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Yoongi is rudely awoken in the middle of the night by his phone ringing wildly on the nightstand. Muttering curses under his breath, he fumbles to grab at his phone, dragging his thumb across the screen.
“ What ? It’s,” he squints at the digital clock beside him, “fucking four am in the morning. What the exact fuck is so important that you have to call me right now?”
“Yoongi hyung, please help me,” Hoseok’s voice blares from the phone, “I’m having a crisis.”
“What, Hoseok? Did your fish die again?” Yoongi snaps. “I swear to God if that’s—”
“No, hyung, no! This is much more important.”
Yoongi’s sure he has invented a few new curse words in his head by this point, all directed at his best friend. “Then get to the point, damn it.”
“Okay, okay, um. Hyung, how would you confess to your crush?”
The elder inhales sharply, nearly dropping his phone, “What the fuck? Why are you asking?”
“I- Please, hyung, just answer the question. It’s important!” Hoseok pleads, voice quivering on the other end of the line.
“I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it. Just fucking say it to their face, I guess.”
“Really? That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it. Now if that’s all you called to ask, I’m going to hang up and go back to sleep. And for fuck’s sake, stop calling me at four am.”
“Wait, no, hyung—” Yoongi ends the call without hesitation, tossing his phone back onto the nightstand and slumping into his pillow. Now all he wants to do is fall back asleep as quickly as possible and forget the fact that his best friend and fucking long-time crush just called to ask him about confessing to another person.
“Ugh, fucking Jung Hoseok.”
~
The next morning, Yoongi shows up late to homeroom, drawling out his insincere apology and receiving a detention slip from the teacher. For once, Yoongi isn’t late because he missed his alarm. He’s late because he laid in bed for fifteen minutes after waking up, just thinking about the phone call.
Hoseok and Yoongi have been best friends since first grade. They tell each other their deepest secrets and know each other inside out. Yoongi knows everything there is to know about Hoseok, except for, apparently, his crush.
He doesn’t exactly know how to feel about it. On one hand, Yoongi knows he should be encouraging because hey, Hoseok should totally confess. Literally everyone in the school likes Hoseok, so he would never be rejected. On the other hand, Hoseok has never breathed a single word about having a crush to Yoongi until the phone call. To make things worse, Yoongi has been harbouring a completely unrequited crush on his best friend for the past three years.
Yoongi first realised his feelings for Hoseok when he was in sixth grade; now they were both high school juniors. To his utter surprise, Hoseok hadn’t started dating when they got into high school. To be honest, Yoongi should have seen this a long time coming. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
After fifteen minutes of heated debate with himself, Yoongi decides that maybe it’s time to move on. His crush on Hoseok is a dead end anyway, and Hoseok dating another person would make it easier to get over him. Pining is pointless. Sure, he’d need some time away from Hoseok and all, but it’ll all work out in the end. It has to, right?
A sharp tap on his shoulder interrupts Yoongi’s thinking, and he turns around. “Sorry for waking you up last night, hyung. I really didn’t know it was that late,” Hoseok whisper-shouts apologetically.
“It’s fine, you shit. Just don’t do it again,” Yoongi whispers back.
“I’m sorry. I know how precious your beauty sleep is,” Hoseok teases, “You’re too weak to live without it.”
“Fuck off.” Yoongi hesitates on whether or not he should ask the burning question at the back of his mind. Well, fuck it. What does he have to lose? “Hey, when do you plan on confessing to your crush?”
“Hmm? Um, uh, hopefully today, I guess. I’m not sure how he feels though, I’m nervous.”
Yoongi can feel the waves churning in his gut like a tornado, but he still fakes a smile, “don’t worry, Hoseok. Literally no one dislikes you. You’ll be fine, okay? On the slight off chance they reject you, I’ll fucking beat their ass up, you hear?”
The corners of Hoseok’s eyes crinkle, “yeah. Thanks, hyung. Look, I—”
The bell rings abruptly, shrill sound cutting through the room. Yoongi takes the chance to grab his bag and book it out of there for his first class.
