#or jimin for being in 4 of the top 6

[btsbs]

I can’t believe Hybe trolling the internet for fan fic is a real thing that happened

[hoseok666]

and they were roommates - ch. 7

pairings: jungkook x reader/taehyung x reader

genre: strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, eventual angst, eventual smut, fluff, pretty much everything . college!jungkook AU, college!taehyung AU, tsundere! jungkook, warm personality taehyung, slowburn

word count: 32.8 k (😏)

series summary: it all started with a rejection from your longtime crush, jeon jungkook. you decided to confess to him on your last day of high school. after a harsh rejection and a rough summer dealing with the heartbreak, you were starting anew once your freshman year of college came. you were going to be sharing an apartment with two other roommates that you don’t even know. what a surprise you’re going to be in for once you find out it’s the one and only: jeon jungkook and kim taehyung.

ch. 1 | ch. 2 | ch. 3 | ch. 4 | ch. 5 | ch. 6 | ch. 7

It’s around 8 in the morning when you wake up from your slumber. You’re greeted with a shock of pain shooting through your head and your body is feeling as if it’s floating on water. “Fucking hangover.” you grumble to yourself. You press a hand onto one of your temples. 

You managed to get up from your comfy bed and walk to your desk drawer, where you found a small bottle of pain reliever pills. You pop two of the capsules into your mouth, washing it down with a random bottle of water you had on top of your desk. The hangover wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. After all, you were able to sober up a lot faster than your friends did. 

You were about to lay back down on your bed until you felt your stomach rumble. It was making gassy noises and hunger cues at the same time. Great. I have to shit and eat. You open your bedroom door and are met with the smell of a rich, salty umami scent surfing around the apartment floor. The smell caused your stomach to growl even more. 

Before you went to check out whoever and whatever was in the kitchen, you used the restroom to release whatever your body wanted to waste out. After brushing your teeth and washing your hands, you applied heavy concealer where Jungkook had left his hickies on your neck from last night. You entered the kitchen and caught the sight of Taehyung stirring a large pot of miso soup with a ladle. Jimin was already sitting on the table sipping the soup. When Taehyung notices your presence, he greets you with his signature grin. “Morning, __. Sleep well?” 

“Yeah, I guess so. Woke up with a slight hangover though, so I just popped some pills. Do you guys need some?” you ask the two. Jimin shakes his head, rejecting your offer. “This soup is enough to cure me.” He says after swallowing down the rest of his bowl. “I’m good too but thanks for asking, ___.” Taehyung softened at you just being…you. Considerate, selfless you. It was one of the reasons why he fell in love with you. His stomach flip flops after he is reminded about the realization from last night. 

“Do you want some miso? It’ll help with rehydrating yourself.” Taehyung offered. You accepted his offer and joined Jimin at the table. “Can I sip on some of your water?” You ask Jimin. “Go ahead.” You gladly reach his large glass of fresh cold water, and your ‘sip’ turns into you finishing it completely. 

“So, I said you could have a sip, not finish it.” Jimin stared at you as if he wanted to kill you. “Relax, I’ll refill it for you.” You chuckle, and went to the sink, refilling the water that you indirectly declared was half yours now. 

After Taehyung serves you a medium-sized bowl of miso, he joins the table with you and Jimin with his own bowl too. He chose to sit next to you. You give Taehyung a grateful smile. “Thank you so much for the meal, Tae. I’ll eat it well.” Taehyung ruffles your hair and gives you a gentle pat on your back. “Enjoy.” 

As per usual, Jimin rolls his eyes at Taehyung being oblivious to his own feelings. There was a comfortable silence in the kitchen. Jimin was just scrolling through his phone while you and Taehyung were devouring the miso. 

While Jimin is scrolling through his Instagram stories, he sees that Namjoon has posted a couple of things on his story. Jimin skips through the ones of him just recording the party, and himself with his friends. Jimin was about to just skip his story entirely until he gets to a post of you and Namjoon posing in front of the mirror together. He had arm around you and you were holding up a peace sign. His eyes widened at the sight. “Wow, not Namjoon already posting you on his Instagram story.” Jimin excitedly shoves his phone in front of you. 

When you see the picture, your face heats up. “Oh, yea that happened.” You say sheepishly. Taehyung tried not to get jealous but he’s just naturally a jealous person. It doesn’t feel good for him to see you potentially seeing another guy, especially upon recently learning that Taehyung indeed has strong feelings for you. 

“Well? Are you just gonna say that? What else happened?” Jimin pressed. You debated on telling the boys that Namjoon had asked you out on a date later this week. You felt shy to say out loud that you were going on a first date with someone…ever. Namjoon is your first ever real date. You’ve kissed only two people in your life; Kim Seokjin, and one guy you had lost your virginity to when you were a third year in high school. His name was Hwang Hyunjin. You and Hyunjin were not an official couple. It was more like what they call nowadays; a “sneaky link”. Hyunjin was attracted to you, you thought he was hot enough to fuck. The two of you were just horny teenagers and wanted to get your virginities over with. It was just sex and kisses, no dates and no feelings. Hyunjin ended up transferring to a new school for his senior year and you haven’t heard from him since. 

You decided that you shouldn't make it a huge deal to hide the date from them. “He, uh, actually asked me out on a date later this week.” You confess. Jimin’s eyes immediately fixated on Taehyung's reaction. Taehyung tried to get himself to say something. Anything. But he felt as if his throat was closed. 

“That’s…great, __. Are you excited?” Jimin began. You nodded. “Yeah, I am. He seems nice.” You didn’t want to admit that he was your first date ever because you knew they were going to just tease you for being an inexperienced loser. “He’s supposed to text me later today to confirm the time and date.” You added. You chugged down a large spoonful of your miso. 

Taehyung remained silent. He wasn’t heartbroken but he felt challenged. If Taehyung wanted you, he had to get you one way or another. He doesn’t know if he should suppress his feelings or express it the best way he can. 

Suddenly, the three of you heard a bedroom door opening. It had to be Jungkook. Your stomach felt as if it was fluttering with anxiety. This would be the first time you would be facing Jungkook since you decided to end whatever relationship the two of you had. Enemies? Frenemies? Whatever the title was, you didn’t want anything to do with Jungkook for right now. 

It came to your surprise when it wasn’t Jungkook who entered the kitchen. The three of you made eye contact with a foreign figure standing in the kitchen entrance. It was a girl. A pretty girl. This pretty girl was wearing an oversized black t-shirt. Your stomach and heart dropped in realization when you knew who the shirt belonged to. 

“Morning.” she spoke out, giving you guys a short bow. She looked a bit nervous, as if she was meeting Jungkook’s parents. The three of you didn’t verbally say anything; you all slightly bowed back to her. “Would it be alright if I grabbed some water from the sink?” she asks, while playing her fingers. Taehyung motioned her where she could find the cups. “Go ahead.” He said. 

She smiled at him graciously, and grabbed herself not one but two small glasses. She filled them both up with water and gave you guys one final bow before walking back to Jungkook’s room. The slamming of the door brought the three of you back to reality. 

“Uhm.” Jimin starts. “Yeah..” Taehyung continues. “So, does he do this often?” Jimin asked you both. Taehyung shakes his head. “This is the first girl he’s ever brought back.” He informs. The emotion that was coursing through you was a mixture of pain, jolt, and numbness. “She’s pretty.” You admit. Jimin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she is but..aren’t one night stands supposed to not interact with household members? That’s like against the law of hookups.” 

Taehyung snorted at Jimin’s sentence. “You’re so dumb.” He playfully hits his head. “Jungkook though? He’s really entering his hoe phase now. About time.” Jimin sighs in relief, crossing his arms behind his head as he leaned back into the chair. It was silent for a few seconds. Jimin sat up quickly at a realization. “That’s why I heard moaning when I came home last night. I thought it was Taehyung watching porn.” 

You managed to crack out a chuckle at Jimin’s abruptness. Jimin is the comedic relief in this household that you, Taehyung and Jungkook needed. 

. . .

When Yeri returned back to Jungkook’s room, he was still asleep. He was snoring quietly, his pink lips slightly parted. He was shirtless and bottomless underneath the covers. Yeri sat on her side of the bed and simply stared at Jungkook. She was in awe at his natural beauty. She could stare at him for hours. When Yeri took notice of him at the party last night, he was all she could stare at all night. His beauty was striking. When Yeri knows she wants something, she gets it. And that’s exactly what went down last night. 

Jungkook leant down to whisper in her ear and ask if she wanted to go back to his place. Without even thinking about it, she agreed. Yeri and Jungkook took an Uber back to the apartment. On the way there, the two of them were in a heavy makeout session throughout the entire ride. Poor Uber driver. At least the heavy tip Jungkook left for the driver made up for the trauma. The rest of the night was pure bliss for Yeri. She hasn’t cummed that many times in a one night stand since…ever. Jungkook was a god with his fingers, mouth, and with his dick. Yeri took a glance at her thighs to see if he left any marks on her. He was kissing them like crazy last night. She was met to see no hickies on her thighs, or neck or anywhere. 

Yeri knew that Jungkook shared his apartment with roommates but when she saw you in the kitchen with the other men, she wasn’t expecting one of his roommates to be a woman. And Yeri recognized you too. Yeri has only known Jungkook for twelve hours so she knew that it wasn’t any of her concern of what kind of people live with Jungkook. However, when she had seen Jungkook at the party, she knew that she did not want to use him to be any kind of a casual hookup. She wanted more. 

Jungkook’s eyes began to flutter open from his sleep. He was a light sleeper so he could feel that someone had been in his room and observing him. When his eyes fully opened, he was met with the sight of Yeri staring at him. He almost screamed, if he was being honest. He wasn’t expecting her to still be here when he awoke from his slumber. 

“Why hello there, Jungkook.” She cooed at him. She handed him a glass of water and two pain reliever capsules. 

Jungkook stared at her for a bit. He didn’t understand why she was still here and giving him pills and water as if she was his girlfriend or something. “Thanks.” he muttered and hesitantly took the water and medicine. 

He gulped it down and placed the empty glass on his nightstand. “How did you sleep?” Yeri asks. She reached down to tuck a piece of his jet-black hair behind his pierced ears. Jungkook shuddered at her touch. Her hands were freezing cold. 

Before he could answer, he looked around his bedroom. Their clothes were scattered throughout the floor. The messiest his room has ever been in awhile. He hates mess. He hates anything that isn’t in his order. 

When he attempted to sit up, his back instantly began to sting. It was as if his skin was ripped open. He hissed in pain and attempted to turn his head to examine the cause of the pain. Yeri got up from the bed and went to look at his back for him. When she noticed all the scratch marks she left on him, she winced hard. 

“Oh..I’m sorry. Seems like I scratched you a bit too hard.” She flashed him an apologetic smile. His mind flashbacked to Yeri riding him and digging her nails, piercing through his skin, from her pleasure. 

He cringed at the memory, not wanting to reminisce on what the two of them did last night. He felt awful to admit that he was embarrassed his drunk self caused him to engage into another hookup. Two hookups in one night was an extremely rare occasion for him. 

Over the summer, prior to beginning his freshman year at Konkuk, Jungkook decided to gain sexual experience to prepare himself for the college girls. He found girls on Tinder or Hinge that were willing to fuck and fuck only. As much as Jungkook tried to act like he didn’t care about girls and dating, he knew that he didn’t want to waste his college years without any sexual experience. He wanted to have stories to look back on, like Taehyung did. Jungkook didn’t like catching himself trying to follow Taehyung’s playboy footsteps however it was hard for him. Both Jungkook and Taehyung were extremely popular with women and it was overwhelming trying to contain the amount of attention the two of them had. 

“S’okay.” he mumbled back to Yeri’s apology. He got up from his bed and reached into his drawer to look for an outfit to change into. “I saw your roommates. They were eating in the kitchen.” Yeri mentioned. Jungkook silently panicked to himself. Everyone met her already? Why would she go into the kitchen and introduce herself?

“Are you hungry? We can join them in the kitchen, if you want?” She continued to talk. Jungkook wondered to himself why the hell Yeri won’t stop talking. He put on a gray plain sweatshirt, solid black boxers and matching gray sweatpants. “I, uh, actually have to be somewhere and am running late.” He indirectly asks her to leave. Yeri gets the message clearly. “So you live with her then?” She asks without any context. Jungkook cocks a brow up. “Who?” 

“The girl in the kitchen. I saw the two of you going somewhere in private last night.” If she was upset, she wasn’t showing it. “Oh. Her. She’s just my roommate. Needed to talk about her boy problems and came to me for advice.” He fed another lie. Yeri took a second to process what he said. She had a feeling that Jungkook wasn’t telling her the full truth. She remembered seeing you look annoyed with him and vice versa. 

“I see. Just wondering.” she ends the conversation. “So, I guess I’m going home in my Playboy bunny costume then?” She asks rhetorically, expecting Jungkook to give her an outfit to go home into. 

“Oh, sorry.” Jungkook went digging into his drawer to find a pair of shorts that he hoped would fit Yeri’s petite frame. He found a pair of biker shorts that should be able to fit Yeri. “Try this on.” She slides the shorts on. They were a bit loose on her waist but the oversized shirt she had on should be able to cover that. Jungkook then went into his closet and grabbed an unused trash bag. “You can put your costume inside this.” “I’ll order you an uber right now too.”

Yeri’s expectations for him were met expeditiously and she gave Jungkook bonus points for the trash bag. “Thank you.” She gives him a soft smile, which he returns back. “I’ll be going now. Hopefully, I’ll see you around to return your clothes sometime?” She asks with desperation laced in her tone.

Jungkook nodded in agreement. He had actually no plans to get in contact with Yeri again. He just needed to release the sexual frustration that was left in him after not being cum from the hookup with you. However, Yeri was wearing his most favorite black shirt so he definitely wanted that back. 

“Can I walk you to the door?” he offered. “Of course.” Jungkook opened his bedroom door for Yeri and the two of them made their way to the apartment door. Jungkook took a quick glance into the kitchen as he and Yeri walked past it. You were no longer in the kitchen. It was just Taehyung by himself and he was washing the dishes. 

When Yeri grabs onto the doorknob, she gives Jungkook one last look. “See you around, Jeon Jungkook.” She gives him one final flirty smile and exits the apartment. Jungkook breathes out a breath he was holding in. 

“So you’re hooking up now?” Taehyung approached him, slapping a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, Tae. I know I shouldn’t do that. I won’t do it again.” Jungkook apologized. “What? I’m not upset. I’m beaming with joy! See?” He flashed him a toothy grin.

Jungkook smirked at his brother. “Very funny.” 

“So...how’d you guys meet? What’s her name?” Taehyung gave Jungkook a hyped up smile, finally happy that Jungkook is doing ‘regular-guy-things’ and not just sitting in his room doing homework and watching anime all day.

“This is where I stop talking to you.” Jungkook attempted to flee away from his annoying step-brother, but Taehyung wasn’t having any of that. “Bro, just tell me. I promise I’m not gonna stalk her or anything like that. Yet.” 

“What?”

“Kidding. Now tell me her name.”

Jungkook sighs in defeat. “Yeri. Just Yeri, I don’t know anything else about her. I literally just met her at the party last night.” 

As Jungkook said that, he was on his phone as if he wasn’t paying him any attention. This ticked Jungkook off. “How are you gonna make me tell you stuff about her when you’re on your ph-“

“Got it. I found her Instagram. Lee Yerim. Must go by Yeri for short.” Taehyung interrupted and shoved his cellphone in front of his face. Jungkook didn’t care to look at her Instagram page that was right in front of him. He doesn’t care about Yeri.

“I didn’t ask to see her Insta, dude.” 

“You don’t wanna follow her? At all?”

Jungkook groaned in annoyance. “I’m not like you. I don’t crawl back to every woman I touch.” 

Taehyung clicked his phone’s off button and tucked it into one of his pockets. He chuckled at Jungkook’s shade. “When are you gonna meet someone you genuinely care about?” he asked abruptly.

Jungkook was taken aback by his question. “Why are you asking this?”

Tae shrugged. “I just would like to see you experiencing love. Or a crush. Or even tolerate someone.” 

Jungkook’s jaw clenched a bit. Jungkook can’t remember the last time he felt romantic emotions toward someone. It’s not like he doesn’t do romance, though. It is just not a priority for him right now. He doesn’t prioritize anything that doesn’t benefit himself or his career in any way. Besides, love hasn’t done anything spectacular for his life. Love is like an estranged parent for him: knows it exists, but not familiar to it.

Jungkook is aware that his estranged relationship with love is why he has a cold personality. The closest person in his life that he can confidently know that he loves is Taehyung. 

“I don’t have time for love.” He simply answered. Taehyung let out a breath. He knew he was going to say that. Jungkook doesn’t make time for anything that doesn’t have to do with his studies or work.

“Love doesn’t care about timing. You can’t always push the thought of a relationship away.” 

“I can do what I want.” Jungkook stubbornly continued. Taehyung rolled his eyes at his brother. “You’re so annoying.” Taehyung walked away from Jungkook and made his way towards his bedroom. “I’m gonna get ready for work.” 

Jungkook stared at his figure until he disappeared into his bedroom. After being left alone, he released a long breath of air. Taehyung and his weird questions reminded Jungkook of you. He remembered the question you had asked him a while ago: “Are you content with your life?”

Jungkook still doesn’t know the answer to that question.

. . .

 It was the next week, a Saturday afternoon, when you were in the middle of cleaning your room until you heard a ding sound from your phone. 

You walked over to where you had left your cell phone charging on your bed. 

Namjoon: So how does tomorrow at 5pm sound? Dinner on me. 

Your heart quickened at Namjoon finally texting you. You would be lying if you said that you weren’t waiting on his text all day. You didn’t want to respond right away, it would look too desperate.

Instead, you immediately texted Hoseok. 

you: guess who’s going on a date tomorrow :)

Immediately, he responded. Typical Hoseok.

hobi: uhm WHAT..

 with who???

you: guess 😝

hobi: taehyung ??

You groaned in annoyance. Taehyung and I will never happen.

you: no. -.-

hobi: then i don’t care

you: LOL ur so annoying. Do you remember the guy I was dancing with last night?

hobi: wait him? he’s actually so fine. GO AHEAD 🥸

you: hehe thanks :) I can't wait to see where he’ll take me. 

hobi: bring protection <3

you: i don't let them hit on the first date 💋

. . .

“You know Namjoon and __’s date is today, right?” Jimin joined Taehyung in the living room. “Yeah, I do.” 

Jimin searched for a sign of jealousy on his best friend’s face. “So, what do you think of the two? Think they’re cute together?” Jimin decided to play with him. 

“Yeah, they’re alright.” Taehyung replied dryly. “Hey. Cut it out,” Jimin snapped. Taehyung looked up from his phone and shot Jimin a bewildered look. “Fuck are you talking about?” 

“Cut your little act. I’ve been your best friend since we were fucking five. Do you really think you can hide shit from me? I know you like __. Heck, I’m shocked that no one else caught onto it because you make it obvious as hell. When she enters the room, she’s all you’re looking at.” Jimin spat. He was beyond irritated at this point. “Why are you just gonna sit there and let your feelings continue to build up?”

Taehyung remained silent. This time, he didn’t want to lie and say that he didn’t like you when he really did. And he was desperate to talk about it with someone. Someone he trusts. 

“She’s my friend,” He starts off. Jimin was about to call him out again until Taehyung continued.

“And I don’t want to ruin the friendship we’ve built together. Plus, she seems happy dating around right now.” 

“I don’t understand. Are you admitting that you have feelings for her?” Jimin asked for clarification.

Taehyung takes a deep breath. He’s nervous as fuck. Jimin will never leave him alone once he confirms it to him. 

“I do.” 

Immediately, Jimin jumps to his feet and runs toward Taehyung, plopping his butt down the couch, next to him.

“Finally! Fucking finally! When did you come to your senses?” Taehyung couldn’t help but to laugh at Jimin’s excitement. He expected Jimin to be happy but not this happy. 

