being made, a strawberry scent specific to that tattoo filled the room.
And, that scent stayed with Seokjin.
🔮🔮🔮
Even if Jeongguk didn’t know it then, Seokjin carried that day in a special place in his heart, away from anything and anyone else. That memory had always been special to him. And, smelling the amortentia, he realized just how euphoric and exceptional that day had been.
He also understands why that day was special to him. His feelings for Jeongguk had come to a point of no denying, then. Seokjin was just not aware of it yet.
So, maybe, to answer Jeongguk’s question, Seokjin doesn’t know what Jeongguk is talking about. Jeongguk wants to understand this correctly, but how can he not? How can he not understand this correctly? The tattoo shop had been their thing, hadn’t it? As far as Seokjin knows, Jeongguk got his first and only tattoo with Seokjin, so there was nothing to misunderstand. Was there?
Seokjin only shrugs, and says, “Tattoo ink, as in the day you and I went to the tattoo shop.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jeongguk asks tentatively. Softly.
He is so soft that Seokjin just wants to hug him and cradle him. But, no matter how soft he is, the question sounds so absurd to Seokjin’s ears.
And, that is why that question results in Seokjin finally bursting. “Tell you what? That I’ve been in love with you for years and I realized it just a few weeks ago? That I am very deep in this unrequited love for you? That there is not one moment when I am near you that I don’t want to show you my affection in any way I can? I’m sorry Jeongguk, but there is no way I was going to ruin our friendship for this. Being near you is a privilege enough. I can’t bear the thought of not being near you, or breaking your heart, and if this is the way I can be with you, then so be it.”
Seokjin feels like he cannot stop, so the explanations come to no end. “When I smelt the microphone, I didn’t smell it just because I love karaoke. I smelt it because it reminded me of the noraebangs we do until dawn. When I smelt the tteokguk, I didn’t just remember the food that I ate, I remembered the food I cooked for you every New Year. When I smelt the game console, you were the one I specifically thought of playing with. I remembered teaching you how to play League of Legends, or your cries of plea during your Overwatch runs. I just…” Seokjin stops for a second to collect himself, ignoring the tears that he tries his damn hardest not to shed, “... whatever I smell or remember, it's all meaningful because it's you, they are all you.”
Seokjin takes one more breath and finishes up by saying, “They are all meaningful because they have traces of you in them.”
And traces they were. The karaoke, the games, and any time he spends with Jeongguk are a bit brighter, and a bit softer. And they all glow not just because of what they are, but because of who they include.
After that, Jeongguk’s expression becomes unreadable, and Seokjin doesn’t know what to make of it.
After a relatively long silence, long enough for Seokjin to consider the conversation is over, Jeongguk speaks again: “Hyung, how can you not tell me all this?”
“How could I Jeongguk-ah, how could I?”
Jeongguk takes a deep breath and continues. “Hyung,” he says, and he lifts the arm section of his shirt to reveal the moon tattoo to Seokjin, “why do you think I have a tattoo of a moon on my shoulder?”
When Seokjin shakes his head, indicating he does not know, Jeongguk continues, “It is because of you, hyung. It is because the moon reminds me of you. It is soft and so bright, and it does not like being in the spotlight but it shines and guides nevertheless. It is beautiful with all its craters and shadows. It has many sides to it, just like you do. You are like the moon for me, hyung. And, I want you by my side, always. That is why I wanted a tattoo of it.”
Seokjin freezes, trying to make sense of what Jeongguk is saying. “What are you saying, Jeongguk-ah?”
“What I’m saying is,” Jeongguk continues, with his eyes glistening with unshed tears, “all the things we do together, I cannot imagine not having you with me. I can’t imagine cooking with anyone else, studying, going to Hogsmeade, or drinking butterbeer…” Jeongguk started rambling. All Seokjin can do is stare at him with bewilderment and awe, listening to Jeongguk list all these things the two do together, and how meaningful all those things are for him.
Seokjin doesn’t know what to say.
“I don’t know what to say,” he admits.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Jeongguk quickly reassures him. “Just, will you stay by my side, hyung? No more running away.”
To that, Seokjin chuckles, endlessly fond, and agrees, “No more running away.”
🔮🔮🔮
1 year later
“Hyung, hyung!” Taehyung exclaims as he runs in the halls to reach Seokjin, Yoongi, and Namjoon, walking in front of them.
“Yeah, Taehyung-ah?” Seokjin asks.
“Guess what class we just had?” he asks, as Jeongguk throws his arm around Seokjin and pulls him closer to himself.
“Which one?” Yoongi asks.
“Potions!” Jeongguk answers.
“And Jeongguk smelled the amortentia,” Taehyung explains.
“Oh? And what did you smell?” Seokjin asks, intrigued.
At that, Jeongguk leans forward and audibly inhales Seokjin.
“Yah, stop it!” Seokjin exclaims, but it is clear how fond his voice is. The others also laugh lovingly, seeing how happy their friends have been together for the past year.
After inhaling, Jeongguk leans forward again, and whispers into Seokjin’s ear: “It smelled like this,” he says. “It smelled like my past, present, and future.”