“Well, good luck, Hoseok. Not that you’ll need it. I’ll see you soon,” with a weak smile, Yoongi turns and walks out the door. He misses the way the smile on Hoseok’s face fades into a scowl as he leaves.
~
Yoongi spends most of the lesson thinking about Hoseok and his crush. Say, who is his crush anyway? Probably Park Jimin from the dance club. He’s nice, hot, popular and friendly, just like Hoseok. Whenever they’re together, they giggle and flirt up a storm, light practically emitting from their combined presence.
Oh, but it could also be Kim Taehyung. The two of them had become close friends last year, when Taehyung was a freshman and Hoseok had even invited him into their friend group. Namjoon and Seokjin were enthusiastic with a new member in their group, but Yoongi? Honestly, not so much. Taehyung is okay as a friend, pretty great even — but Taehyung and Hoseok? Waves of jealousy start crashing around inside him, and Yoongi nearly lets out a groan. So much for listening in class.
“Hey,” Seokjin raps his pen against Yoongi’s desk. “What’s got you looking so tired?”
“Don’t I always look tired?” Yoongi snarks. “Nothing happened.”
“Are you sure?”
Yoongi sighs internally. There’s no use lying to Seokjin, who’s always been impossibly perceptive. He’d known about Yoongi’s crush on Hoseok even before he himself realised. “Hyung, did you know that Hoseok has a crush on someone?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I know he has a crush on someone,” Seokjin answers, eyes flickering up from his notes to meet Yoongi’s. He looks a little wary, as if he might be stepping on a land mine any second.
“I think he’s going to confess. He never told me about it until yesterday though.”
Seokjin just sighs through his nose and gives Yoongi a long look that he can’t decipher, before patting Yoongi’s shoulder comfortingly.
~
“Hyung, aren’t you going to eat lunch with us today?” Yoongi is putting his books back into his locker when Hoseok approaches him.
“No, sorry Hoseok. I have, um, basketball practice today,” he hopes his lie sounds convincing enough, “Coach wants us to have more sessions before the season starts. Like the normal practices aren’t fucking enough, am I right?”
“Oh,” Hoseok looks a little disappointed and slightly suspicious, “okay. I’ll see you later then, hyung.”
Yoongi slams the locker shut and flashes a quick grin (that ends up looking more like a grimace), “see you.” He’ll just have to hide behind the gym and eat his lunch with the weird artsy freshman who practically lives there.
Junkook or whatever ends up glaring at Yoongi the entire time as he eats his apple uncomfortably. The things he does for Hoseok, really.
~
Yoongi nearly starts screaming in frustration when Hoseok manages to catch up to him as he leaves the classroom after school. It has been proving really hard to avoid Jung Hoseok.
“Hey hyung, where are you going? Isn’t it video game day today?”
Yoongi has never been gladder to have detention in his life before, holding up his detention slip in reply. Hoseok’s (perfect) mouth settles into an understanding “o”.
“By the way,” Yoongi asks, pretending that he’s not about to throw up, “have you confessed yet?”
He can hardly contain his relief when the younger shakes his head, “I haven’t seen much of him today. Didn’t really have a chance.”
“It’s okay,” Yoongi can barely school his features into a sympathetic gaze, his lips threatening to split into a smile, “you’ll have another chance tomorrow. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you.”
Ruffling Hoseok’s hair, Yoongi turns and walks off. Even though he hasn’t made any progress with forgetting his stupid crush,Yoongi is certain his utter stubbornness will triumph over his dumb, dumb feelings. Positive thoughts , he thinks to himself. Positive thoughts.
~
Yoongi starts showing up to school late every day, earning himself a detention slip every morning. It’s a very effective and time-efficient plan, to be honest — he gets to avoid Hoseok in the morning before homeroom and also after school.
Yoongi has also prepared a rolodex of excuses to skip out on lunch with the squad, opting to eat behind the school gym. At night, after detention, Yoongi cites unfinished homework and impending tests to get out of texting or hanging out with Hoseok. He should really be given a prize for his tremendous efforts; it’s quite a mighty feat after all.