“Last night, I guess? I don’t know man. We were just on the way home after the party. And I felt…just so happy doing the most mundane thing with her.” 

Jimin smiled in pure genuinity at hearing his best friend babble himself over you. As a good best friend would be, he wanted his best friend to be happy more than anything. 

“Wow, this is so crazy, Tae. My boy is in love.” He sings out ‘love’. “Please shut up.” 

Jimin topples over in happiness and laughter with Taehyung. “So, what’s next now? You’re just gonna continue being her friend? Even though it'll literally kill you on the inside?” 

“For now, yes. I don’t wanna overwhelm her. She’s probably just trying to date around and live life. Doesn't wanna settle down with a simple guy like me yet, right?” Jimin groaned as soon as he finished his sentence. “With that mentality, you will never have a girlfriend. Tae, you have a good personality, good looks, and have a great sense of humor. You have the golden trio! Why not use it to your advantage and get the girl? It’s not like Namjoon is her boyfriend.” 

“I just need to be sure that our friendship is ready to go to the next level. I don’t want to just confess, and make it awkward for us if she doesn’t feel the same. Also, you can’t forget that we are literally roommates. It would be a stressful living situation for not just her, but you and Kook would be affected as well. There’s a lot to consider here.” Taehyung rambled on. He knew he was making valid points. Potentially dating your roommate is one of the most awkward and stressful decisions anyone could make. Jimin could see where he was coming from. 

“You’re right. Sorry for pestering you about it, I’m just excited to be right about you.” Taehyung snorted at that. “Dickhead.”

“Do I actually only stare at __ when she’s in the room?”

“You literally drool.” 

Jimin suddenly had an idea. But it was a bad idea. It was…sort of manipulative. And this idea hit him out of nowhere. Seeing the way Taehyung lit up talking about you, it was something Jimin had never seen before. Like Jimin and all of their highschool population, they all knew that Taehyung used to be quite a player. Therefore, the sight of Taehyung genuinely liking a girl was very new and refreshing. And as his best friend in the whole world, Jimin has the right to do anything to make his friend happy. 

. . .

Drip.

A singular droplet plopped on the top of your head. You looked up to the sky, only to be met with incoming dark gray clouds. Fuck. Of course it would rain right now. 

As if on cue, one singular droplet turned into two, three, four and many more. 

The smell of wet concrete and humidity filled the air. The rain began to drench you. You sighed heavily with great annoyance at this inconvenience. The bus stop you were at had no benches nor a shelter. It was just a pole and a sign. You held your hands up above you, as if you could successfully umbrella yourself on your own.

You checked your cell phone for the millionth time, hoping for a text from Namjoon…again. 

Your date was supposed to start thirty minutes ago. You were waiting outside for him, mentally giving him the benefit of the doubt. But you knew he wasn’t coming. He didn’t even have the audacity to call or text that he wasn’t going to make it. You felt humiliated and angry. You’ve never been stood up before and you didn’t know why or if you did anything for Namjoon to ditch you. 

You sigh of defeat and begin to make your way home. Even though you were literally at a bus stop, you felt that walking in the rain would match the mood you were feeling. A bit dramatic of you but it was suitable for the situation.

As you were walking, a dark, moody presence was felt behind you. Its presence was so calming yet uncomfortable at the same time. And familiar too.

The rain that was drenching you seconds ago came to a halt. 

You were looking down at the ground as you turned and you were met with a pair of black Doc Marten boots. Immediately recognizing whose shoes it belonged to, you looked up and was unsurprisingly met with the sight of Jeon Jungkook, holding an umbrella above you.

You and Jungkook remained in intense eye contact. Your breath was hitched in your throat. This was the last thing you would’ve expected to happen to you. He was the last person you would expect to hold an umbrella for you.

“Hi.” Jungkook spoke. “Hi.” you say back, looking intensely into his soulless eyes. 

It was extremely uncomfortable to be alone with him after what happened at the Halloween party. You had been successfully doing your best to avoid him. It was still hard for your mind to wrap around the fact the two of you had hooked up together. 

“W-what’s up?” You croaked out. “I’m heading home.” 

“So am I.” He said. “Let’s go home together.” Jungkook stood beside you, trying his best to make the umbrella completely cover the both of you. Your heart was beating erratically right now. Jungkook remained quiet as the two of you walked together. “Wait, weren’t we just at a bus stop?” Jungkook halted. You hesitantly nodded. “Then why are we walking? Let’s just head back to the stop. I’m sure the bus will be coming soon.” He said monotonically. You followed him as if you were a lost puppy and the two of you sat on the bus stop bench. 

The awkward tension was thick enough to slice your skull open. Your heart’s beating only got quicker and if you felt as if you could faint at any moment. You hated this; why is he here? Why is he talking to you as if nothing went down between you both? You wanted to so badly run away and never come back to your apartment. 

The bus finally arrived after what felt like an eternity. Jungkook got up and motioned you to get in first. 

You sped away and hopped on the bus and tried to sit as far as you could, hoping that Jungkook would get his own seat.

Unfortunately that did not happen. 

“What are you..” You stammer. Jungkook closed his umbrella and readjusted his sitting position.

Jungkook stared straight ahead from his seat, as if he didn't have a single thought running through his head. Soon after, you felt the bus rumbling. As the bus drove away from your stop, you looked out the window.

Just five minutes ago, you were waiting impatiently for your date to arrive, you gave up and tried to go home alone but now you are taking the bus home with Jeon Jungkook sitting right next to you.

It has been a couple of days since the Halloween party incident and you have done a great job at distancing yourself from Jungkook. You hadn’t spoken a word to him since then and have not seen him physically. It drove you a bit mad, though. Not seeing him, not having any contact with him while trying to avoid making the apartment’s tension awkward. You were willing to take the Halloween incident to the grave with you. 

“So, I’m guessing the date didn’t go well?” 

You snapped your head to face him. “Huh? What makes you say that?” You scoffed. 

“If it went well, you wouldn’t be riding the bus home alone right now, would you?” 

You scoffed again, completely blown. “This guy..” you mumbled under your breath. “What if I took the bus alon to meet up with him? I’m going home the same way I went. Alone.” you lied. It was for your pride. 

“Why would a guy let his date go home alone?” He asked. Why is he asking so many questions? Why does he want to pick on you so bad? Wasn’t the Halloween incident enough?

You decided to ignore him. You weren’t going to feed into what he wants to hear. Silence fell between the two of you for a moment. 

Not wanting to sit in silence with Jungkook, you opened your bag and reached your earpods. As soon as you were about to insert a pod into an ear, the annoying boy spoke again. 

“Namjoon isn’t a serious guy.”

This got your attention. “What?”

“Going on a date with Kim Namjoon and expecting anything after is like waiting for world peace to happen: impossible. You should’ve known better.” He scolded you. Your eyebrow twitched upward. “Why are you telling me to do better? It was just for fun.” You lied again. You were embarrassed to admit that you were hoping your date with Namjoon would turn into something new and exciting and serious.

“Frat guys are a waste of time. They are not fun nor serious. Don’t waste your precious time with them.” He continued. 

This made you angrier. Why does he care so much? 

“Well, I got stood up. So, it doesn’t really matter anymore. You won’t catch me trying to hang out with a frat guy ever again.”

You didn’t like that you were venting out your feelings to Jeon Jungkook. Jungkook was the last person to care about your feelings and thoughts on just about anything. 

“You can’t just let any guy date you. You have to be careful and selective with whom you choose to date.” Jungkook annoyingly analyzed. You chuckle at him. “What are you, Aristotle? No, he just faked his personality at the party to get himself some pussy.” You shot back. This earned an arrogant smile from Jungkook. “Maybe so.” 

“Where did you come from?” You decided to prompt. Might as well try to continue whatever conversation the two of you were sharing. “Just errands.” He cracked his knuckles. Something tells you that Jungkook was doing more than errands. Perhaps he went out with the girl from the party that he fucked last night. You hate the fact that you still feel hurt whenever you think about Jungkook doing things with another girl that wasn’t you.

“Are you okay?” You turned to look at Jungkook. You were shocked to hear him ask you this type of question. 

“Why are you asking?” 

“Just answer me.” 

You gulped down saliva and nodded. “I’m fine. Not my fault that he didn’t have the balls to tell me he didn’t wanna go out anymore.” 

Jungkook liked hearing that you weren’t gonna let Namjoon ruin your mood. It made you seem strong. “Was he gonna be your first date?” He continued to ask. Suddenly, this bus ride felt way too long. You didn’t know that Jungkook had such a nosey side to him.

Immediately, you became defensive, like always. “Hey, Jungkook. I’m not this bitchless loser you are making me out to be. I’ve been on dates before,” you lied. “I’ve been kissed before, I’ve had sex before, I’ve done everything, okay?” You said a bit too loudly. You tried ignoring the stares you were getting from other bus passengers. Jungkook stifled back a laugh at your irritated response. “Everything?” He repeated.

You couldn’t help but wheeze out a brief laugh. “Shut up.” You groaned, biting your lower lip to restrict more laughter to come out. 

“I am still doubting it. You have no game.” It was as if Jungkook’s favorite game in the world was to get under your skin and you despised how easy it was for you to give him the power to constantly and consistently piss you off. 

“Really? Do you remember Hwang Hyunjin? He was one of the cutest guys in our grade,” you looked Jungkook straight in the eyes. He was still facing straight but it seemed like he was listening. “Well, we fucked back then. And when I say fuck I mean actually fucked. Like dick-inside-vagina fuck.” Again, you got more stares from the person sitting in front of you. You returned back a scowl. 

Jungkook slowly began to face you. To say that he was shocked was an understatement. Hwang Hyunjin used to be one of the guys that every girl in their school wanted. It was like a competition between him and Jungkook on who was the most popular guy in their grade. Jungkook didn’t give a single fuck about him but Hyunjin constantly tried to belittle him to make him feel better about himself. At first he would try to bully him for being the smartest student in their class and for Jungkook’s preference of sitting alone everywhere. However, Jungkook had to teach Hyunjin a lesson on not to mess with him; a violent lesson.

After that, Hyunjin kept his distance from Jungkook for the rest of the school year; all the way until his transfer to a different high school in the middle of their third year. He was surprised that you were previously sexually involved with Hyunjin. He wasn’t exactly the nicest guy nor was he the type of guy he thought you would go for. 

“You…used to sleep with Hyunjin?” He asked. You nodded proudly. “Wow. Maybe you are dumb after all.” 

You rolled your eyes heavily and didn’t feel like continuing this conversation with him anymore. “Why don’t I remember seeing the two of you interact?” 

“We weren’t in a relationship. Just fuck buddies or whatever.” You mumbled. You have moved on from Hyunjin after he transferred but the memory of Hyunjin’s commitment issues and his treatment towards you still hurts to remember. 

You thought that he could’ve been the one. However, he strictly wanted your fling to be sexual only. No strings attached whatsoever. But in your head, Hyunjin was the most ‘thoughtful’ guy you had ever known. He was ‘thoughtful’ enough to worry about you to make sure you don’t get hurt or get led on this situationship. You thought he was careful, articulate, and set on what he wants in life. You thought he cared about you by the way he would caress your body and leave sweet kisses all over you after sex. You thought he cared about you by the way he would give you secret winks at the school hallway, as if he was flirting with you. You thought he liked you by the way he would moan your name and your name only during sex. He would say how good you felt, how good you tasted, how your kisses are the best. You thought he liked you when he would act like he didn’t know you at school. He was just trying to protect your identity, right?

Hwang Hyunjin was not thoughtful. He was not careful, not articulate, and not set on what he wanted. He didn’t care about you nor did he like you. It was all in your head.  As if your situation wasn’t any more cliché, Hyunjin was just a popular guy hooking up with a not-so popular girl and he was too ashamed to be associated with you. When in the privacy of your childhood bedroom, that was when he was being his true self. Outside of those walls, he was ashamed of you. Embarrassed of you. He just wanted you for sex and sex only. He used you and a part of you—no—all of you knew that. You just thought, in your little idealized mind, he actually wanted you at all. 

And that’s what hurt you in the end. Your fantasies. 

After Hyunjin, Jeon Jungkook returned to the picture:

It’s common knowledge that Jungkook was the genius of your high school. He was too focused on his schoolwork to have fun and date around. And you had admired that about him. Jungkook was one of the many school’s heartthrob, but he was the top. The ultimate one, the one that every single girl in Busan knew of and wanted. Due to his prestigious awards and national acknowledgments, your entire hometown knew of Jeon Jungkook. Jungkook was not only idealized by you but every other girl who had a crush on him. You thought he was mysterious, suave, introverted, and humble. 

The Jungkook that you know as of right now is still the same introverted intelligent guy but he’s abrasive, cold, and self centered. He’s not emotionally intelligent. He only thinks for and about himself. He’s extremely blunt and honest with his words and he doesn’t know how to read the room. He has the beauty and the brains but you’re not sure if he has the basic foundation of being a good person. 

“I’m guessing your type is selfish assholes.” Jungkook spoke. You smirked. “I mean yeah, I used to like you, right?” 

Jungkook's eyes darkened at that, slightly intimidating you. “What? Are you not a selfish asshole?” You edged. “I don’t care what you think of me. I could care less of what anyone thinks of me. If you want to think of me as a selfish asshole, then go ahead.” He hissed. He was so irritated with you.

“I don’t have to think about it, I know it. And you’re also someone I was dumb enough to like. You even said so yourself.” 

Jungkook looked confused. “You said you don’t like dumb girls, remember that?” 

“You’re expecting me to remember any conversations I’ve had with you?” 

“I’m not the one who’s trying to engage in conversing with you. You chose to sit next to me and ask about Namjoon. Maybe go sit somewhere else so you can continue to forget about this conversation too.” You couldn’t help your anger at the moment. Jungkook gets under your skin so badly, as if he yearns to piss you off. You’ve never had anyone push your buttons the way Jungkook did. 

Jungkook remained silent yet continued to stare at you. A new, indescribable emotion quickly flew through him when he saw the way your lips were pouting softly and seeing the way your eyebrows were crinkled in frustration. He had to hold back a chuckle seeing you so upset with him. You looked as if you were a child that was denied candy. Jungkook kind of melted in a way seeing you in this state. “Didn’t realize you were so whiny,” he continued to tease. 

“Jungkook, I swear to god if yo-”

Two small bottles of banana milk and strawberry milk were shoved in front of your face. “Pick one.” He interrupted. You quickly shut up and angrily eyed the two milks. “Why?” 

“You don’t want them?” 

“No, I do, it’s just…,” 

“Just what?” 

You gave him a suspicious look. “You poisoned them, right?” This earned a hearty chuckle from Jungkook. “Look at you being a comedian.” 

You pouted again as you snatched the banana milk from one of his hands. 

“I’m done with boys.” You say out of nowhere. This gets Jungkook’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“I’m done with boys. I’m…not going on another date with a guy unless I truly know him. You know, I’m here to get good grades, make memories and have fun. Not to waste my time on dudes who just want to dip their dick in anything that has a hole.” You vented out once again. “And I meant it when I said that I was done liking you. In case you remembered what went down on Halloween. I don’t know you well, therefore there is no use of me to continue liking you. I hope that we can move forward from what happened on that day.”

Jungkook, stunned, stared at you. He had no idea what to say. He suddenly felt a bit intimidated to be sitting near you. Especially since you brought up that forbidden night between the two of you. 

And then, he too, felt pity towards you. The past few months he had gotten to know you had been full of arguing and distance. Here you are, apologizing to him for simply liking him—or liked—him and not knowing him well. Jungkook felt uncomfortable. He didn’t like that you were still being kind to him after everything he’s done to you. 

“I’m sorry you haven’t seen the real me yet. I’ll work on that.” He replied.

You gave him a perplexed look. “Real you? You mean you aren’t an asshole?” Jungkook let out a laugh at that, rolling his eyes. “You’re the asshole.” He mumbled.

“Are we on good terms now?” Jungkook bored his doe eyes onto yours. Of course, he’s still gorgeous, that’s never going to change. 

“Yeah. Good terms. Good roommates!” You grin. Jungkook rolled his eyes at you again. “Good terms, good roommates. Okay.” And the two of you shared a kind smile with each other.

“Konkuk University.” An automated voice called out the next stop. “We’re home.” You say. The two of you get up from your seats and ride off the bus.

Jungkook felt a sense of satisfaction in his chest after the two of you agreed to remain on good terms. Before, he felt as if he was walking on millions of eggshells around you, trying to avoid the extreme tension between you both. He didn’t want to live in a household where he needed to avoid a single roommate that hated his guts. He didn’t want that energy soaring through the apartment. And so, he needed to reach good terms with you. Not just regular okay terms, it needed to be good for him. For some reason, he didn’t want bad blood between you and him.

It was just you and him walking together towards your apartment. The rain turned into a slight drizzle, pitter pattering on the pavement. Jungkook whipped out the umbrella and placed it above the two of you again.

“It’s just drizzling.” You say.

“Don’t ruin the moment.” 

. . .

It was one in the morning when Jungkook was interrupted by his studying when he received a text message from a random number. He dropped his pen on the desk and picked up his iPhone.

unknown: what are u doing tomorrow?

He raised a brow up. Who could be texting me? I have everyone’s number saved.

He decided to reply back to the mysterious human. Maybe it was just a bot?

jungkook: Who is this?

Almost immediately, the person/bot responded. 

unknown: wow are you seriously asking this

Jungkook was starting to get annoyed. He wasn’t in the mood to play games, he has a fucking exam tomorrow. He thought that maybe his roommates would know who the mysterious number was. Maybe it was a friend of theirs?

He got up from his desk and opened his door. You, Jimin and Taehyung were in the kitchen baking brownies. The three of them offered Jungkook to join but he declined the offer. “Do any of you guys know who the hell this number belongs to?” He showed the contact to the three, furrowing his brows in annoyance. 

“No idea, Kook.” Jimin answered. You and Taehyung shook your heads, also not knowing who the number belonged to.

“Seems like you should know who they are.” Taehyung smirked. Jungkook tilted his head, still thinking about who it could be. “I seriously save everyone’s number, brother. It might just be a bot or someth-“ The mysterious number double texted.

unknown: its yeri. We exchanged numbers the other night? lol.

Jungkook’s confused expression turned into a solemn deadpanned look. “Nevermind. I know who it is.” Jungkook sighed.

“Well who is it?” Jimin asked as he licked raw brownie batter off the mixing spoon. “None of your business. I’m going back to studying. Let me know when the brownies are ready.” Jimin didn’t let him walk away so easily. He jumped on Jungkook’s back, causing an uproar from him. “What the-“ 

Taehyung joined in and grabbed the phone from him while Jimin physically held him back. “What are you assholes doing?” Jungkook shouted. You were stifling back a laugh at the sight of Jungkook being thrown around. 

“Well well well. If it isn't Ms. Yeri hitting you up, eh?” Taehyung cooed out. He reread Yeri’s text over and over. A grin spread on his face. Taehyung was happy that Yeri and Jungkook were still keeping in contact. Finally a girl that could make him happy, right?

Your heart admittedly sank at hearing that sentence. It was obvious that Yeri must be the girl that Jungkook slept with from the Halloween party. You could tell that she was into Jungkook at the night of the party but you didn’t think that the two of them would still keep in contact after the party. He must really like her.

Jungkook was finally able to push Jimin off of him. “She’s the one hitting me up. I had no idea she had my phone number.” Jungkook groaned. He took a quick glance at you and Taehyung. And another quick glance at you. 

“Well we aren’t gonna let you leave until you respond to her.” Jimin jumped on his back again, causing Jungkook to whimper in pain. “You’re so heavy, Jimin.” 

“Quit stalling and text her back already.” Taehyung snapped. “I’m not stalli-” 

“Now.”

Jungkook snatched the phone away from Taehyung and quickly replied back a “hey yeri” to her. “Okay, I replied.” The two boys gave a congratulatory slap on his back, grinning from ear to ear. “Look at you! Finally hitting it off with a girl. Don’t they grow up so fast, Jimin?” 

“They sure do, Taehyung.” The boy's unseriousness caused you to giggle. “You guys are traumatizing Jungkook.” you say. Jungkook nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re traumatizing me. Why are you two happy that you are traumatizing me? I’m supposed to be studying.”

“Fuck you and your studies and come hang out with us.” Taehyung sneered. 

Jungkook wanted to kill himself. It is now close to four in the morning and his three other roommates were up laughing their asses off at a movie Taehyung had chosen. It was supposedly a comedy but it was anything but funny. Jungkook just wanted to desperately go back to his room and continue studying. And it didn’t help that Yeri wouldn’t get the hint that Jungkook didn’t want to be texting her at the moment. He was sending the driest texts and she would still find something else to talk about. 

yeri: So what are u up to right now?

Jungkook rolled his eyes. She’s already asked this question like five times now. He caught sight of your eyes drifting back and forth into a slumber. It was as if you were trying hard to fight the sleep away. No one else noticed this but Jungkook. 

jungkook: Watching a movie. 

yeri: oh cool! What's it called?

jungkook: Idk. 

At this point, you were averaging a couple seconds of sleep, and returned back to watching the movie. Taehyung and Jimin still had their eyes glued onto the screen, fully awake, like children who didn’t want to go to bed at all.

yeri: we should watch a movie together! How does tomorrow night sound?

Jungkook’s eyes widened at the text. Yeri boldly just asked him out on a date. He didn’t know what to say. He has never been asked out on a date before. It wasn’t like he was nervous or anything but he hardly knows Yeri. Jungkook debated whether or not he should even agree to the date or not. 

Taehyung turned his head over to glance at you. You were in the middle of sleeping. Your lips were slightly parted open, with just a trickle of drool dropping down from your lips. You were snoring as soft as a baby. Taehyung’s heart clenched at the sight of you deep in sleep. This was the second time he had seen you like this. He doesn’t think he will ever get tired of this view of you looking so gorgeous. It’s all he can look at. The movie wasn’t as interesting as seeing you subconsciously away from the world.

And then out of nowhere, you screeched out a heavy snore. Immediately, Jimin yelped at the horrific sound. “What the fuck?” Taehyung bursted out laughing, not being able to hold it in. Jungkook too had a smile twitching from the corner of his lips. “Has she always been a snorer?” Jimin asked in a whispered voice. “Yeah. She snores pretty often.” Jungkook answered without a second thought. Taehyung and Jimin gave him a shocked stare, as if they weren’t expecting him to know that. 

“What? She literally lives right next to me? Our walls are thin.” Taehyung and Jimin nodded understandably. Still, Jungkook found his cheeks warming slightly at them being surprised of Jungkook knowing a sleeping habit of yours. 

Your loud snores shifted into soft purrs. “Let’s wake her up after the movie ends. There’s a few minutes left.” Jimin suggested. Jungkook kept glancing back at Yeri's text. It was just there staring back at him, taunting for a response. He didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to go but he hardly knew Yeri at all. All they did was hookup once and now she’s asking to go out on a date. Okay, so maybe Jungkook wasn’t cool with the idea: He’s a practical guy. He sees himself going out on dates with women he’s physically, emotionally and sexually attracted to. He has to like her looks, like her personality, and see himself sleeping with her at some point. He’s not into wasting his time on just any girl. 

Suddenly, Jungkook remembered his conversation with you on the bus earlier. You apologized to him for liking him. Apologized. As if you liking him was some kind of crime. 

You apologized for not liking the real Jungkook, just the version you liked in your head. It was at that moment that Jungkook thought to himself that your mentality was more mature than it seemed. You gave up on your longtime crush on him and accepted to be friendly with him, even after the messy hookup the two of you shared on Halloween. He thought to himself that if you can give Jungkook another chance of being “friendly roommates” then he can give Yeri a chance of possibly showing a different impression of herself. Jungkook was ready to reply back to Yeri’s proposal. 

jungkook: Okay. When and where?

When he locked his phone after replying, his breath halted at a weird sight in front of him. 

Taehyung wasn’t watching the film on the tv screen anymore. He was watching you sleep. He was watching the way your chest heaved up and down. Taehyung was absorbing the view of you sleeping because it was such a precious sight to him. Seeing you so quiet and away from the world was like a new kryptonite unlocked. 

Jungkook immediately caught on that the way Taehyung was staring wasn’t like his usual self. He knew that this was different. It was as if he didn’t want to believe the sight that was in front of him was real and happening.

Jimin stood up from his chair and stretched big. “Movie’s over, guys. I’m gonna do my skincare routine and then knock.” Jimin’s voice woke you up. “Damn, I was trying hard not to sleep.” You yawned. Taehyung smirked at you. “You were snoring, by the way.” Your eyes widened and you threw your head back out of embarrassment. “Fuck, you guys should’ve woken me up as soon as you heard me snoring. You know snoring is bad, right? I’m basically choking on my spit.” Taehyung chuckled at your dramatic response and reached out his hand for you to grab, to get you up from the chair. 

“Okay, drama queen. Go to your bed. I got to work in a few hours, I need to sleep badly.” Taehyung pulled you up from your chair. You pouted at the nickname he called you. “Fine. Goodnight, boys.” You waved at Jungkook and Taehyung before walking slowly towards your bedroom. It was just the two brothers left.

Jungkook felt uneasy at the moment. He witnessed Taehyung giving you a longing glare as you slept. Taehyung began cleaning up the dishes that were scattered throughout the living room, humming a little song to himself. Jungkook found himself thinking about the way Taehyung looked at you. He can’t seem to think that the way he looked at you was actually sincere; as if it held a meaning to it. With the way Jungkook had studied Taehyung's past history with women, he was feeling a mixture of being bitter and confused. What is it about you that has Taehyung acting not like himself? 

. . .

It was around 5 o’clock in the evening when Jungkook entered the kitchen to grab himself a glass of water. He was dressed and ready to head out to his movie date with Yeri. He wasn’t looking forward to it, as expected, but he didn’t want to flake on Yeri. 

You were completing an assignment on your laptop at the kitchen table as he was getting his water glass. 

“Heading out for the night?” You asked him without looking up from your laptop screen. Jungkook took a large gulp and nodded. “Mhm.”

“Lucky you.” You chuckled. “Are you studying for once?” Jungkook asked. He walked over to take a glance over your screen. You were writing an essay and he saw that you were about 10 pages in. “Wow, ten pages?” 

You nodded and sighed in exhaustion. “Yeah, it’s some dumb critical analysis essay I have to write for my women and gender studies class. It has to be at least 15 pages.” 

Jungkook's eyes widened. “I don’t think I’ve ever written that much before.” 

“Yeah well that’s because you’re a dumb little STEM major. You have to code an entire website and create a whole new periodic element for homework, right?” You joked. Jungkook grabbed your earlobes and lightly pinched it, earning a loud yelp from you. “Shut up, undecided major.” 

You rolled your eyes as a response and reverted back to writing your essay. “So where are you going?” You asked. Jungkook hesitated and thought if it was a good idea to tell you about the date. Not because he thought that you would be sad or anything because according to you, you are “over him”, but because he didn’t want you running off to tell Taehyung and Jimin about the date. Knowing them, they would persuade Jungkook to keep seeing Yeri. 

However, he couldn’t come up with an excuse. “I’m hanging out with some friends from my internship.” He lied. You snorted. “Friends? Since when did you have other friends aside from Yoongi?” You laughed. “You don’t know my personal life.” He defended. “You’re right, I don’t but I know for sure that you’re too much of an antisocial asshole to tolerate having more than one friend. You can barely stand Taehyung and Jimin.”

Jungkook hated knowing that you were right. Maybe you knew him better than he thought. “Are you lying about your whereabouts, Jeon Jungkook?” You turned to face him. With the direct eye contact, Jungkook found himself stuttering and trembling on what to say. He’s a terrible liar. 

“N-No, I’m not. You’re being nosy.” He groaned, chugging down the rest of his water. This caused you to stand up from your chair and you began to face Jungkook directly. “Tell me the truth! Are you going to sell some drugs?”

I wish I was, he thought to himself. “___.” He warned. “Are you going to meet up with someone?” 

Before Jungkook could reply, you noticed something sticking out of the pockets of the puffer jacket he was wearing. Immediately, you snatched the mysterious items out of his pockets and inspected it. 

“___, give me that!” Jungkook snapped, trying to reach over your shoulder to grab them out of your hands but you were able to run away from his reach. 

You glanced over at the two movie tickets in your hands. “You’re going to the movies?” You giggled. 

Jungkook pursed his lips together in annoyance and snatched the tickets out of your hands. “You make it hard for me to be nice to you.” He sighs in frustration. “You have two tickets too, so you’re going to see it with someone.” You teased. “Is it with Yoongi? Does Hoseok know? Hoseok will get sad knowing him. He gets FOMO so easily.”

Jungkook decided to tell the truth since he doesn't know what other lies to say since he knows for sure that you would most likely blab to Hoseok about the movie. “No…I’m going to see it with just a girl I met.” 

Your eyes widened at hearing that. “A-A girl?” You stuttered. “Like a…date?” 

Jungkook nodded. He examined the look on your face however you had an unreadable expression. “Oh geez, sorry about keeping you here then. You should probably head out now, right? Wouldn’t want to keep your date waiting!” You forced a smile on your face and shuffled your way back to your laptop to continue writing your essay. 

Jungkook stood where he was, not knowing what to say or what to do next. Jungkook found himself wanting to stay home and preferring to spend his night sleeping in bed, reading his manga or even continuing to stay in the kitchen with you to bug you some more and chat. However, he knew that you were right. He had to leave soon or else Yeri would be waiting for him for too long. 

“Just don’t tell my brother or Jimin, please. I don’t want them to bug me about it.” Jungkook pleaded. You nodded in agreement. “I understand.” 

Jungkook shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. “Okay, well I’m leaving now.” 

Jungkook was about to leave until he heard you calling his name. “Jungkook!” He slowly reentered the room. 

“Good luck on your date.” You gave him a soft smile. 

Jungkook simply nodded back and left. 

. . .

Jungkook had been gone for over two hours now and you were still stuck on page 10 of your essay. You couldn’t stop thinking about the idea of Jungkook going on a date with someone. It was even harder to swallow the fact that that someone isn’t you. 

You hated to admit it but getting over Jungkook wasn’t going as easy as you thought it would’ve been. Of course you are aware of the fact that Jungkook would never like you back and that you only liked an idealized version of Jungkook, however you still held strong romantic feelings for Jungkook either way. 

The past two hours, you kept comparing yourself to the girl that he went on the date with. Was she prettier? Was she smarter than you? Did they meet through his engineering classes? What does Jungkook like about her? Was he having a good time right now?

Your heart clenched at the possibilities. 

“Hey.” You heard a voice coming from behind. You jumped and turned your head to see Taehyung smiling at you. 

Immediately, you returned a genuine smile back at him. “Hi Tae!” 

“What are you doing?” 

You sighed. “I’m just struggling on this essay. I haven’t written anything.” Taehyung snaked an arm around your shoulder. “Well, when exactly is this essay due?” 

“Tomorrow, I think? I was on a roll but now I’ve lost all my concentration.” You pout. “Hm. Maybe some fresh air will do you some good?” Taehyung suggested. He began to snake both of his arms around you, constricting you in a tight embrace. 

“If I were to agree to go outside, where would I go?” Your voice cracked from Taehyung’s tight hug. “Maybe to walk to that new sushi restaurant that just opened up by our place? With your favorite roommate?” You snorted at him and pushed his arms off of you. “

I guess my mind would appreciate a nice dinner break.” You hummed in pleasure. “Let’s go, then! I’ve been dying to take you ever since they opened last week!” 

You were shocked to hear that. “You were waiting to take me?” Taehyung affirmed by nodding his head. “Oh!” You laughed nervously. “Well, let me go ahead and quickly change into something suitable for our sushi adventure!” 

You ran off to your room and changed out of your comfortable hoodie and sweats and transformed into a nice jean mini skirt, oversized sweater vest and into a pair of black loafers. 

“Honestly, you mentioning sushi has my stomach already growling like crazy.” Taehyung chuckled at you. “Come on, let’s go.” 

As you both walked down the street together, you began to observe the beautiful city that engulfs you. The high-rise apartments, the hustle and bustle of the college town you grew to love living in. Being outside was enough to reduce the inner stress you had going on; the essay, the upcoming exams, and…the unfortunate heartache of Jungkook being on a date with someone. You’ve realized that the feelings you harbor for him were a lot harder to let go than you thought it would’ve. At first when it was just a little highschool crush, you were able to like him from afar. It was more of a physical, vain crush. However, you live with him. You have gotten closer to him in a more intimate way compared to the high school crush. Yes, he’s still an asshole to you. Yes, he’s closed off and doesn’t seem interested in getting to know you past as being his roommate. It hurts. And you’re trying to let go, you really are. What else can you do to help yourself get over him quickly? 

“We’re here.” Taehyung brought you out of your endless thoughts. He held the door open for you as you entered the sushi restaurant. The scent of the raw fish, ramen broth, and cooked rice infiltrate your nostrils. “God, it smells amazing here.” Taehyung chuckled at you admiring the restaurant. “Hopefully the food is just as good.” 

“Hello, for many?” The hostess asked. “For two, please.” Taehyung answered. “Follow me.” 

As the hostess led you and Taehyung to your tables, you hesitantly stared at Taehyung as discreetly as you could. Suddenly, you could hear Hoseok’s voice in your head, remembering all the nonsense he would say to you about Taehyung.

“How haven’t you hooked up with him yet? He’s so good looking!” 

“Taehyung seems to care about you a lot”

“You guys are practically Han and Anna from Frozen; always finishing each other’s sentences and getting excited over the littlest things and you both enjoy each other’s company like crazy.”

And then you remembered what Chaeyoung said from a previous phone call,

“___, you’re telling me that you’re just friends with a beautiful man like that?”

Some of your closest friends kept pushing you to get with Taehyung and you just never saw him that way. But why? They were right; Taehyung is good looking, he does care about you, and you guys get along extremely well together. Did you just not allow yourself to see Taehyung past friends for the sake of your feelings for Jungkook? Admittedly, if you had met Taehyung first, he would be the one high school-you would’ve been crushing over. Taehyung is kind hearted, mature, he is beyond artistically intelligent, he cares for others and financially provides for Jungkook. You looked up to him in so many ways, he inspires you to be a better version of yourself. So, why didn’t you find yourself romantically attracted to Taehyung? 

Taehyung pulled the chair out for you. “Why thank you.” You giggled. “Absolutely.” 

The hostess leaves you both with the silverware and menus. “What sounds good to you?” Taehyung asked as he scanned the menu. 

“You.” You smile.

Taehyung chokes on air. You slightly chuckle at his cute reaction and hide yourself in the menu. “How unexpected of you to say, y/n.” He blushes. “I don’t know where that came from, honestly.” 

“Neither do I.” Taehyung blushes as well. You could feel your chest tighten at the adorable sight of Taehyung looking shy and awkward. “You look cute when you blush.” You admit. You wanted to see him blush harder and so he did. Taehyung bursted out a nervous laugh and pressed his palms against his cheeks. “You’re making my cheeks burn, y/n.” His box-like smile appears. 

“Okay, I’m done..for now.” You give him a reassuring smile and look down at your lap. You honestly don’t know where the sudden flirting came from. You meant in a playful friendly way however you didn’t seem to mind if Taehyung was to take your flirting seriously. Which he didn’t really seem to since he was laughing and smiling along with you. 

The thing with Taehyung was that he had an incredibly comfortable aura to him. You felt safe with him, you felt at ease. Maybe that was something you were looking for in an amicable way? You had your two childhood best friends abroad, living their own lives. Sure, you had Hoseok, however he is a busy individual and is often spending his free time with his boyfriend, as he should. You felt lonely and your heart was yearning for someone to confide in, hang with, be yourself with. Taehyung simply checked all those boxes. For now, you had settled with the fact that Taehyung was who you needed for amicable and sanity reasons. Any other feelings would come naturally if it was meant to be for.

Your server approached you and Taehyung and offered you both water and if you guys were ready to order. After ordering your choice of dishes, you were back in a comfortable silence. “Tell me how your week has been going.” Taehyung asks, taking a sip of his water right after. “Mm…not much honestly. Just been going to classes, studying. Nothing interesting.” 

“What do you mean ‘nothing interesting’, didn’t you have a date earlier this week with that guy from the party?” Taehyung brought up Namjoon. Your face dropped in annoyance at the memory of him ghosting you so suddenly. Especially when he seemed so interested in you from that night. “Let’s just say that the date didn’t happen. He kind of…ghosted me.” You admit, biting your lip from remembering how embarrassing it was. Taehyung’s eyes widened. “He what?” You nodded, validating his disbelief. 

“Yeah, believe me I was in shock too. I have no idea what I did.” Taehyung scoffed at you. “I could bet you a million dollars that it wasn’t anything that you did; it was just Namjoon being the typical frat boy slash fuck boy that he is. He’s a dickhead and I don’t know why I encouraged him to ask you out.” Taehyung spat. “You encouraged it?” You asked in shock. “Yeah, he kept asking Jimin and I if you were single and if it was alright for him to ask you out, since he knew you were our friend.” Taehyung could feel the warmth of anger in his chest as he spilled out what had happened at the party.

You responded with silence. Namjoon’s sudden rejection hurts less now however Taehyung’s anger made you feel slightly guilty. Not because you thought you did anything wrong but because you didn’t want to be a reason as to why Taehyung would hold anger against a good friend of his. Taehyung tried to read your expression. He could tell you had some guilt mixed with embarrassment. “Are you okay?” He asked. He leaned and tried to attempt to reach for your hand but he went against doing so. 

You nodded and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I’m okay. I was able to get over it well.” Taehyung let out a sigh of relief. “It’s his loss.” 

You chuckled softly at that. “His loss, indeed.” Taehyung leaned back against his chair and was trying to read your expression again. He could tell you didn’t want to continue talking about this and so he changed topics. “Well, are you interested in anyone else?” You choked on a little water and gently coughed. 

“Geez, Tae. Nice change of topics.” You laughed awkwardly. Taehyung shrugged it off and smirked at you. “I’m just in my gossip era.” You rolled your eyes at him and dabbed some water from the corner of your lips with a napkin. “Uh, no. I’m not interested in anyone. I’m trying to enjoy my single life.” You answered. Taehyung could only nod at that. Of course he wasn’t expecting much of an answer from you. He knows you’ve been through a lot with Jungkook and now with Namjoon. He just wanted reassurance that there wasn’t any…competition in his way. 

Actually, he wanted to double check if Jungkook was no longer an option for you. “So…anything going on with you and Jungkook?” He asked again. Your eyes widened at his abrupt question. You didn’t expect him to suddenly mention his brother out of nowhere. “Taehyung..” You started off. He locked his dark brown eyes with yours, not afraid of how intrusive his question was. He was set on trying to get you to see how he feels for you one way or another. 

“Uhm..” You hesitated. “I mean there was always nothing going on between us. However, if you meant to ask about my previous feelings for him then…I don’t think I like him that way anymore. I see him as just an acquaintance and roommate. I’m sure the same goes for him. And…yeah.” You finished. Again, Taehyung was trying to read your expression, your tone, your body language. From the way you didn’t look directly into his eyes when you answered, the way you fiddled with your fingers, the way you chewed on your bottom lip when you were thinking of your response, and the way your voice sounded defeated, as if you had lost something you didn’t want to lose, was enough for Taehyung to know the true answer lying underneath your surface.

You were lying. 