He’s managed to avoid Hoseok for around two weeks already, and he’s not sure whether his best friend has noticed it. If Hoseok or the rest of their friend group has, they most certainly haven’t called him out on it. It’s all good, Yoongi thinks, it’s all good.
It’s his sixteenth consecutive day eating behind the gym when the weird, artsy freshman speaks up.
“Yoongi-ssi?”
The junior turns around in bewilderment, staring warily at the kid, “yeah? Junkook, was it?”
“It’s Jungkook,” the freshman looks slightly annoyed now, “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you eating lunch here all the time now?”
Yoongi blinks dumbly at Jungkook, hesitating, “I— uh. I’m just avoiding people, it’s complicated.”
Jungkook raises a slightly judgemental eyebrow, but doesn’t question him any further.
~
The next day, Yoongi is falling asleep in math class when something sharp nudges against his arm, shaking Yoongi out of his drowsy state, “wha-what?”
“Yoongi,” Seokjin hisses, “you know it’s pretty obvious that you’re avoiding all of us right?”
Yoongi shrugs apologetically, “Sorry, hyung. To be fair, I’m just trying to avoid Hoseok, not all of you.”
“So? You’re his best friend. Just cutting him out of your life is unfair to him. He hasn’t even done anything wrong!” Seokjin must be getting really annoyed, because he jabs his sharp elbow against Yoongi’s ribs, making him wince.
“Look, hyung. I just need to get over Hoseok for once and for all. It’ll make things easier for both of us. Anyway, I’m sure he’s already confessed and gotten together with his crush. He probably hasn’t even noticed I’ve been gone.”
The elder shoots him another indecipherable look, before turning back to his classwork and ignoring his seat mate. Whatever, Yoongi thinks, it’s Seokjin. He’ll stop being mad after a day at worst.
~
Well, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Abort mission , is exactly what runs through Yoongi’s head the moment he sees that the detention hall is empty except for, well, Hoseok. His best friend turns and gives him a slightly forced smile while the teacher-in-charge sighs at Yoongi’s appearance.
“You again? Just sit down. You know the drill.”
With a silent gulp, Yoongi walks into the room and sits in the seat behind Hoseok. Well, this is great. Fucking brilliant.
The three of them sit in awkward silence for a while, the teacher impatiently tapping his fingers on the desk as he marks his students’ homework. Hoseok sneaks glances back at Yoongi once or twice, and they exchange weak smiles.
“I’m going to go handle some errands quickly,” the teacher announces, rubbing his forehead as he gets up, “no funny business while I’m gone.” They both nod. Yoongi can hear the warning sirens blaring in his head at this point. The teacher’s probably going to bail on them until the last minute of detention.
The moment the teacher steps out, Hoseok turns around to face Yoongi, fiddling with his fingers nervously, “hey.”
“Hey,” even though Yoongi has been the one avoiding Hoseok, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t missed his best friend. They had talked every day up till, well, when Yoongi started trying to move on. “Why are you in detention?”
“Well,” Hoseok starts, “I swore in front of Mrs. Park, and she was not in a good mood.”
“You know she can be uptight, why would you do that you dumb fuck?”
“Well, to be honest? I kind of did it just to see you.” Hoseok rubs the nape of his neck gingerly with one hand. Yoongi processes the information silently with wide eyes. “You’ve been getting detention every day for two weeks, and I haven’t seen you much, so I thought I’d join you.”
“Did you miss me that much?” Yoongi laughs drily, like his throat isn’t clogging up with nervous butterflies at that moment.
“Yes.” Hoseok’s quiet, brutally honest answer throws Yoongi off-guard, and he can only gape at Hoseok awkwardly. “I’ve never gone so long without talking to you properly.”
“I— I’m sorry, Hoseok. I’ve just been busy.”
Hoseok remains silent for a while, staring down at the floor. “Really, though? Jungkook told me you’ve been eating lunch behind the gym these days.”