You still harbored feelings for his brother. You don’t see him as just an acquaintance and roommate. He doesn’t know what you see Jungkook as but it is certainly not as platonic as you’re making it seem. He could feel his chest throb in pain slightly at the realization. Taehyung had no idea if Jungkook’s feelings towards you were mutual or not because he never seemed to care to notice or study the way Jungkook was around you. He was certain that Jungkook most likely saw you in a platonic way. From what he knows of, the two of you don’t spend a lot of time together. Nor do you both talk to each other one-on-one a lot. Taehyung thinks that the kind of relationship you and Jungkook have is currently a contractual mutualistic relationship: you guys are supposed to just put up with each other’s antics and that was that. 

“I see.” He forced a smile onto his face. “Are you comfortable living with us three guys still?” You laughed at his question and nodded. “Of course. I love you guys.” 

Taehyung leaned forward to you again and this time, he actually reached his hand out to yours. You gladly gave your hand to him to hold. “I couldn’t have chosen a better roommate to deal with our bullshit. We love you too, y/n.” Your heart glowed at Taehyung’s sentimental confession. “Awe, Tae..” You cooed softly. 

“Okay, I have one family-sized sushi boat and your sides for the lovely couple here.” Your server interrupted and placed a large wooden boat of the gorgeous raw fish onto your table. You and Taehyung gave each other a look and snorted at the ‘couple’ remark. However, you indirectly agreed to go along with it. You figured that couples usually receive free dessert at the end of the dinner either way. “Let’s dig in, shall we?” You eagerly smiled at Taehyung. He returned the gleeful expression and the two of you pigged out together. 

. . .

How can a 115-minute movie suddenly feel like an eight hour shift? 

Jungkook was feeling incredibly bored out of his mind as he watched the sci-fi movie that Yeri had picked out for them. He looked over at you and could tell that she was very into the movie. Her eyes were locked onto the film and was mindlessly chomping down the bucket of popcorn she was hoarding. Jungkook wanted to melt like the butter on the popcorn and slither his ass out of the theater. 

He would rather spend 115 minutes walking barefoot on the asphalt in the middle of the summer than be here on this date he didn’t want to go on. Jungkook had tried to give Yeri a chance to redeem herself but she just wasn’t���interesting. Nothing about her was intriguing to Jungkook. He asked her questions to attempt to get to know her. She’s in college studying to be an actress, she’s a part time pilates instructor at a nearby gym, she’s also a full-time content creator on YouTube and likes to make makeup tutorials and skincare videos. She likes horror and sci-fi movies but Jungkook prefers rom-coms. She likes to spend her free time outside in the city and bar hopping with friends, meanwhile Jungkook prefers staying in and isolating himself in his room. She doesn’t like to fraternize with anyone that isn’t wealthy, socially popular, good-looking, or just anyone that isn’t similar to her lifestyle and interests. She’s shallow and vain and Jungkook wasn’t vibing with that. 

When Yeri told him about her close friend circle, it raised a huge red flag for Jungkook. He was familiar with her groupie. They were all influencers that posted beauty and fashion content, only dating within their wealth level and socialite class. They would still talk bad about other students on campus as if they were still stuck in their high school bully era. After getting to know all this about Yeri, Jungkook was quite ready to ghost her as soon as the movie ended. 

All of a sudden, a jumpscare happened on the screen, causing half of the theater to scream and throw their popcorn in the air. Yeri was one of the few who screamed and instinctually clenched her arms around Jungkook’s. 

“That was so scary, Jungkook.” Yeri pouted and buried her head into his arms. Jungkook responded by rolling his eyes but didn’t mind letting Yeri borrow his arms for a bit. He looked around the theater to see what appeared to be other dates, and the women were grabbing onto their dates like Yeri was. He grew to be even more annoyed with Yeri. He didn’t like how typical she was. She was like every other girl. Nothing special about her. It’s harsh but true, according to Jungkook. 

He suddenly found himself comparing Yeri to you. Would you react the same way Yeri did? Would you hold onto him during a scary scene? Jungkook can confidently say that the answer was no. 

You wouldn’t react the same way. You wouldn’t hold onto him. No, you would be asleep halfway through the movie and the jumpscare would awaken you from your slumber, and you would jump and scream obnoxiously. You would spill whatever food was on your lap and you would most likely run away from the room. Had you been watching the movie in the comfort of your apartment, instead of running away from the room you would just turn the movie off and change the mood by making an unfunny joke to ease up the tension. That’s what you would do. And for some reason, Jungkook found himself smiling and quietly laughing at the imagination he created in his head. 

Yeri could hear Jungkook chuckling to himself and gave him a concerned look. “Jungkook? Why are you laughing? The main character’s best friend just died?” 

Jungkook immediately shut up and cleared his throat. “I just thought of something funny.” He answered. Yeri curled an eyebrow up. “What were you thinking about?” She whispered. Jungkook shook his head. “It’s nothing. It’s just that this scene reminded me of an inside joke between me and a friend.” He lied. Yeri just nodded understandably and refocused her attention back to the movie. 

Jungkook allowed another smile and a snort to escape from his lips before making himself regain his attention back to the “heartbreaking” scene of the death of the best friend. 

. . .

“I had fun tonight, Jungkook.” Yeri shyly smiles at him. Jungkook forced a smile onto his face. “I’m glad. I had fun too.” He lies. “Thank you for walking me home.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Not a problem.” He replies dryly. Yeri stops at a large modern looking building. “This is my dorm building.” Jungkook nods in response. “Goodnight, Kook.” Jungkook tried his hardest not to physically cringe at the nickname she decided to give him. He managed to wave at her. “Goodnight, Yeri.” He began to turn around to walk to his apartment but Yeri called out to him and ran to grab his jacket. “Wait,” 

“Hm?” 

“Do you want to do this again sometime soon? Maybe next week?” She bit her lower lip in anticipation. Jungkook could see a shimmer of hope and a dash of nervousness in her eyes. He genuinely did not know what Yeri saw him and why she still wanted to continue seeing him. He tried his hardest to remain stoic and dry with her to show his lack of interest but she wasn’t getting the hint. He tried to think of a good response that will give a hint of rejection without straight up saying so. 

“I’ll see. I have a lot of exams coming up so I’ll let you know when is a good time to meet up again.” Jungkook answered. Yeri remained quiet for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Okay, sure! Text me when you make it home safely!” She waved at him. Jungkook smirked. “I only live about five minutes walking distance from here. I’ll be okay.” 

Yeri chuckled, “Alright, fine. But let me know when you’re free again!” She reminded him. Jungkook simply nodded and began to trail away from Yeri. “Bye Jungkook!” She unnecessarily yelled out. He was only a few feet away. He gave an awkward smile and waved back at her, and began to speed walk. 

His speed walking shortened the walking distance by half and he was able to make it home comfortably. He entered the apartment and was met with the sound of laughter and the smell of alcohol. He took off his shoes, slid his feet into his house slippers and headed into the living room. He saw you, Taehyung, and Jimin sitting in a circle. It seemed as if the three of you were just talking and spending time together. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of FOMO. He would much rather have spent his night like this than be out on a date with a random girl.

“Hey, Kook is home! Where were you tonight, young man?” Taehyung slurred. “Uh, I was just out with Yoongi.” He chuckled nervously. He shared a quick glance with you, and you gave him a reassured look; a look that said he was okay and that no one knew of the date. 

“You need to stop hanging out with Yoongi and hang out more with your brothers and y/n.” Jimin slurred out, taking a quick swig of soju. Jungkook shared another glance with you. He looked confused. “Why are they drinking?” He asked. “Jimin begged Taehyung to share a drink with him and well…one drink turned into many. I’ve just been here giving them company.” 

“Jungkook! Come have a shot of soju with us!” Jimin patted on the ground for him to sit. “Uh, I think I’m just going to call it a night. I’ve had a long da-,” Jungkook got interrupted by Taehyung’s loud groan. “Oh my god, we don’t care, come over and sit with us now.” 

Jungkook squinted his eyes at his brother in annoyance. You stifled back a laugh at this interaction. “You’re taking a shot with us too, miss y/n.” Taehyung targeted you. You gave him the exact same annoyed look that Jungkook had given him. Regardless, Jungkook listened to his two seniors and sat where Jimin had patted him to sit in. He sat between you and Jimin. 

You scooted your body away from Jungkook little by little. “Now, take a shot.” Jimin slammed the shot glass onto the coffee table. “Here’s your shot glass too, y/n.” Jimin handed yours. Taehyung administered the pouring of the shots to you and Jungkook. You both turned to each other hesitantly. “I just wanted to give them company.” you whispered to Jungkook. “And I just wanted to go to bed.” He whispered back. “I’ll take my shot if you take yours.” You suggested. Jungkook just sighed in response. “There’s no such thing as saying no to these two.” He groaned. You both tapped your shot glasses onto the table and then threw the alcohol down your throats, earning a loud sound of approval from the two best friends. 

“Let’s go! All of the roomies are getting fucked up tonight!” Jimin yelled. “Uh, I’m just going to take this one shot with you guys. I still have that paper to write and I have class tomorrow morning.” You halted the two boys from encouraging drunkenness from you. 

“Me too. I have an eight AM class.” Jungkook added. Jimin rolled his eyes at you both and some fingers through his dark locks. “You goddamn scholars.” He cursed under his breath. “Do you work tomorrow?” You asked Taehyung. “Nope. I’m off from work and I have a late afternoon class so I get to sleep in!” He and Jimin dapped each other up, earning a scoff from Jungkook. 

“Hey, by the way, where were you guys earlier today? I came home and the apartment was silent.” Jimin asked you and Taehyung. “Oh, Tae took me out to try the new sushi place that opened up in town! You guys seriously should go sometime soon, it was so delicious.” You were bouncing in excitement as you bragged about the restaurant. “Oh, and if you want free dessert, you should go with a girl. Our server thought that ___ and I were a couple and they gave us a slice of tiramisu cake.” Taehyung looked over at you and you both laughed at the memory. 

Jungkook darted his eyes between you and his brother. “He thought that you both were a couple?” Jimin repeated back, laughing along. “I know right.” You cackled. Jungkook remained silent as three of you guys laughed. He began to glance at the way Taehyung looked at you. Lately, he has been picking up way too many weird signs from Taehyung when it comes to you. 

Logically, if Jungkook could sense that his brother was acting differently around a certain girl then he would conclude that he is interested in her but Jungkook couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of Taehyung being interested in you. Not that there was anything wrong with you, it was just that he didn’t think of you being the type to sway Taehyung. Jungkook simply thought you two were not romantically compatible. Jungkook may not know you that well but he certainly knows his brother. 

“Taehyung, let’s go take a smoke outside real quick.” Jimin stands up from the floor and massages his butt. “Fuck, my ass is so sore.” He mumbled. Taehyung got up and was beginning to follow Jimin from behind until he took a quick glance at you and Jungkook sitting together. He felt a small ache in his chest from the thought of leaving you two alone. Especially with him knowing that you very much still had some feelings left for Jungkook. They’ll be alright. 

Taehyung and Jimin go out to the balcony and shut the door behind them. “Since when did Taehyung smoke?” You ask Jungkook. “He occasionally smokes whenever he’s drunk. But I’ve seen him smoke out of stress too. He just does it when he feels like it.” 

“Ah, I see. I’m kinda like that too.” You chuckle. Jungkook snapped his head towards you and gaped his mouth open in surprise. “I wouldn’t take you as the type to smoke.” He curled his lips up at your confession. “It’s my little personal secret. I’ve been smoking since I was 16.” 

Intrigued by this, Jungkook leans his body back, using his wrists to hold him up. “Now what caused 16-year old you to pick up cigarettes?” 

You smirked at him. “My parents were going through a rough patch together. They were literally on the brink of divorce and kept dragging me into their problems. It was way too much stress for me to harbor as a high schooler that was also dealing with pounds of homework and exams every week. Luckily, they were able to work things out because they went to counseling but as of today, I like to puff puff a little bit sometimes to relieve some stress.” 

Jungkook nodded understandably. He had no idea that you had gone through some family hardships as well. “I see,” 

“So I’m the only one that knows this secret of yours?” You nodded. A part of him was a little pleased that he was the only one who knew.  

“I’ve never tried it before.” He says out of the blue. The two of you shared eye contact at that. You were quizzically checking him out, wondering if he was hinting something. “Well, I suggest you not to do it. Once you try it a few times, there’s no going back.” 

Jungkook had an idea but it was an extremely bizarre one. He didn’t know where the idea came from or why it was created. But he was amused at the thought of it and didn’t mind encouraging the idea to blossom. “You could do it with me. Just once wouldn’t hurt.” He suggested but it came out more as a question.

Your eyes popped open. “What?” 

Bashfully, Jungkook looked away. “Nevermind.” 

“Wait, no! I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just surprised that you would consider doing it with me. I mean…”

Jungkook made eye contact with you again. “If I was to try a cigarette for the first time, you’re one of the people I’d be okay with trying it with. I’d be okay if I was to do it with Jimin or Taehyung too. You’re my roommate, so I kind of trust you too.” 

You nervously looked away and had to release an exhale that was being clogged inside of you. “Oh, sure! Of course, I get it. I trust you three as well.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. By Jungkook admitting that he would want to experience something, anything with you meant that he was admitting that he felt comfortable with you. That he trusted you. Despite your history together, you didn’t think that Jungkook would carry intimate feelings of trust and comfort around you. Was it because he sees you as more than “just a roommate”? He sees you as something more? Like a friend? 

“Let me know when you would want to do so.” You said. Jungkook nodded. “Sure.” A slight comfortable silence fell upon you two. “Do you want to take another shot?” You asked. Jungkook thought about it before he agreed. “It’s not like they’ll know we took another one.” 

“But this is actually my last one. After four or five shots, I’m done.” You warned. “Four or five? You’re such a lightweight.” Jungkook teased. “How many shots does it take for you to get wasted?” 

Jungkook calculated in his head for a moment. Taehyung used to throw parties whenever their parents were out of town back when he was in eighth grade so they’ve both had a bit of experience with alcohol. “I’d say around ten is when I’m beginning to feel a buzz.” Your mouth dropped. “Ten? For a buzz? That’s borderline alcoholic.” Jungkook smirked at that. “Yeah, well when you’ve been drinking for as long as Taehyung and I have then you’d know.” “Well then tell me how long you’ve both been drinking for.” 

“Since I was thirteen. For Taehyung, since he was fifteen.” 

“Thirteen? Fifteen? That’s insane.” 

He shrugged. “Well, our parents were barely around to notice. If they were around, I doubt that they’d care.” You gave him a sympathetic smile. “Also, we went to a rich private school so a bunch of kids like us began drinking at an early age. It was the privilege and the fact that almost all of our parents were wealthy assholes that didn’t give a fuck about us.” You groaned at Jungkook. “You’re being such a downer. You’re making me sad.” You whined. Jungkook let out a chuckle and ran fingers through his hair. “Alright, I’ll stop ambushing you with my depressive lore.” You both laughed together. 

You liked this. You liked being able to be civil with Jungkook and laugh about things together. You liked whatever kind of moment was happening between you both. 

You hesitated on whether or not you should bring up his date. You didn’t want him seeing that you cared to know about every single detail that happened tonight and you didn’t want him seeing that you were a little bit jealous too. 

Suddenly, Jungkook’s phone buzzed. He reached his hand into his pockets and brought the phone out. It was an Instagram notification from Yeri’s account. He clicked on the notification and saw that she had tagged Jungkook onto her story and posted a picture of their two drinks and the singular bucket of popcorn and she had captioned it with a heart. 

Jungkook let out the most irritated groan of his life. How did she even find his Instagram account? He never followed her and she never followed him? His username was very discreet, it did not explicitly say his name. It was actually an extremely long username: @abcdefghi__lmnopqrstuvwxyz.

“What’s wrong?” You asked as you finally took your second shot. “Nothing.” He mumbled. “What? Tell me.” You edged. 

Jungkook debated on telling you. He didn’t know if you would be a good confidante for this certain situation for many obvious reasons. However, you both agreed to remain just friends right? A civil relationship with each other? Once he had decided on telling you, the patio door opened and Jimin and Taehyung stumbled back inside the living room. 

He gave you an apologetic look. Maybe you didn’t need to know and it was the universe telling him so. 

Taehyung took a quick glance at you. You looked annoyed. Not at Jungkook, not at Jimin, and not at himself. It seemed as if you were annoyed with yourself. You were looking down at the ground and picking at the rug on the floor. “Are you okay?” Taehyung asked, placing a hand on your knee. 

Jungkook and Jimin peer over at this, with Jimin smirking to himself and Jungkook keeping his eyes glued to his brother’s hand. You fixed Taehyung with a brief smile and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just going to call it a night, I’m getting tired.” You fake-yawn. Taehyung nodded understandably and withdrew his hand from your knee. You get up and stretch. “Goodnight guys.” You wave to the three roommates and begin to drag yourself to your bedroom. 

Jungkook watches you as you disappear into the doors of your room. He could tell that you weren’t being truthful with the way you quickly came up with an excuse. You didn’t appear to be sleepy a minute ago. He didn’t want to stay and hang out with Jimin and Taehyung alone for the rest of the night. He knew that they would pressure him to drink more and he would eventually oversleep his classes, his job, and it was also a weekday. There was no need to be drunk this early into the week. “Be right back.” He muttered to Jimin and Taehyung. Jimin watched Jungkook leaving. He didn’t think too much into it. He turned his attention to Taehyung.

“I saw you placing your hand on ___’s knee earlier.” He cheesed. Taehyung groaned a jumble of words that Jimin couldn’t comprehend for the life of him. “I didn’t understand a single word you just said.” Jimin laughed. “Sorry, it’s just all those shots we took back to back that are catching up to me now. Everything’s spinning. All I can think about is ___. Where is she? Is she here? Does she know?” Taehyung rubbed his hands all over his face as an attempt to get himself together. 

Jimin laughed even harder. “You’re a mess. She’s not here, it’s just you and me. Keep your voice down.” He chuckled. “Since when did your tolerance get better than mines? Fuck, I’m so out of it.” Taehyung groaned even louder. “Where did Jungkook go?” Taehyung asked. Jimin looked towards his bedroom door, which was where he assumed Jungkook went. “Probably went to bed. He said he’d be right back but you know he didn’t want to hang. He’s spiritually an old man.” 

“Does ___ know?” Taehyung mumbles again. “Know about what?” Jimin scooted closer to him. 

Jungkook opened the door of his bedroom and was heading towards the bathroom until he heard Taehyung’s constant repetition of “does ___ know?”. He stopped in his tracks, and stood right outside of the bathroom door. There was a wall blocking and separating the living room from the hallway that contains the bathroom and the bedrooms, therefore Jungkook couldn’t be seen from where he was. 

“Just say yes or no, Jimin.” “Taehyung, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Be specific.” 

Taehyung let out an irritated groan. “About you-know-what. About me. About me and her.” 

Jimin shushed him, in case either Jungkook or you could hear. “No, man. No one knows except me. I’m the only one. No one will ever know between us two.” 

Taehyung’s drunken eyes looked up to meet with Jimin’s exasperated expression. “You promise?” He slurred. “I promise.” Taehyung smiled in satisfaction. “I’m sorry for being a mess right now.” 

Jimin snorted. “You’re always a mess.” “Says the one who is a college dropout and is crashing at their best friend’s place.” The two of them laughed together. Jungkook remained where he was, in confusion. What was Taehyung talking about? What was going on between you and him that you didn’t know about? That he didn't know about? 

“Should we go to bed?” Jungkook heard Jimin asking Taehyung. Without hesitation or thinking, Jungkook ran back to his bedroom, no longer needing to urinate. He heard the shuffling of their feets dragging on the floor. Jimin put Taehyung to sleep and walked back to the living room.

. . .

It was a week into Christmas break when Taehyung had the idea for the group to go ice skating. “The place is open until 10. We can get food from the convenience store afterwards. Come on, it’s only 6:30, we have time to get ready!” He eagerly said. You sipped your peppermint tea and thought about it. “I mean, I haven’t properly enjoyed myself ever since the semester ended. I’ve been rotting in bed ever since I submitted my last final. I’m down!” You agreed.

Taehyung smiled at you and then turned his head towards Jimin and Jungkook. “I’m down too. I have nothing better to do tonight.” Jimin said. “Why is it that it’s down to you for the last vote? Why do you always have to be such a grandpa?” Taehyung pestered his brother. Jungkook couldn’t hide the smile that crept to his face. “This grandpa was planning to go on a jog before dinner and bed.” He ran a finger through his now silky dark brown hair. He dyed it dark brown last week after feeling like he needed a change with his appearance. 

“Well now you can spend it with ice skating instead. Come on, you can even bring Yeri with you! You two have been inseparable ever since she came over for our Thanksgiving dinner.” 

You couldn’t help but to shudder at the mention of her name. You didn’t expect for Jungkook to continue dating her after the movie date but he is. She’s been coming over to the apartment almost every single day. Your bedroom was right next door to Jungkook’s and you could hear her giggles, their conversations, their snores when they slept. It was as if you were given a sneak peek as to what hell must feel like. 

Jungkook looked down at his phone and opened his text messages with Yeri. She had been begging to hangout today and do something. She was texting him nonstop and kept mentioning how bored she was and how she missed him as if they didn’t see each other less than 24 hours ago. Having a girl like Yeri by his side was tiresome. He knew that he'd rather go ice-skating and bring Yeri than have to hear her blowing up his phone with whines and complaints of wanting to do something throughout his peaceful jog, his peaceful dinner, and his peaceful bedtime. 

“Sure.” He said. Taehyung smiled, in shock seeing that he actually agreed. He thought that having Yeri in his life was causing him to become more social. “Let’s leave around 7.” 

Jimin immediately got up to get ready with you following behind. Taehyung looked at Jungkook and smirked. “I see Yeri has your shell opening up. I like that.” Jungkook rolled his eyes. “She isn’t opening my shell. I just feel like ice-skating.” Taehyung shrugged. “You’re still going out more ever since you started dating her.” 

Jungkook didn’t care to explain anything to him. He doesn’t know what goes on in his mind and what goes on between him and Yeri. He doesn’t need to know that they only have a sexual relationship and that Jungkook doesn’t harbor an ounce of romantic feelings towards her. He doesn’t need to know that Yeri is in a one-sided situationship with him. Taehyung doesn’t need to know anything. 

“If you think so.” He bites the inside of his cheek and stands up. “I’m gonna get ready.” He walks past Taehyung and texts Yeri to get ready. 

Why do I feel like I will never be able to understand him, Taehyung thinks.

. . .

You fell on your ass for what felt like the fiftieth time. “I can’t fucking skate!” You cried out, holding back a laugh. Jimin skated towards you and reached his hands out to pick you up. “Why do you keep falling? Stop embarrassing us.” Jimin teased, causing your laugh to burst out of you. “I’m trying!” 

You were having a great time. Seeing families, friends, couples being together made you sonder with happiness. Something about being able to be silly and kid-like without embarrassment made yourself feel as if you were on cloud nine. 

You attempted to continue skating after Jimin had helped you get up. Each time you attempted, it got easier for you. You didn’t mind falling, you liked the “trial and error”-ness. You looked ahead and saw Jimin and Taehyung holding hands and skating together. You giggled at them. Seeing the two having fun together made you miss Jihyo and Chaeyoung. Every winter break, the three of you would ice skate, sled, drink hot chocolates, bake cookies together, and rewatch all your favorite holiday movies. You spent more than half of your life with them and this was the longest you have been apart and with minimal contact too with the time difference and busyness. 

You knew that Chaeyoung was coming home in less than two days and Jihyo would arrive the day after to spend Christmas with their families. No plans were fully confirmed since they would also be busy during their holiday break with their family. Your prior blissful mood transitioned into disappointment. 

You decided to attempt to catch up with Jimin and Taehyung to get your mind off of your dear friends. You attempted to skate faster and successfully did so. 

Taehyung felt you bump against his back. “___!” He reached an arm backward to pull you from his behind and place you next to him. “You got better at skating.” He complimented. “I think I got the hang of it this time. I always remember during the season but then once winter is over, it’s like I get rusty for a bit.” Taehyung nodded understandably. 

You heard a loud giggle coming from behind you. You turned to check quickly but was met with the sight of Yeri and Jungkook skating together. He was holding her hand to keep her steady but her legs were wobbling like crazy. “I can’t do it, Kookie!” She yelped out. You internally cringed at the nickname she gave him. You also internally winced at the inevitable heartache seeing him like that. Seemingly happy with the small smile that curled up on his usual inexpressible face. 

He looked happy. He looked like he was enjoying himself for once. You studied his smile to question whether it was genuine or not. You felt terrible wishing for the latter. He deserved happiness. He deserved to be with someone that made him feel out of the world. He deserved good things and good people in his life, despite all the shit he emotionally burdened you with. 

You hoped that his relationship with Yeri would eventually cure you with the hopeless crush you still held onto him. You forced yourself to look away after what felt like an eternity watching them. 

What you didn’t notice was that Taehyung was watching you watching them. He noticed the hurt that was gleaming in your eyes. The yearning, the pain was written all over you. He was so pleased with Jungkook putting himself out there that he forgot to take account of your feelings towards them. He didn’t want your mood to be sour for the rest of the night, he wanted you to have fun. He wanted to see you happy. 

“Hey you.” Taehyung nudged. You looked up to meet his eyes. “Wanna race?” He suggested, raising his brows. You smiled and nodded. “From where to where?”

Taehyung hummed, calculating where to end. “Let’s stop at the exit door. Loser buys the winner hot chocolate.” He pointed at the hot chocolate stand that was just outside of the rink. “On the count of three.” You say. 

“One,” You start

“Two,” Taehyung continues

“Three” You shout. Taehyung is already speeding ahead of you, causing you to shout curse words at him. He laughed and looked behind to see you failing to catch up. 

“Is that Taehyung and your roommate racing each other?” Yeri asked Jungkook. Jungkook turned his head to where he could hear the commotion going on between you two. You had a beaming grin on your face and was attempting to pull Taehyung backwards to make him lose the race. Taehyung’s box-shaped grin was plastered onto his face and he was giggling non-stop. “___, you’re cheating!” He laughed hard. 

Jungkook couldn’t look away. He didn’t know why or what was making him not want to look away but he felt as if his eyes were glued onto you and Taehyung. He felt that same uncomfortable feeling washing through him. He felt a knot forming in his stomach and a sense of unease at the same time. Jungkook couldn’t comprehend for the life of him as to why he couldn't shake the unexpected pang of–whatever it was that he was feeling– away. 

Yeri eyed Jungkook as he watched you and Taehyung racing. She noticed the way his jaw was slightly clenched and the way his hand that was gripping onto her arm to help her skate was tightening around her. “Jungkook?” She nudged him. His attention resumed back to her. He tried his best to give her a smile. “Hm?” He said. 

“You okay?” She asked. “Yeah, I was just looking at them racing. Seems silly to race on ice. They could get hurt.” He lied. She only nodded, not knowing what else to say. She looked over at you and Taehyung again and caught sight of you both already off the rink, and were removing your skates. 

Taehyung reached for your hand and dragged you to the hot chocolate and pastry stand that was outside of the rink. 

“Don’t you think they could be cute together?” Yeri asked Jungkook with a playful smile on her face. Jungkook couldn’t help but to scoff out loud at that. “She’s not Taehyung’s type.” He clarified. Yeri gave him a confused glare. “What do you mean? She’s pretty. And they seem to get along well.” Yeri explained. She studied his face again but she couldn’t make anything out of it. It seemed as if he was in deep thought yet at the same time it looked like he didn’t care about the topic. His stare was completely blank yet it could be interpreted in many different ways. 

“You don’t know Taehyung like I do.” He defended. Yeri decided to leave the conversation at that. “Wanna get hot chocolate too?” She asked, looking at him with pleading eyes. Jungkook shook his head. “Not in the mood.” He said dryly. 

He felt bad being suddenly passive-aggressive towards her. He didn’t understand why he was being like this either. “Let’s sit for a bit.” He began to hold Yeri’s hand and pulled her to the benches. 

Yeri begins to scroll on her phone meanwhile Jungkook’s eyes automatically drag itself to observe you and Taehyung again. The two of you were sitting on a bench across from them. You were showing him something on your phone. Whatever it was that you were showing, he was laughing at it. His laugh was contagious and it made you laugh harder. “I was dying at that video for a good hour yesterday.” You breathed out, trying to catch your breath. “Send that to me, send that to me.” Taehyung said. 

Jungkook didn’t miss that Taehyung was slowly attempting to scoot closer to you, to the point where your left knee and his right knee were practically touching and your shoulders were a good millimeter apart. “Oo, let’s take a picture to post on my story!” You squealed. You hold your phone out and Taehyung doesn’t hesitate to close the minimal space that was between. He presses his cheek against yours and poses with his eyes squeezed shut and a peace sign held next to the other cheek.

You beam at him and post the story. “You look so cute!” You squeal again. Jungkook couldn't help but to laugh to himself at the sight that was in front of him. He was in denial for the longest but he admits now that Taehyung was indeed attempting to flirt with you. He knows his flirtatious tricks and anyone with a human brain can comprehend that he is blatantly flirting with you. He knows you’re too oblivious to this because you are an oblivious person in general. Jungkook knows you’re too naive to understand that Taehyung was being a little too touchy for someone he considers to be “just a friend”. 

Just because Taehyung was flirting with you doesn’t confirm that he’s doing it out of a genuine romantic interest, Jungkook thinks. It could be because he is simply in a flirty mood or maybe he just wants to see if you would fold for him like how other girls do. That's what the old player Taehyung would do. 

Jimin interrupts Jungkook’s thoughts and plops down next to him. “Are you ready to go? I’m starving.” Jimin sighed out. He reeked of cigarettes. “You’re smoking too often.” Jungkook lectured him. “I got nothing better to do with myself. I’m in my flop era or whatever the kids say these days.” He runs a finger through his hair. Jungkook chuckled at him. “I think you’re doing whatever you can to cope.” Jungkook comforts. “I’m ready if they’re ready.” Jungkook nudges his chin toward you and Taehyung that were still in the middle of a deep conversation, probably not even noticing Jimin and Jungkook right in front of them. 

Jimin chuckles and sighs in amusement. “They’re so silly together.” Jimin mumbles under his breath but Jungkook picks it up. Jimin searches for a piece of gum in his pockets. He shoves a piece into his mouth and throws the wrapper to Taehyung’s head, getting your attention. “Let’s go eat.” Jimin shouts. Taehyung looks at you, inverbally asking if you are good to go. You nod in agreement. “Convenience store right?” Taehyung confirms.

“Yes!” Jimin jumps. Yeri checks out Jimin walking towards you and starts to poke your body, just to tease you. Taehyung joins along and starts to pull onto some strands of your hair. You attempt to shove the boys off and fall into a fit of laughter. Yeri couldn’t help but feel jealous seeing how well you got along with them. Yeri was aware that Jimin and Taehyung were extremely close to Jungkook and desperately wanted to get close with them, as a way to make herself feel accepted into his circle. 

The three of you were already walking ahead, leaving you and Jungkook behind. Jungkook was just staring at the bench where you and Taehyung were sitting a second ago. “Let’s go, Kookie.” Yeri nudges him. He simply nods and stands up. “Sure.” He walks ahead, leaving Yeri alone. 

She grew irritated with Jungkook. A while ago, Jungkook was being gentlemanly with her and was seemingly having a good time with her. She doesn’t understand what suddenly went wrong with him for him to be so cold and distant now.

Jungkook stops in his tracks and turns behind to see why Yeri wasn’t following him yet. “What’s wrong?” He asked. She shakes her head, not wanting to bring it up. “Nothing.” She gets up from the bench and catches up with him. 

The rest of the night was spent with a brief convenience store run, a brief ‘dinner’ together inside of the apartment, and a brief conversation before everyone went to bed for the night. 

. . .

“Are you sure you don’t wanna spend Christmas and New Year’ with us, ___?” Taehyung asked for the millionth time. You nodded. “I’m very sure, Tae. I’ll be okay. I’ll make sure to enjoy my week alone.” You reassured. Taehyung clenched his jaw, feeling hurt that you were going to spend the holidays alone. Your parents went on vacation in Bali, wanting to spend the holidays with just them two. 

You and your parents were never that close when it came to quality time. They were supportive, attentive and loving parents but when it came to family-bonding quality time, it was practically nonexistent. It was what you grew up with. This was the norm for you. It was disappointing, of course, but that’s how it was. 

Jihyo suddenly came down with a terrible cold and was unable to come down and spend the week with you and Chaeyoung’s family dragged her down to Busan to spend the holidays with her grandparents. To be honest, you were kind of expecting her to offer you to spend the week with her and her family since they know you well and love you but she didn’t. Maybe it wasn’t on her mind and you didn’t want to burden her to make her feel as if she had to ask and invite you.

It was Christmas Eve and Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin were on the way back home to Busan to spend their holidays with their family–Jimin spending it with the brothers’ family. Although Jungkook didn’t verbally express it, he too felt bad leaving you alone for the holidays. He didn’t know much about how your family functioned but he was curious as to why you weren’t going to be spending it with them. 

Jimin gave you a pitiful look and hugged you. “Okay, well we should be leaving now. Our bus departs in 30 minutes.” Jimin said. You hugged him and chuckled. “Go on then! Let me know when you guys make it safely! I’ll be sure to update you guys on what I’ll be up to so you guys won’t be too worried.” You pulled away and nodded. Taehyung didn’t say anything but gave you a forced tight-lipped smile. “Alright. Merry Christmas, ___.” Taehyung walked over and hugged you tightly. You returned the tightness. “Merry Christmas.” You whispered. 

After Taehyung finally pulled away, you glanced over to Jungkook. He was glaring at you back. You weren’t able to understand the look on his face but you could swear it seemed as if he too had a look of pity. “Merry Christmas, Jungkook.” You said. You didn’t know if Jungkook wanted a hug from you as well so you decided to just wave. 

“Merry Christmas.” He replied, holding a hand up. After a slightly uncomfortable silence, Jimin goes ahead to open the front door and heads out first. Taehyung gives you a final smile before he follows behind. Jungkooks remains where he was for a little bit. 

“Let me know if you need anything.” He gives an actual wave and exits. He closes the door slowly and softly. 

You were now finally left alone for the entire week and you had no idea what to do now. The void of being alone hasn’t hit you yet and you hope it doesn’t ever or else you would end up crying yourself to sleep. 

. . .

“Boys, over here!” Jungkook heard his mother calling out to him. His mother and Taehyung’s father were standing next to their large black SUV, waving at them. “We’re home, Kook.” Taehyung mumbled sarcastically to him. Jungkook smirked, shaking his head at him. “So glad.” He replied back. 

Jimin ran up to their parents and hugged them. “It’s been so long, Mom and Dad!” Jimin cheered. He liked to call their parents mother and father since they practically raised Jimin along with Jungkook and Taehyung. 

“Oh, Jimin! You get so handsome every time I see you!” Jungkook’s mom pinches his cheeks. 

Taehyung’s father pulls Taehyung in for a hug and pats his back. “My son, welcome home.” He smiles. Taehyung fakes a smile back. “Missed you, dad.” 

After greeting Jimin, Jungkook’s mom pulls him in for a hug and kisses his forehead. “How have you been, my son?” She grins at him. Jungkook thinks to himself that being away from college has made his mother and Taehyung’s father extra affectionate with them. “I’ve been good. How have you been taking care of yourself?” He asks. She shrugs. “I’ve been picking up on yoga and pilates. It’s been relaxing me from my usual heavy workload.” She smiles. 

Jungkook noticed that there wasn’t a driver to pick them up like usual. Everyday, on his commute to school or anywhere else, he would have a driver to drop him off and pick him up. “No driver today?” Jungkook asked his parents. Taehyung’s father shook his head. “We both had the afternoon off and decided to get you guys ourselves.” He smiled. 

Jungkook and Taehyung looked at each other in surprise. “I see.” Taehyung said. “Come, let’s go have lunch.” Jungkook’s mother held onto him and pulled him to the car. Jungkook certainly wasn’t used to the sudden physical touch his mother was giving him and the sudden quality time as well. 

. . .

It was now dinnertime and Jungkook, Taehyung, Jimin, and their parents were all sitting at the table together. 

“Tell me about your living situation. Are you guys enjoying living together?” Jungkook’s mom asked Jungkook and Taehyung. Taehyung nodded. “Yea, I’ve trained Jungkook well. He cleans up after himself, he’s a great cook, and he likes to hang out with me and Jimin whenever he isn’t busy.” 

Jungkook’s mom darts her eyes between the three. “Jimin?” She asks. “Mhm. Jimin is living with us for the time being.” Taehyung clarifies. Jungkook’s mom mouth gapes open and turns her attention to Jimin. “Oh really? Jimin, what happened to your schooling? Are you not going anymore?” She asks. 

Jimin debates whether or not he should be honest with them. Taehyung and Jungkook’s parents were a lot like his parents in the sense of needing their children to attend prestigious universities, getting good grades, and getting a good job after graduation. 

“I’m taking a short break from school. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the strict academic regulations that came with being a pre-med student. I feel like I need to be mentally prepared and confident with my decision to study medicine and I was not.” 

Taehyung’s father nodded understandably. “Of course, studying medicine is a serious decision. You’re going to be saving lives. You made the right decision, son.” He boasted. Taehyung gave a quick glance to Jungkook. He was already returning the same look he had: shock. What was going on with their parents? Had Taehyung or Jungkook told their parents that they wanted to take a break from school, they would most likely faint or die from a heart attack. 

“Do you like living with our sons?” Jungkook’s mother asked, giving Jimin an amused smile. Jimin chuckled, looking at the two. “Yeah, they’re the best. They and ___ made me feel very welcomed into their humble abode.” He smiled. 

Their parents gave him a perplexed look. “Who’s ___?” Taehyung’s father asked. Jungkook stopped chewing his food and only stared ahead at his mother who was giving him a confused look. Taehyung turned his head to Jimin and silently cursed him out. He explicitly told him during the busride to not bring you up to them. He knew that his parents wouldn’t be okay with a woman living with him and on top of that, they would know that Taehyung was struggling to make ends meet when it came to rent. It was their decision to cut them off financially, therefore they had no need to know what was going on in his life financially-wise. 

“Uh-,” Jimin stuttered. One thing about Jimin was that he was a terrible liar. He couldn’t lie for the life of him. “____ is Taehyung and Jungkook’s next door neighbor! She comes over often and hangs out with us. She’s very nice.” He spat out. Jungkook let his silverware clang onto his bowl of soup and groaned out loud. Taehyung blinked and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. 

“What? Are we not allowed to know about the kind of new friends you’ve made in Seoul?” Taehyung’s father protruded. “Yeah, tell us about ___. We would love to get to know your new female friend that is very close with you guys.” Jungkook’s mother chimed in. Taehyung chuckled nervously. “No, of course we can talk about ___. Like Jimin said, she is very nice. She’s a good friend of ours. She goes to Konkuk with us.” He explained.

Jungkook’s mother nodded. “What is she studying?” His father asked. “She’s studying to be a doctor.” He lied. If he was to expose that you were an undecided student, their parents would immediately disapprove of you. It would be worse than being a gap student, like Jimin. 

Taehyung’s father nodded in approval. “Smart girl.” He smiled. “Yes, very smart indeed. Is she originally from Seoul?” Jungkook’s mom leaned close to the table, seemingly very interested in learning more about you. 

“She’s from Busan like us. She actually went to the same school as Jungkook.” Taehyung nudged him. Jungkook choked on the soup he was trying to swallow. “What?” He muffled. “No way! What a funny coincidence! Jungkook, is she a good friend of yours too?” His mom grinned. 

He tried to swallow the rest of the liquid and pondered on the question. “Uh, I guess, yes.” He answered. “That’s so nice. We probably know her parents well.” Taehyung’s father nodded. “Oh, I don’t think so. She doesn’t come from an affluent family. She’s kind of…regular.” Taehyung said. 