Yoongi’s cheeks burn red at being caught, “wait, what the fuck? How do you know—”
“Please be honest, hyung,” suddenly Hoseok is looking straight into Yoongi’s soul with wide, pleading eyes, and Yoongi can feel himself melting inside, “why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I—”
“It’s totally about the confession, isn’t it?” Hoseok frets, eyes blinking rapidly as they begin to tear up.
“Okay, fine,” Yoongi finally relents, burying his face in his palms, “yes, it’s about the fucking confession.”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry, hyung,” the younger sounds like he’s on the verge of crying now, “I’m so stupid. You weren’t supposed to find out, at least until I confessed. God, you’re probably uncomfortable around me now. I’m so sorry, hyung, I swear.”
Yoongi lifts his head in confusion, “wait, what?”
“I- I was going to confess that night when I called you,” Hoseok’s voice crackles with emotion, “The only reason I called you at 4 am was because I had finally summoned the courage. I would have followed your way of confessing, just to make it obvious. And when you hung up I thought, well he’s just tired right? I’ll try again tomorrow.
“But then the next day came and you were obviously avoiding me, and I didn’t know what to do. And now you keep showing up late to school, disappearing during lunch — How did you find out about it? Because Namjoon hyung swears he hasn’t told anybody. Was I too obvious? I’m sorry, I’ve probably ruined everything between us. God, I’m sorry.”
The only thing Yoongi feels right now is the confusion he’s drowning in, “what do you mean, how did I find out?”
“How did you find out that I like you!”
“What?” Yoongi growls, “I never did. What the fuck? I’ve been avoiding you because I like you , not the other way around. Don’t you like Taehyung? Or I don’t know, Park Jimin?”
Somehow Hoseok manages to still look handsome with red eyes wide open in incredulity, “What do you mean, I like Taehyung? Taehyung is dating Jungkook, which is why I know you’ve been running off during lunch! And have you seen Jimin? He’s straight as a ruler!”
“Oh,” is all Yoongi can say.
“That’s right, ‘oh’,” Hoseok sniffles, “wait. Does this mean that you like me back?”
“I- Y- Yeah. I, uh, havekindabeeninlovewithyousincesixthgrade.”
“What?”
“I’ve kind of been in love with you since sixth grade,” Yoongi mumbles, cheeks flaring fire-engine red.
“Really?” Hoseok looks starry-eyed now, mouth agape, “you’re not fucking with me?”
“Fuck no, I’m not fucking with you,” Yoongi reaches forward and interlaces their fingers together. The butterflies now take up peaceful residence inside his stomach, a pleasant tingling against his skin.
“Good. I’ve been in love with you since freshman year,” Hoseok confesses, smiling down at their clasped hands before leaning in to capture Yoongi’s lips in a kiss.
~
“Finally,” Namjoon groans, “the two of you stopped acting dumb enough to actually talk to one another.”
“Shut up, Namjoon,” Yoongi says — or at least tries to say as Hoseok stuffs a sweet into his mouth (“here Yoongi, try this. My mom made it!”)
“You two are so sweet,” Seokjin coos, fawning over them in his motherly nature.
“To think that the two of you could’ve been like this since freshman year if you’d dug your heads out of your asses,” Taehyung snickers, dodging the candy Hoseok chucks at him.
“You should’ve listened to Hoseok’s ridiculous whining,” Namjoon teases, “ ‘hyuuung, why doesn’t Yoongi hyung love me baaaack?’”
“Don’t forget Yoongi’s pining,” Seokjin joins in, “ ‘Hoseok is so popular and nice and handsome he’ll never like an ugly potato like me!’ ”
“You should’ve seen him eating lunch behind the school gym,” Jungkook chimes in, “it was pathetically funny.”
Yoongi can only muffle his groans of despair into his boyfriend’s shoulder as his friends tease him mercilessly. Hoseok just laughs and presses a kiss to the top of Yoongi’s head.
“Say,” Hoseok whispers to Yoongi while the others continue their teasing, “they may be laughing, but when do you think Seokjin hyung and Namjoon hyung will finally get together?”