He winced at the usage of “regular” to describe you but it was the only word he could think of for his parents to understand you and your background. It was the only word they’d understand. 

“Oh, I see.” She nodded. “She must be pretty, right?” This caused Jungkook and Taehyung to both choke on their food and Jimin to snort out a laugh. 

“What did I say?” she asked, worried as hell. 

Taehyung’s father chuckled at his sons. “They’re blushing, love. She must be very pretty indeed.” He teased. Taehyung dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin and cleared his throat. “Why do you guys care?” He said with a muffled voice. 

“We’re just curious.” She edged. 

Taehyung tried to brush off the question but Jungkook’s mother kept pestering. “She’s as pretty as every other girl in the world.” He tried to play it off. His father chuckled at his choice of wording. “To me, that translates to she’s pretty to you. Do any of you boys like her?”

Jimin laughed harder. “Dad, stop.” Taehyung hissed. “Is she in Busan for the holidays? We would love to meet her, you should invite her to spend New Year’s with us!” 

Jimin answered for them. “She stayed home for the break. Her parents are out of town.” 

“Jimin-,” Taehyung warned. “So you mean to tell me that she’s alone for the holidays? Why?” Taehyung’s father asked, with concern. “No idea. We had asked her to spend the holidays with us too but she insisted against it. The three of us didn’t want to leave her behind too.” Jimin continued to yap on. Taehyung pinched his leg and he yelped from pain. 

“Taehyung, Jungkook? Do invite her to come down and spend the week with us. We would love to have her here.” Jungkook’s mother suggested. “I-I think she will be okay. She might have other plans made and we shouldn’t disrupt that.” Taehyung said. 

“But-,”

“Mom, just drop it. She’s busy with another family that lives in Seoul. She told me herself. Don’t get worked up over it.” Jungkook chimed in. His mother remained silent but nodded. “I just think that no one should be spending the holidays alone. I recommend you guys text her and make sure she has company of some sort. Especially since she’s a woman living alone. Who knows what could happen to her.” 

That was probably the last thing the three of them wanted to hear. Although they felt reassured enough by you that you were going to be okay alone, they should’ve considered the fact that you were still a woman residing alone for a week and any weirdo could possibly hurt you and if not that, you were going to feel lonely regardless. Why would they just be okay with leaving you alone?

The three of them remained silent for the rest of the conversation. Taehyung’s father got the hint that they were now preoccupied with the thought of you being alone and decided to change the topic for the rest of dinner. 

“Are any of you boys seeing someone?” 

Jimin turned to look at Jungkook. “Jungkook, are you seeing someone?” His mother gasped. Jungkook kept his head down at his soup and remained silent some more. “You are?” 

“I’m not seeing anyone.” He lied. “Who is she? Who are her parents? Where is she from?”

Taehyung chuckled at him. “Her name is Yeri. They’ve been seeing each other for over a month now. She’s nice.” He answered for him. Jungkook kicked his legs under the table and Taehyung let out an abrupt chuckle. 

“I can’t believe how grown our son has gotten. He has his first girlfriend.” His mother cooes to her husband. “We would love to meet her whenever you’re ready to introduce us to her. I know it won’t be for a little while longer since it is still so new and fresh.”

Jungkook suddenly felt hot with irritation. Where was all this coming from? His parents suddenly showing an interest in his life? To Taehyung’s life? Why are they abnormally understanding of Jimin's drop out situation? Why now? Why now after he’s been gone for months that they suddenly want to act attentive and caring?

“What’s going with you both?” He asks. They give each other a perplexed look. “What are you talking about, son?” His mom asks innocently. “You know exactly what I mean. Why are you guys being like this? What did we do? What do you want from us?” He hissed. 

Taehyung wanted to attempt to control him but to be honest, he was quite relieved that he took the initiative to say something. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic with his parent’s sudden switch up. 

His parents remained quiet and uncomfortably looked at each other. Jungkook and Taehyung could sense tension oozing off of their silence. They knew that something was actually going on. 

The father cleared his throat and dabbed the corner of his lips with a napkin. “I think it’s time we tell them.” He said sternly. Jungkook’s mother didn’t react. She instead responded by taking a long chug of her red wine. 

Her sweet mother demeanor switched into a cold yet seemingly anxious attitude. “Tell us what?” Taehyung asked. 

“I’ll say it.” Jungkook’s mom spoke up. Her voice was deep. She darted her eyes between her son, Taehyung and Jimin. Her eyes softened as she glanced between the three boys she deeply cared for and loved. 

“Two months ago..,” She started off. 

“Two months ago…I got diagnosed with stage two cancer. Breast cancer.” She stated. 

All of a sudden, Jungkook felt as if his chair was sunken into a black void that was hungry to capture him. He felt as if he was disassociated from where he was. Is this a dream? Is it reality? Is he somewhere in between? Did he hear her correctly? 

Is this actually real life? 

With the silence in the room, you could hear a pin drop. You could hear thoughts.

“Your mother has her first chemotherapy session scheduled about two weeks from now. Doctors say that it is still possible they can remove the tumor inside.” He spoke up. 

Taehyung slightly turned his head to Jungkook, if he could figure out whatever was going through his head. If he even had anything going through his head at all. 

His face was as white as the wall, lips as white as him. His doe eyes were a combination of grief, anger, shock, and nothing at the same time. Jungkook could throw up at this very moment. 

“Why wouldn’t you tell me this sooner?” He whispered to her. She looked at him with regret and with pain. Pain for her only child having the bear this kind of news. 

“I figured it could wait. I didn’t want this to distract you from your studies.” She said matter-of-factly. Jungkook slammed his silverware to the table. 

“It took for you to get cancer to suddenly care about me? Care about my feelings? Consider me into your life for once?” He spat out. She jumped from the sudden harsh words he said to her.

“Now that you’re sick, you want to suddenly act like you have a son to talk to?” He continued. He tried to fight the tears that were threatening to spill but he couldn’t bear it anymore. He was destroyed. He was furious. He couldn’t even look at her without wanting to say bad words.

“Jungkook-,” Taehyung’s father tried to get him to stop but Jungkook seriously could not manage to stay in the same room as her. He stands up from his seat and storms upstairs to his bedroom.

“Jungkook, come back please.” His father yelled out for him. Taehyung watched him as he left. He understood where this was coming from. It was a mixture of grief of the devastating news and it was a mixture of him genuinely being furious at how his mother was acting like everything was fine between them when it just wasn’t.

Jungkook slammed his door and sat onto the side of his bed. He expected the rest of the tears to fall out but it felt as if he finally became mentally strong enough to block it. He was struggling to catch his breath, to catch a single ounce of a breath to exhale. His chest felt as if he swallowed a flame, growing hotter and painful to withstand.

He didn’t have the capacity to think rationally, act logically, and be stable. He was dealing with a surge of insanely different emotions and didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to see his mother, he didn’t want to see his step-father, he didn’t want to see Taehyung or Jimin or have either of the two come to his bedroom to confront him. He didn’t want to be here. Not at this home, not in Busan, all he knew was that he wanted to be as far away from here as possible. 

Without thinking, he grabbed his duffel bag,–which luckily hasn’t been unpacked yet–his phone, keys, and wallet and immediately left his childhood bedroom. He stomped down the stairs, not caring if they could hear him coming down, and headed straight towards the front door. 

The nearest bus station was a 30 minute drive, about a two hour walk from his house, but he didn’t care. He stormed outside of the house, ignoring the calls from his mother and father. 

Taehyung remained where he sat, knowing that Jungkook would be too stubborn to listen to him. He knew that Jungkook was just in shock and just wasn’t handling the news in the best and mature way. 

“Where could he possibly be going at this time?” Jungkook’s mother breathed out heavily. “Relax, he probably went on a walk to clear his mind. Give him some time to breathe.” His father soothed. 

“Taehyung,” His mother called out. He managed to look up from his plate and made eye contact with her. “Please call Jungkook if he doesn’t return within an hour.” She pleaded. Taehyung nodded in response. 

“Promise me? It is almost sunset, he shouldn’t be walking in the dark all alone.” 

“I promise.” He croaked out. Jungkook’s mother places her head into her palms and lets out an exasperated sigh. The table was filled with a painfully awkward silence. Jimin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was suddenly missing his own home—the home where he is disowned from. 

“I’m going to get Mirae to clear our plates if we are all done eating now.” Taehyung’s father spoke up. Mirae was the housekeeper. 

“Mirae, come please. We’re all done here.” He called out, after using the silence as a collective response. 

. . .

After an hour and a half of speed walking, Jungkook finally made it to the bus station. His shoulders were aching, his legs were throbbing, and he was sweating like crazy. He felt pity for the people around him that could smell his sweat from walking over 20,000 steps across town. 

He approached the guest service desk. “Good evening, do you have an available ticket for a bus to Seoul? Soonest one, preferably.” 

As he was walking to the station, he decided he would head straight home to the apartment. He didn’t want to spend an entire week with his mother and pretend that everything was fine when it wasn’t. He didn’t want to spend Christmas and the New Year’s and pretend that he was having a good time when he wouldn’t. 

“The next bus to Seoul is arriving in twenty minutes. You’re lucky, there was one available seat left. Would you like to purchase it?” The attendant asked. He immediately reached for his wallet and handed his credit card, not caring about the price of the ticket. 

After purchasing his ticket, he sat at the nearest bench and closed his eyes. 

All he could replay in the back of his mind was the sight of his mother at the dinner table. He didn’t realize how frail she appeared, how deepened her wrinkles grew to be, and how pale her skin was. Her hair was thinner and grayer. She barely touched her dinner as well. How could he have not noticed how sick his own mother looked? His own mother was sick with cancer and he didn’t even notice it. 

His guilt shifted to resentment; how could she suddenly want to repair their damaged relationship now? Why now? Why after being diagnosed with a sickness does she suddenly want to make things better between them? Why didn’t she care prior? Would she have still reached out if she was never sick? Would she still care about him? 

He refused to let the tears that were pooling fall. He didn’t want to care about this. He didn’t want to admit that he is still a hurting child inside. He is still a young boy that misses and needs his mom. He didn’t want to be that boy anymore. He wanted to be the 20-year old man that was a college student, living on his own, and heading off into the real world.

Jungkook suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his hands. Taehyung was calling him.

After letting the phone ring for several moments, he decided to pick up. 

“What?” He said. 

“Where are you?” Taehyung asked. He sounded as if he was keeping his voice hushed, as if he didn’t want anyone to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Jungkook debated for a moment if he should just straight up tell him. He decided to lie. “I’m going to Yeri’s.” 

“Yeri’s? What, why?” He stuttered. “I, uh, don’t think I can handle being around my mom right now. Yeri’s with her family in Seoul for the holidays, so I’m just going to spend the week with her.” 

Taehyung sighed against the speaker. “Kook, your mom is sick. She…she needs you right now? Don’t do this.” He said quietly. Jungkook assumes that his mother is nearby and Taehyung didn’t want her to listen to the phone call. 

“She’s got you, your dad, and Jimin. She’ll be fine. She didn’t need me before and she certainly doesn’t need me now.” He spat out. 

Taehyung remained silent on the line, not knowing what to say to convince Jungkook to come back. He didn’t know what to say in general.

“Alright. Do what you want. Should I tell our parents you’re with Yeri?” He asked.

“I don’t care. Tell them whatever you want, I couldn’t give a single shit.” Jungkook hangs up without letting Taehyung say anything back. He swallowed the guilt he felt after talking to Taehyung so harshly. He knew that he shouldn’t take his anger out on him. Jungkook didn’t know how to handle this situation at all. He just wanted to leave Busan. He wanted to be home.

. . .

It was 11 o’clock at night and you were awake, with a sheet mask on, painting your toenails, and were on your third glass of red wine. Faye Webster was playing on your speakers in the background and you were humming along to the lyrics as you lightly brushed your pinky toe white. 

You were in a blissful mood; tipsy with wine, good music and good wine. Your chicken you ordered for delivery was on the way. Maybe this week alone wouldn’t be so awful after all. Maybe a week to yourself was what your soul was craving. 

Your phone was on DND, the LED living room lamp was cozy and warmly yellow. You were in paradise. Although at the same time you did miss the boys. You missed the chaotic energy they brought. You missed the Friday night movie watches, the constant bickering, the smell of Taehyung cooking dinner, the gossip you shared with Jimin, and the rare presence of Jungkook. 

You could only hope that they were enjoying their time at home. You missed Busan like crazy and wish that you could be back in your hometown too. 

You chugged down the rest of your wine and immediately began pouring yourself another glass. Being wine drunk was the move for tonight’s solemn mood. 

Your last toenail was painted and you placed the toe dividers in between. You sighed in delight and sipped your wine gracefully, still humming along to the song playing. 

Your relaxed mood was paused after hearing the sound of someone knocking on the door. You perked up, knowing that your fried chicken had arrived. You waddled over to the door, and eagerly opened the door.

Your breath was caught in your throat as you were not met with the sight of the delivery man. You were met with the sight of Jungkook.

“Jungkook?” You gasped, still in disbelief that he was here right in front of you. 

“Hey.” He said. 

You couldn’t manage to say anything else. You could only just stare at him. He looked physically exhausted. His hair was disheveled and looked greasy. His lips were cracked and dry and his eyes had dark bags hanging underneath.

“Come in.” You said but it managed to come out as a question. He entered the apartment and removed his shoes. He walked straight to the kitchen right after and grabbed a glass cup. He poured himself water from the sink and chugged it down in one second. You were still staring at him in disbelief.

“Um…can I ask why you’re home so soon?” You asked. He observed your shock-ridden face that was being covered by the sheet mask you had on your face. Your hair was tied up into a low bun and was pulled back by a plush headwrap with kitten ears attached to it. You had on your pink gingham patterned matching pajamas and he looked down to your freshly painted toenails and the toes being separated by the divider. He let out a chuckle at your relaxed appearance. 

“Sorry for interrupting your self care night.” He smirked at you. You embarrassingly walked away and headed back to the living room. Jungkook followed you. “Whatever.” You mumbled to yourself. Your solo night was now ruined by Jungkook’s random return.

You reached for your wine glass and took a large gulp. Your palms were suddenly sweaty and your heart was beating fast. You were nervous. You were now no longer alone in the apartment. It was just you and Jungkook. 

“Why are you home?” You asked again. Jungkook shrugged. “I didn’t want to be there anymore. I felt like coming back.” 

You stared at him down, still extremely confused. All you could think to yourself was why. Why, why, why? What happened?

“Does Taehyung know you’re here?” You asked. Jungkook shook his head no. “He doesn’t. And I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell him I am. He thinks I’m somewhere else.” He shoved his pants into his pockets and kept strong eye contact with you. He knows you’re confused and that you must have thousands of questions running through your mind right now. 

You nodded in agreement. “Are you going to stay? The entire holiday break?” 

Jungkook nodded. “Oh.” You manage to say. You couldn’t hide the disappointment laced in your voice. “Again, sorry for interrupting you. I should’ve told you I was coming.” He ran his fingers through his greasy hair.

“Don’t apologize. This is your home too. You can come and go as you please.” You chuckle nervously. You were extremely nervous to be alone with Jungkook for an entire week. This reminded you of the time when Taehyung was gone for a weekend to go interview for his candidacy as a recipient of the ‘best film’ award. You and Jungkook were in a heated argument, like usual, and you remember how awkward it was to be alone for a weekend. Now, it was for a whole week. Seven days.

“You want to join me? I’m just drinking wine and listening to music.” You offered, trying to break the awkward tension that was brewing. Jungkook debated for a moment. He didn’t know if he was in the mood to socialize anymore for the day. He was on a crowded 4-hour bus ride, and desperately craved to be back in his bed after a long day of commuting. 

Despite that, he felt bad to decline your offer. “Sure. Do you mind if I shower first? I’m pretty gross and greasy right now.” 

You immediately reassured him. “A-Absolutely, go ahead and shower and do whatever you need to do. No rush!” You blabbered. Jungkook gave you a curt nod and dragged his duffel bag and himself ahead to his bedroom. 

You breathed out a long stressed out sigh. You reached for your phone and tracked your chicken which was beginning to take too long to arrive. The driver was five minutes away. 

You groaned into a pillow, not caring that you were staining it with your sheet mask serums. 

. . .

After forty-five minutes passed by, you were gnawing on your third chicken leg with Jungkook devouring the food as well. He didn’t realize how hungry he had been. He barely ate the entire day. 

“This is some of the best chicken I’ve ever had in my entire life.” Jungkook said with his mouth full. You chuckled as you were chewing. “This is my go-to chicken restaurant. They never miss.” You dabbed the corner of your cheeks with a napkin and rinsed the chicken down your throat with a nice cold beer. 

You shouldn’t be mixing alcohol right now but you forgot that you had ordered beer with the order and didn’t want to mix fried chicken with wine; it wasn’t a good match. You were slightly past tipsy and entering drunk territory. 

Jungkook was also drinking his beer of the night. A fresh hot shower, fresh pair of pajamas, a cold beer, and crispy Korean fried chicken was the perfect way to end his shitty long day. 

The two of you were devouring the chicken in a comfortable silence. Faye Webster was still playing quietly in the background. “I like Faye Webster too.” Jungkook said. 

Your eyes widened. “You listen to her too?” He nodded. “I like to play her music whenever I study or read. Keeps me focused.” He said. You couldn’t help but to smile at that. “That’s so cool. I haven’t met anyone that also listened to her. She makes great music.” 

Jungkook nodded in agreement. “Same here. Sucks that she probably might not ever tour in Korea.” He sighed, tossing a chicken bone into the box. 

“Never say never.” You wagged a finger at him. 

The two of you were sitting quite far apart; both sitting on each end of the couch. He was freshly showered and the entire living room was filled with the scent of his shampoo. He smelled like fresh and clean laundry. You admired the way his damp wet hair stuck to his forehead and how his ends sprung and curled outwards. 

Another comfortable silence fell upon. 

“So, how was your short time with your family?” You asked, trying to make some conversation. After all, you did invite him to hang with you.

Jungkook took a gulp of beer and pondered on how to respond to your question. 

How straight forward should he be? He has come to the conclusion awhile ago that you are someone who is trustworthy and someone easy to confide problems with. You are good at comforting others. However, he constantly mentally struggles whether the two of you are considered to be ‘friends’ enough to discuss any dilemmas with. The two of you have a weird so-called friendship.

However, despite all the complications, he’d rather communicate honestly to someone who wasn’t biased to his family for once. 

“If I had to describe it in one word, it would be: weird. It was weird.”

“How come?” You pestered.

He sighed. “They were being abnormally…nice for once. Like they were trying to act like actual parents and wanted to know what we were up to since we last chatted. Immediately, that was a huge red flag for me because since when did they care about that, right? What other way was there to describe that other than weird? It was so weird.” 

You cocked your head to the side. “I see.” You nodded. Jungkook continued on.

“It was such bullshit. They picked us up from the bus stop themselves and actually sat down to eat dinner with us.”

You were in shock hearing at how distant and fucked up Jungkook’s relationship with his parents was. The fact that he was shocked that they ate dinner with them said a lot. 

“Eventually, I made them stop the bullshit. I asked them why they were acting so differently and comes to turn out that my mother has fucking cancer.” He said nonchalantly. 

Without hesitation, you immediately got up from your spot and sat right in front of Jungkook. “I’m sorry, what? Your mom has cancer?” Your eyes were wide open, with your heart thumping against your chest from the shock.

“Yeah, stage two breast cancer. She’s known for two months and broke the news over dinner.” He chugged another gulp of beer. He could feel his chest burning from the emotions arising again and his eyes stinging from the tears threatening to form. 

“Oh, Jungkook…” You cooed. You hesitantly placed your hand above his hand, debating whether you should touch it out of comfort. You decided to just place your hand over his forearm. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that, I’m truly so sorry.” Your eyes met with his and Jungkook could easily read the immense sympathy you had for him. Your eyes looked glassy, as if you were going to cry. 

He shook his head and let out a cold laugh. “Is it bad that I’m so fucking pissed at her, ____? I’m genuinely so furious with her. Why is it that now after finding out she’s sick, she wants to become more present in my life and start wanting to know how I’ve been? She has never cared before so why should she switch up and care now?” 

You allowed Jungkook to continue venting. You knew he had more to let out of his system. 

“Am I a bad son for storming out after she broke the news? Was I supposed to get over it and stay for the rest of the break and be there for her? Am I in the wrong for being upset?” He was fuming. His nose was turning pink from his arising emotions and he continued to withhold the tears. He refused to cry. He refused to cave in.

“You’re allowed to feel whatever you feel. I think you have every right to feel this way,” You started off, beginning to rubbing circles on his forearm with your fingertips. Jungkook looked up to make eye contact with you.

“I also think you’re in shock and this is you reacting out of shock and the lifelong resentment you hold against your mom. The shock is coming out of worry and fear. And you carry worry and fear over your mom’s news because you love her despite the resentment. You love your mother and you’re scared to lose her. You also have so much reason to be furious at her as a secondary emotion.”

“I don’t want to worry about her, she’s never worried about me. She practically let me raise myself. Taehyung was more of a mother to me than she was.” 

You stopped rubbing circles and removed your hands from his space. 

“Do you want to hear advice or do you just want a friend to listen to you? I can do whatever you need.” You asked. Jungkook could only stare into your soft and kind eyes. He didn’t know how to answer that. He’s never been asked that before. 

The fact that you called yourself his friend comforted him slightly. He needed a friend by his side. 

“I don’t want to talk about her anymore.” He firmly stated. Jungkook’s an avoidant person. When he struggles with an issue, he pretends it doesn’t exist. 

You could tell Jungkook was truly hurting from this. You could see the pain tattooed in his eyes. You also didn’t want to force him to talk about something that was distressing him and that he was clearly still in the process of accepting to believe. 

“Let’s finish this bottle of wine together, yeah?” You smiled at him. He tried to suppress the smile that was trying to respond to yours but he couldn’t. It’s something about the way you always manage to get his soft emotions out of him that he can’t hide well. 

. . .

Throughout the week, you and Jungkook were co-existing well. The two of you would accompany each other during breakfast and dinner, and occasionally grab iced Americanos for lunch. 

There was a holiday market on campus and you invited him to tag along. The two of you spent a good hour at the market and checked out everything together; even playing the Christmas-themed arcade games provided. 

You continued your Christmas tradition of watching classic holiday movies in your coziest pajamas while eating fresh baked cookies and hot chocolate. Normally, you would do this with Jihyo and Chaeyoung and had assumed you would continue the tradition alone this year but Jungkook surprisingly joined you. 

Jungkook was beginning to grow comfortable with considering you as an actual friend and not just someone whom he likes to bicker with. He liked your company. He liked how you used him as Jimin’s replacement to discuss any gossip and how you used him as Taehyung’s replacement to become the chef of the household. He cooked everything for you; breakfast and dinner. He realized while he was cooking breakfast one morning that one his love languages for his friends was doing acts of service. He liked cooking for you, he liked helping Yoongi out with any assignments he had trouble with, he liked doing extra household chores to make Taehyung’s day easier whenever he had a busy day of working and going to school, and he liked tagging along with Jimin to the gym to spot him during their weight lifting sessions, even tags along without Jimin asking. 

He didn’t regret leaving Busan. He knew he needed time away to process and needed time apart from his mom to understand her and her reasoning on why she did what she did. After all, she can’t just ignore the emotional negligence she’s done to him since he was a child. He was enjoying his break back at home. 

It was New Year’s Eve morning when you and Jungkook were sitting at the table and enjoying each other’s company as per usual. 

“I forgot, will Tae and Jimin come back tonight or tomorrow morning?” You asked Jungkook. “I think tomorrow morning. My parent’s usually like to throw New Year’s parties and probably want the two to celebrate with them and their asshole friends.” Jungkook sipped his tea.

You chuckled at how nonchalantly he insults people. “Do you want to come with me to Hoseok’s New Year’s party? He texted me about it last night. It was a last minute he and Yoongi made.” 

Jungkook immediately nodded. ��Yeah, I’ve been missing Yoongi like crazy.” You gaped your mouth open. “Are you actually missing someone? That’s crazy.” 

Jungkook tossed a raspberry at you. “I’m not an emotionless psychopath, ___.” He rolled his eyes. You groaned in annoyance. “I don’t know why you can’t admit that you indeed are an emotionless psychopath.” 

“Just because I’m not nice to everyone doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart.” He argued. “I think it means you have unsolved trauma you need to get through.” You argued back, causing Jungkook to snort at you. 

“Therapy is expensive, being an asshole is free.”

You laughed at him, shaking your head in amusement. “Let’s leave at around 10:30.” You suggested. He nodded in agreement and went back to reading the news on his phone.

You suddenly got a Facetime call from Taehyung. Excitedly, you answered quickly.

“Good morning, ___!” Taehyung beamed at you. This was the first time you were seeing his face after he left to go home. The two of you continued to text everyday but this was the first time he called to Facetime after being gone throughout the week. 

“Tae! What’s up! I’ve missed you a lot.” You smiled at him. Jimin popped his head into the screen and waved at you. “Jimin! Hi, I’ve missed you too!” You grinned at the two. 

“We just wanted to say hi on the last day of the year. We miss you too. Wish you were spending the New Year’s with us but we’ll be back tomorrow morning. We were supposed to be back today but my parents want Jimin and I to stay and hang with them and their asshole friends.” Taehyung said. You choke out a giggle, remembering how Jungkook said the exact same thing a minute ago. A reminder of how closely similar they can be. 

A text from Jungkook slides to the top of your screen:

jungkook: Remember, they don’t know I’m here. 

You quickly text back a thumbs up emoji and return back to the video call.

“So, where’s Jungkook? Is he still asleep?” You asked. “Oh, he’s not here in Busan. He went to spend the holidays with Yeri and her family. I have no idea where in Korea he’s at.” 

Your face fell at what Taehyung said. You peered over to look at Jungkook and he was still just reading the news on his phone, as if he didn’t hear Taehyung. 

You felt so stupid to remember that Jungkook had a whole girlfriend. He’s barely mentioned her the entire time he’s been home. 

“Oh, right. Well, I’ll probably text him to wish a happy new year’s after midnight. How have you guys been, what were you guys up to all week?” You quickly dismissed the Jungkook topic.

Jimin groaned. “Tae’s dad asks us to play golf and tennis with him every morning at the country club he goes to everyday. Then, in the evening, Jungkook’s mom asks us to go to her pilates and yoga classes with her. We’ve literally been exercising every single day. Three entirely different sports and exercises everyday. At night, Tae and I try to sneak out and get drinks and go to clubs to let loose.” Jimin whined. You giggled at them.

“That actually sounds like a lot of fun, I wish I could attend pilates classes for free. It’s such an expensive hobby.” You chuckle. “At least we burn so many calories a day that we have extra space to drink our sorrows away.” Jimin groaned again. Taehyung chuckled and nodded in agreement. 

“Wish you were here, ___. How have you been spending your break? Enjoying the silence in the apartment? Do you keep the door locked every night?” Taehyung pestered you.

“I’ve been having a great time alone. I spent Christmas with Hoseok and plan to spend tonight with him again. He and Yoongi are throwing a party.” You lied. You didn’t want Taehyung to have the idea that you spent Christmas alone like a lonely loser. 

“Ah, I’m so glad he’s giving you company. Let me know if you need anything, okay? I’m always here for you.” Taehyung urged. Jungkook tried to hold back a scoff at his obvious desperate attempts to woo you over. 

“I promise, Tae. See you tomorrow, okay? Thanks for calling to check in.” You smiled and waved. 

“Taehyung and I are gonna head out to the club with his dad now. Wish us luck. See ya, ___.” Jimin hung up on the call before you had a chance to say something back. 

You sighed in happiness, realizing that you truly missed the two and enjoyed seeing their faces and hearing their voices after so long. 

“Why do you look so happy? You missed Tae-Tae?” Jungkook mocked you. You rolled your eyes at him, already annoyed. “I miss both of them, not just Tae. What’s with everyone thinking I like Taehyung or something?” You groaned.

Jungkook snapped his head up at that. “Who thinks that?” He asked. “Literally, everyone. Hoseok and my friends Jihyo and Chaeyoung, too. Hoseok even has the audacity to think that Taehyung has some kind of crush on me. Ridiculous, right?” 

Jungkook kept quiet for a second but laughed it off. “Extremely ridiculous.” 

For some reason, this annoyed you. “‘Extremely’? Is it that weird if someone like Tae was to like me? As if I’m so unlikable or something?” You spat. Jungkook laughed again, not expecting you to get so heated at that.

“Did I say that? Tell me what exactly I said that hinted at that?” He snickered. You scoff at him. “You said ‘extremely’ really honestly. I could tell by the way you dragged out the word. You said ‘extreeemeleey’.” You mocked.

Jungkook was growing to be more amused with you. He didn’t know you had a dramatic side to you. “As if you are such a catch yourself! I’m surprised you even have a girlfriend that can handle you.” You pick on him.

It took Jungkook a second to remember who you were even talking about. He hasn’t thought about Yeri since the ice-skating date. He doesn’t even remember if he’s replied to the last text she sent.

Admittedly, Jungkook felt bad that he cared little about Yeri. He knows that she’s a nice girl and genuinely deserved better than the treatment he’s giving her. It’s clear she wants more than sex from him. He made a mental note to have a chat with Yeri about their relationship after the New Year’s. He knows that he can’t be the one to give her the kind of relationship she’s seeking for and that it was shitty of him to lead her on like this for so long. Maybe he really can be an emotionless psychopath. 

“Didn’t highschool you harbor a big ass crush on me? Clearly, I must be a catch.” He teased. Everytime Jungkook mentions your stupid crush on him, you mentally kill yourself. What in the world made you think it was a good idea to confess to him on the last day of school? Why were you so confident that you wouldn’t run into him again after graduation? You should’ve known that you were going to lose your freshman dorm and end up living in an apartment with him and his brother somehow. 

“Why don’t you go tease your girlfriend instead of teasing me all the time. Do you even know what she’s up to lately? You’ve barely even talked about her and haven’t heard you talk to her on the phone or anything.” The bickering continued. 

“Why do you care though?” Jungkook’s smile grew bigger. You couldn’t help but laugh along with him. The lover girl in you couldn’t help but get butterflies at the grin he’s giving you. It’s rare to see Jungkook smile but it’s even rarer to make him smile. You forget how pretty his teeth are and how gorgeous he looks when he’s smiling.

“Stop smiling at me, you look like a creep.” You lied. Jungkook snorts at you and goes back to reading the news on his phone. You take the opportunity to secretly admire him and his beauty. God, you hated how he still makes you feel like that giddy high schooler all over again. It wasn’t fair. 

What will it take and how long will it take for you to get over that stupid feeling he makes you feel? When will it hit you that Jungkook is into someone else, someone that isn’t you? Your heart panged at the constant reminder that Jungkook once had your heart and stomped all over it til it was no longer existent and relevant in his eyes. 

. . .

“___! You’re here! And…Jungkook too?” Hoseok gave you a confused glance. 

“He had nothing better to do and he said he missed Yoongi so I had no choice but to drag him.” You whispered through your teeth. Hoseok nodded understandably. 

Hoseok’s apartment was surprisingly packed. You didn’t realize how many friends he and Yoongi collectively shared. It was around 30 people together inside their large studio apartment. 

You and Jungkook had pregamed together before heading out to Hoseok’s. You both took three shots of soju together and made small conversation before leaving. You were feeling happily buzzed right now. 

“Let’s take a shot together, my love.” Hoseok handed you a small plastic shot glass of a mysteriously pungent clear liquid. “What is this? It smells so strong.” You scrunched your nose. “Tequila. Don Julio Blanco.” He smiled at you mischievously. 

“Oh, you want me fucked up tonight.” You chuckled at him. You both clinked your cups together and tossed the hot liquor down your poor throats and poor liver.

“I’m thankful for our friendship, ___. We only met a few months ago but you’re already one of the most important people in my life. I love you.” Hoseok pulled you into a tight embrace. “I love you too, Hobi. Thank you for being my friend. To another year of friendship.” 

Hoseok kissed your temple and leaned down to whisper against your ear. “I have something to tell you but I’m afraid you’re going to kill me.” 

You chuckled and leaned into his ears. “Nothing you can do could possibly make me hate you.” You began to mentally prepare yourself for whatever he was going to tell you.

“Promise?” 

“Depends on what it is.” You smirked. “Namjoon is here.”

Your smile dropped instantly. How the fuck is he here? “How the fuck is he-”

“Some of Yoongi’s friends spread the word to him and next thing I know, he’s here with them.” 

You groaned out of annoyance and stress. “Fuck me.” You sighed.

“I just wanted to let you know in case you run into him.” Hoseok gave you a sympathetic glare. “Thanks, I guess. I mean, I wasn’t really into him like that either way, it’s just going to be so awkward if I was to run into him after he just randomly ghosted me. I don’t know what I’d even say to him.”

“You don’t owe him an explanation. He does. So, don’t feel obliged to make conversation if you do happen to run into him. Just stick by me and Yoongi’s side the entire night, we’ll look out for you.” Hoseok reassures you. 

You nod in agreement. “I’m gonna go greet my friends that just walked in, give me a second, okay?” Hoseok patted reassuringly on your shoulder and walked past to greet his newly arrived guests.

You sighed in annoyance to yourself, not knowing what to do as you were left alone. Jungkook went off to find Yoongi. You looked around the room to see if you could spot Namjoon. 

Luckily, you couldn’t see him anywhere. Hopefully, he left for the night?

It was creeping to a quarter past 11. You caught sight of Jungkook and Yoongi in the middle of a conversation. You didn’t know how to distract yourself by looking all lonely so you reached your phone and randomly scrolled through different apps.

After a few minutes of doing so, you decided to go to the cooler and search for a drink to emotionally rely on for the time being. As you were searching, you reached for a Wild Basin Mango Mai Tai seltzer. Your hands were grabbing to the can until another hand suddenly reached over the same seltzer can. 

You looked up and were unfortunately met with the sight of Namjoon.

“Great.” You mumble to yourself. 

“Hey, ___! Nice seeing you here.” Namjoon chuckled nervously. You flashed him a fake smile and instantly stopped reaching for the drink. “H-How have you been?” Namjoon attempted to make conversation with you. You couldn’t help but to scoff and roll your eyes at him. You tried to walk away from him but he chased after you.

“___, wait please. I can explain, okay?” 

Namjoon led you to a quiet corner and placed your back against the wall. “Seriously, I can explain.” He pleaded.

“I don’t think I want to hear your excuses tonight, Namjoon.” You tried to walk away but Namjoon gently stopped you. “Seriously, give me just a minute of your time to explain. I promise to leave you alone after.” You held his right hand up, as if he was genuinely swearing to do so.

“You have five minutes.” You crossed your arms.

He breathed out and scratched his neck. “Well, I don’t really know how else to explain it but…I swear I was serious when I asked you out on that date. I had true genuine intentions. I was really into you that night we met but…I was sort of blackmailed to not go on that date with you?” He admitted.

Your heart sunk at that. “I’m sorry?” You asked in disbelief. Namjoon nodded understandably. “I know how crazy that fucking sounds but I swear, I was told to not go on that date with you from a friend of mine. He said he would make the date wouldn’t happen under any circumstance. And he’s a pretty scary guy so I just did what he told me. I know I should’ve told you this as soon as he threatened me but he said not to tell you and … now here we are.”

Namjoon looked genuinely sincere. He had a worried expression mirroring his eyes. He wasn’t avoiding eye contact with you or anything that expressed that he could be possibly lying. You could sense in your gut that he was telling the truth.

“Who told you not to go on that date with me?” You asked. 

“___, I wish I could tell you but I can-”

“If you want me to forgive you, tell me who told you, please. Please Namjoon.” You begged.

He remained silent for a moment, obviously mentally debating whether he should confess or not.

“Promise you won’t confront him about it? I feel like he had good intentions with the blackmailing, I genuinely trust that he must’ve had a good reason to do so. Don’t confront him, please.” He pleaded. 

You nodded in agreement. “I promise.” 

Namjoon sighed, to prepare himself. “It was Jimin.”

You gape your mouth wide open. “J-Jimin? Are you serious?”

Namjoon reached his hands into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He went into his text messages and shoved his phone in front of your face. “Read the texts.”

Jimin: Joon, you busy?

Namjoon: Nah, not really. What’s up?

Jimin: Meet me in front of your apartment in ten minutes. got a huge favor to ask you

“He came over to ask me to not show up to our date. He said it was important and didn’t give a clear enough reason as to why. He just kept emphasizing how important it was and that he would eventually explain why but he never did. I swear to you, ___. I seriously didn’t mean to ghost you like that.” Namjoon explained. 

You took a moment to absorb everything. As expected, you had thousands of questions running through your mind: Why would Jimin want your date with Namjoon to not happen? Why would he set you two up together to only make him ghost on you like that? Why would he comfort you as if he wasn’t the reason as to why the date never happened. Why would Jimin do that? 

You grew to be extremely irritated. You didn’t want to bring this negative energy into the new year. This was a problem for next year you to handle. Tonight, you wanted to just enjoy yourself. 

“Thank you for telling me this, Namjoon. Seriously.” You smiled. He returned the grin at you. “You don’t hate me, right?” 

You chuckle at him. “Not anymore.” The two of you chuckle together. “Let’s go back to where everyone is.” You suggested. You pulled on his arm, making him be dragged from behind. 

Jungkook caught sight of you pulling Namjoon back to the crowd and immediately felt himself grow to be confused. “Is that Namjoon?” Jungkook asked Yoongi. Yoongi swiveled his head to check out the direction Jungkook was facing. He saw you and Namjoon in the middle of the conversation, drinking seltzers together. 

“Yeah, some of my friends brought him along. I guess the frat king had nothing better to do tonight.” Yoongi turned his attention back to Jungkook. He was still eyeing you and Namjoon down. Yoongi knew that Namjoon had randomly ghosted you the day of the date and knew that Jungkook would naturally be feeling slightly overprotective over you. Yoongi knew that despite Jungkook’s cold exterior towards you, you held a soft spot in him. He could tell by the Jungkook’s eyes softened whenever he was around you, the way his defensive avoidant traits have diminished and how he’s become more open and welcoming to allow you in his trusted circle. 

“You’re not going to get drunk and shit on her again, right?” Yoongi teased. Jungkook chuckled and swirled his tongue around his inner cheek. “Nah, not anymore. We’re…she’s a friend to me now. I don’t do that to my friends.” Jungkook said, shyly. 

Yoongi felt proud of Jungkook. He can see how Jungkook is shifting away from his angsty teenage self and is trying to transition into an emotionally composed man. 

It was now five minutes until the New Year countdown. Hoseok had passed out hats, glasses, and glasses of champagne to everyone. After passing everything, he walked over to you and Namjoon. “Nice to meet you again.” Hoseok flashed him his best fake-smile. 

Namjoon obliviously smiled at him back and waved at him. “You too! Thanks for hosting this party.” He gave him a curt nod. Hoseok smiled again and nodded. “Of course, thank you for coming! Make sure you get your New Year’s kiss for good luck!” Unbeknownst to Namjoon, Hoseok lightly pinched your elbow, causing you to yelp. You gave him a death glare but he didn’t bother to give you a glance. “I’m going to look for my New Year's kiss partner. See you next year!” He joked, giving you a quick wink before disappearing into the crowd.

You glanced at Namjoon and nervously chuckled. “That’s Hoseok, by the way, if you didn’t know. He’s one of my best friends.” Namjoon nodded. “Of course, I remember him from the Halloween party. He’s Yoongi’s boyfriend or something like that, right?” 

“Yeah, he is.”

There was a slight uncomfortable silence between the two of you. All of a sudden, the room was filled with countdown chants. 

“Ten, nine, eight, seven…,”

“___?” Namjoon faced you. You looked up at him. “Yes?”

“Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year’s!”

He looked down to your lips and his eyes were asking for permission to kiss you. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol hitting your system all at once or if it was the fact that you had forgiven him for what he did but you decided to not give a fuck and not make the kiss a big deal.

You gave him a single nod and he immediately bent down to plant a gentle and soft kiss on your lips. 

It was a sweet kiss. He didn’t try to barge his tongue down your throat nor did he try to slobber your face full of his saliva.

You hummed in pleasure and kissed him back, cupping one of your hands onto his face. Namjoon breaks the kiss after a few moments and flashes a soft smile at you. “That was nice.” His eyes turned into crescents. 

You giggled and nodded in agreement. “It was. Happy New Year’s, Namjoon.” You held your champagne glass up to clink with his. “Happy New Year’s, ___.” You felt the need to clarify your intention of the kiss. “That was just a friendly kiss, right? Just so that you could get good luck this year?” 

Namjoon’s grin grew wider and nodded. “Yeah, just a friendly kiss.” He understood why you asked the question and felt the same way about you; just friends. 

. . .

It was the next morning. The first morning of the new year. You were awake at 7 in the morning with Jungkook. You were slightly hungover but luckily you had remembered to take Tylenol and drink water when you had arrived home at two in the morning.

Taehyung and Jimin would be arriving home in an hour and Jungkook had asked you to help freshen up the apartment with him. Strangely, Jungkook had barely said a word to you all morning. Just a gruff “good morning”. 

“What’s gonna be your excuse when they see you home already? You gonna say you came home last night or something?” You asked, as you were fluffing the couch pillows. Jungkook shrugged. “I guess so. I got nothing else to come up with. I’ll say I came home right before midnight.”

“Yeah, that’s smart.” You nodded. 

Jungkook continued to sweep the floor in silence. You could sense that something was up with him. He was avoiding eye-contact with you and you felt as if he was purposely physically distancing himself from you. “You okay? Hungover or something?” You asked. 

Jungkook snorted at that. “You forget that I have a way higher tolerance than you, ___.” “Right, I completely forgot you’re the king of alcohol, my bad.” You rolled your eyes. 

Jungkook was starting to feel bad that he was being moody with his hot and cold emotions towards you. He didn’t want to continue his toxic habit of giving you the cold shoulder and taking his feelings out on you. He wanted to try and actually treat you like the friend you are to him. 

“Are you back together with Namjoon?” He finally decides to ask. You swivel your head to his direction and feel yourself become speechless. 

“I saw you with him last night. You guys seemed friendly.” He continued to say, without looking at you as he swept the floor.

You mentally debated with yourself. Did he deserve to know or care? He wasn’t even that close with Namjoon. Did he see you two share the kiss? 

“He found me at the party and asked me to hear his explanation as to why he ghosted me. I decided to forgive him.” 

Jungkook nodded, still feeling unsure. He wasn’t sure if he was okay with you surrounding yourself with people like Namjoon, from the perspective of a friend and the perspective of a man who knows how other men operate.

“Well, what was the reason?” He asked. You instantly got reminded of the fact that Jimin was behind the reason as to why he flaked on the date. 

You felt your face turn pale and cold from the anxiety and confusion. You still can’t pinpoint on why Jimin would go out of his way to sabotage a situation that he encouraged to start in the first place? Did Jimin have bad intentions against you? You didn’t know if you should confess to Jungkook and if you did, would he even believe you? Would he gaslight you and claim that Namjoon was making it up and that you were being too gullible? However, you felt that if anyone would truly understand where Jimin was coming from, it would be either Jungkook or Taehyung. 

“It’s gonna sound crazy…like really fucking crazy. But he explained to me that he was told by Jimin to not go on that date with me.” 

Jungkook shared a similar wave of confusion wash over his face. His eyebrows furrowed furiously with his pink and plush lips gaped open slightly. “Yeah, weird right? I can’t pinpoint a single fucking reason as to why Jimin would go out of his way to do that. I can’t think of anything that's valid enough to hijack a date that he knew I was looking forward to. Especially since he was the one who got us to get to know each other at the Halloween party.” 

Jungkook agreed with you. He couldn’t think of anything as well. “Just ignore it, ___. I’m sure Jimin did it for an urgent reason. Forget I even asked about it.” He tried to reassure you. His eyes darted over the clock that was placed on the wall, hinting that Jimin and Taehyung’s arrival is coming near; about less than thirty minutes from now. 

“But–,” 

“If I hear anything from Jimin’s perspective, I’ll be sure to let you know, okay? I think the place looks clean enough. Thanks for helping.” He gives you a forced smile and nods curtly. 

You decide to go along with Jungkook’s suggestion for the time being. You could tell that Jungkook is trying to avoid the topic. He had a cloud of tense aura surrounding him. After being acquainted with Jungkook for some time now, you knew when and when not to press his buttons. 

“Alright…just text me when the boy’s arrive. I’m gonna go shower real quick.” You leave before he could respond. 

Jungkook sits on one of the reclining chairs and simply stares at the wall. He gets lost into his thoughts about possible reasons as to why Jimin would sabotage your date. He has this uncomfortable feeling brewing in his gut. It was as if Jungkook’s gut knew the answer but he mentally could not pinpoint it for the life of him. He didn’t like how much he was bothered by this new information. 

Jungkook let out a heavy breath and felt conflicted with himself. He knew that he wanted to intervene but also he knew that he shouldn’t. Nothing in this situation required his immediate attention at all. But something in him compelled his need for action. He needed to know and he needed to know now. He needed to help you get closure for this. Thirty minutes suddenly felt like thirty hours. The seconds were going agonizingly slow. 

“What’s up, Kook?” He heard his brother’s voice through the speaker of his phone. “Huh?” He said.

“You…you just called me?” Taehyung said, with confusion laced in his tone. Jungkook was in his head about this that he didn’t realize he had unconsciously called Taehyng just to see how far away he was from home. 

“Right, s-sorry. I must’ve butt-dialed you.” Jungkook hung up immediately. He felt pathetic. He felt as if he was beginning to go crazy with the way he was so pressed about this. Jungkook decided to go and cook a quick breakfast to welcome Jimin and Taehyung in order to distract himself and to make time go by faster. 

During the cook prep and the actual cooking time, thoughts and possible explanations as to why Jimin would force Namjoon to ditch the date plagued his mind: Did Jimin suddenly find out something was wrong with Namjoon? Was he toxic? Did he have an infamous cheating history? Was he protecting you from something? Something so serious that he had to stop the date from happening? 

His blabbering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. He was welcomed to the sight of Jimin and Taehyung stumbling inside the apartment with their heavy luggages. 

“Kook?” Jimin grinned. He jumped into his arms and embraced him tightly. “Kook, what are you doing here!” Jimin placed his hands onto his shoulder and pulled him back into another embrace. 

“We thought you weren’t gonna be back until tomorrow?” Taehyung didn’t look as shocked as Jimin. He appeared to be genuinely confused and in utter shock. 

“Well, I-”

The sound of your squeal interrupted Jungkook’s explanation. “You guys are back!” You jumped into Taehyung’s arms, launching him enough for him to almost fall backwards. “What a nice welcome.” Taehyung chuckled, wrapping his arms around your waist. He felt his heart soaring at the fact that you immediately ran to him first and welcomed him in such a wholesome way. 

Jimin chuckled to himself at the sight and shook his head. “Where’s my hug?” He fake-pouted. You pulled yourself away from Taehyung’s embrace and pulled into Jimin’s arms, a bit hesitant. Jimin didn’t sense your reluctant energy that was obviously oozing out—at least in Jungkook’s perspective. 

“I’ve missed you too, Jimin!” You smiled at him. Jimin ruffled your semi-wet hair and pulled you back into a side hug. “Tell me everything. Tell me how your entire week has been without us three.” 

You nervously darted your eyes towards Jungkook for a second before clearing your throat. “It was great, y’know? Got some real needed alone time and spent Christmas and New Year’s with Hoseok, as you already know. Other than that, I had a good time. I’ve missed you guys like crazy.” You tried to steer the conversation away from your so-called “alone time”. 

Jimin turned his attention back to Jungkook. “Right, we completely forgot to continue our conversation. When did you come home? Like Tae said, we thought you weren’t gonna be back til at least tomorrow?” Jungkook wasn’t nervous nor was he scared to lie to them. 

“I came home last night around 9-ish. Yeri’s family went to celebrate the New Year’s with family in the area so I decided to come home that same night.” Jungkook said. He darted his eyes between Jimin and Taehyung to see if they believed a single thing he said. Jimin was nodding his head, as if he didn't doubt him. 

When Jungkook moved his eyes to Taehyung, he seemed bothered. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his eyes were a chilling almost-black color. “So did you spend New Year’s with Yeri’s other family as well?” Taehyung asked. 

Jungkook paused. He didn’t bother to look at you because he knew that you were already looking at him, eagerly seeing what he would say. Would he tell the truth or would he lie again?

“No, I spent New Year’s with ___.” He said. 

There was a brief silence between the brothers. It was a silence that only the two of them could feel. As if they were the only ones who could feel the sudden tension brewing between them. 

Jimin could tell that Taehyung was bothered at the fact that you and Jungkook spent the night together unknowingly. He didn’t really get why Taehyung would feel bothered at that since everyone knows that you and Jungkook would never get along no matter what, right? Assumingly, the night was spent with unstoppable bickering and negative tension. 

“You didn’t spend it with Yeri?” Taehyung asked again. Jungkook shook his head. “She wanted to spend it with family and well, I…wanted to accompany ____.” He said. Taehyung’s Adam-apple bobbed up and down. 

“Right,” He started off. “I’m glad you kept each other company.” Taehyung looked between you and Jungkook and reached for his luggage. “Breakfast smells amazing, Kook. I’m gonna go settle my things in my room and come back out to eat.” Taehyung rolled his luggage away from the kitchen and headed towards his bedroom. 

You could tell that something was off with Taehyung. His entire mood did a whole 180. “Let’s eat, guys.” You suggested, to ease the tension that was beginning to affect you and Jimin as well.

The breakfast between the four quickly aided to resume the usual comfortable vibe with everyone. Jimin and Taehyung filled you and Jungkook in on how their week went in more detail. Their Christmas and New Year’s went by smoothly, they talked about the horrendous bruise that Taehyung got from straining his calves during a pilates session with Jungkook’s mother, how Jimin got along surprisingly well with Taehyung’s father’s golfing buddies, and all the girl’s numbers that Jimin and Taehyung received from their secret nights out clubbing. You shared in every detail how you spent your week except you left out the minor fact that Jungkook had been with you throughout all of those events: the wine nights, the holiday market stroll, watching Christmas movies till you knocked out, et cetera. Jungkook was with you throughout all of that. 

The recollection of all those memories as you were sharing them made you unconsciously smile from ear to ear as you blabbered on. You didn’t realize how nice it was to have had Jungkook’s presence with you the entire time. In fact, it made you feel as if you got to know him better in a more intimate and vulnerable way. You were able to fully get along and connect as people, as roommates, as friends. You no longer view Jungkook as the handsome stranger that you just randomly harbored a crush on for years. You knew him as your anti-social yet dorky and nerdy roommate who lived in the bedroom next to yours that had a great taste in music, is a phenomenal cook, a person who loves to provide acts of service for those he cares about, is a genuinely intelligent person when it comes to the books but not so smart when it comes to real-life and its complex problems and people. All of that and more made you start to love Jungkook not in a romantic way but as a person. As a friend.

Breakfast wrapped up nicely, with Taehyung claiming that he needed to take a nap or else “he would die”. You decided to go back into your bedroom and catch up on your current read of the month. “Do you guys need help cleaning?” You asked Jimin and Jungkook. “We’re all good here, ___. Thanks for asking.” Jimin smiled softly at you. You returned the smile, ignoring the slight discomfort as you made eye-contact with him. 

After breakfast, Jungkook had volunteered to help Jimin clean up. He decided that this would be the best way to corner Jimin and get him to spill the truth as to why he sabotaged your date with Namjoon. He tried his best to just not give a single fuck about this but he truly couldn’t. Something was gnawing at his gut to fulfill the need to know what happened. 

The two were at the sink; Jimin was washing and Jungkook was drying. 

“So, did you enjoy your stay with Yeri and her family?” Jimin asked. Jungkook nodded. “It was alright.” He said. 

“Do you see yourself getting serious with her? Like full commitment?” Jimin looked at him, giving him a cheeky grin. Jungkook snorted at that. “Slow down there. I don’t even take myself seriously, what makes you think I’ll take someone else seriously?” Jimin chuckled at him. “It wouldn’t kill you if you actually had feelings for someone, Kook. It’s okay to allow yourself to feel sometimes.” 

Jungkook ignored him. “How are things going with you?” Jungkook changed the subject. Jimin chuckled again, aware that Jungkook was purposely avoiding the topic. “I’ve been okay. Going back to Busan made me realize how confident I am in my decision to drop school and move in with you guys for the time being. Busan is not for me right now.” Jungkook nodded understandably. “I know we’ve said this a million times but you can stay for as long as you’d like. We love having you here.” Jungkook said. Jimin smiled at that. 

Jungkook was having trouble coming up with a way to nonchalantly bring up the topic. “How was the New Year’s party? Did you hang with Yoongi the entire night?” Jimin asked. Jungkook mentally thanked Jimin for bringing up the party as it can lead to the perfect segway to mention Namjoon’s appearance at the party. 

“I did, actually. You know me too well. Yoongi’s my only friend.” Jungkook fake-chuckled. “Did ___ have a good time? At least from what you saw?” Jungkook’s immediate thought was the memory of you and Namjoon in conversation. 

“I think so. She was with Hoseok and his friends the whole night,” He started off. He decided it was a good time to mention Namjoon now. “I saw her with Kim Namjoon too.” He finally said. 

Jimin stopped washing a cup that was in his hand. He paused for a second but remained avoiding eye-contact with Jungkook. “Namjoon was there?” He asked. 

“Yeah, I guess word spread real fast about Yoongi’s and Hoseok’s party.”

Jimin nodded slowly. He didn’t know what to say. “___ and Namjoon were talking?” He asked again.

“Yes. It was an odd sight to see. From what I remember, Namjoon ghosted her after a planned date, right? At least that’s what Taehyung told me. He told me not to mention Namjoon in front of ____ anymore out of concern that it would bother her.” Jungkook continued. 

Jimin managed to look at Jungkook. “Uh, yeah, he did ghost her.” 

Jungkook was debating whether or not to bite the bullet. “Huh,” He said. 

“Do you happen to know why he would do such a thing?” He finally asked. Jimin’s face turned slightly pale. If there was one thing Jungkook knew about Jimin after a decade of friendship, it was that Jimin was a terrible liar, especially under pressure. He breaks easily.

“I have no idea. That’s something Tae and I have been wondering too.” He stuttered slightly. Jimin’s sudden change in demeanor confirmed to Jungkook that Jimin for sure had something to do with the sudden ghosting of Namjoon. Namjoon wasn’t lying to you after all.

Jungkook suddenly felt confident enough to continue pressuring Jimin into telling him the truth now that Jimin was vulnerable enough to crack. 

“Huh. That’s weird.” Jungkook was fake-pondering. Jimin shared a confused glare. “What do you mean?” 

Jungkook shrugged. “I mean, I heard something weird from ___, that’s all.” Jimin turned even paler. The water from the faucet was still running and Jimin was holding the same mug from earlier in his hands. 

“What did she say?” Jimin asked, with his voice getting low. Jungkook confidently gave Jimin a firm stare. His eyes darkening and his amused mood from earlier was dispersing into a somber glare. 

“That you told Namjoon not to go on the date.” 

Jimin remained silent. His silence confirmed it all. 

He remained speechless for another moment before suddenly turning off the sink. His wet hands gripped onto Jungkook’s wrist and he pulled him to the front door. “Let’s take this outside.” He muttered under his breath. 

He dragged him outside of the apartment before softly shutting the door. Jungkook wasn’t scared nor confused. He was eager to hear what Jimin had to say. 

“Explain exactly what she said.” Jimin looked afraid and helpless. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were gleaming with fear and anxiety. 

Jungkook sighed. “According to ___, Namjoon approached her at the party and apologized for not going on the date. He blamed it on you. ___ told me that Namjoon told her it was your doing as to why she got ghosted.” Jungkook explained. 

Jimin ran his sweaty fingers through his hair. “Listen, Kook. I have a good reason as to why I did that. I didn’t do it out of malicious intent towards ____ whatsoever. But I can’t tell you nor can ___ know too. I really can’t.” Jimin pleaded. 

Jungkook shook his head. “Look, I know ___ and I aren’t the bestest of friends but I can feel how confused, shocked, and hurt she is. Imagine finding out that one of her good friends was behind the reason as to why her date got ruined. Especially by the same friend that set her up with the guy in the first place.” Jungkook reasoned. “I don’t know if you noticed but ____ has been a bit distant from you ever since you came back home. I don’t want either of us to live in this kind of uncomfortable environment.” Jungkook continued.

Jimin took a moment to absorb everything Jungkook said. He felt extremely conflicted between doing what he should or shouldn’t do. 

“Do you know if Namjoon told her anything else?” Jimin asked. Jungkook scoffed. “Is that all you care about?” 

“Just tell me, Jungkook.” Jimin snapped. 

After a moment, Jungkook shook his head. “That’s all she and I know.”

Jimin placed his hands onto Jungkook’s shoulders. “Listen to me Kook. What I’m about to tell you, you have to swear and promise me that you are not going to tell a single soul about this, okay?”

Jungkook was suddenly nervous. He didn’t know exactly how to prepare himself for the information he was about to receive. 

“I want to promise that but it really depends on what it is, Jimin. If I think it’s something ___ should know about then I’ll tell her.” 

Jimin shook his head. “I swear to you that this is something that ___ shouldn’t know about. At least for now.”

Jungkook cocked his head to the side, out of confusion. “What is it, Jimin?”

Jimin continued to mentally debate with himself for another minute or so. He kept running his fingers through his hair and letting out exasperated sighs over and over again. 

“No one else knows this, okay? Not even Namjoon,” He starts off. Jungkook was listening patiently.

“I…I told him not to go on that date because of Taehyung.” Jimin says. Jungkook’s entire stomach dropped. “What do you mea-”

“Because… of Taehyung.” He repeats. “Because Taehyung likes ___.” 

Jungkook felt as if he had dissociated from reality for a second. Was this real? Was what Jimin said real? Was he in a dream? “What?” Was all he could bring himself to say.

“Taehyung is in love with ___.” 

[back2bluesidex]

Third Time is a Charm - KNJ (18+)

Patreon Membership Exclusive Drabble Series

Part of Bangtan Chaebol Universe

Pairing: Chaebol!Namjoon X Fem, lawyer!Reader

Theme: angst, pining, exes to strangers to lovers au.

Summary: You met Namjoon thrice in your life. For the first encounter, you were his rival. During the second one, he broke your heart. As for the third time, you let him walk in again even when he brings no promise of healing what he broke.

But they say, third time is a charm. Will that stay true in your case too?

Warnings: Angst, high school setting, competitive reader, tiny fluff, discovering crush.

A/N: This is a part of the Patreon exclusive ot7 series of Bangtan Chaebol Universe. Jungkook and Jimin's story is already completed. and Namjoon's is the next in line. This story is kind of overlapped with Jungkook's one, anyone who has followed From Within will know why.

Chapter Index: -

Part 1: The heart shaped hair pin

Part 2: Chaebol took the subway?

Part 3: The first kiss

Part 4: Recipe for a heart break

Part 5: Third time as grown ups

Part 6: All the clouds are in a silver lining

Part 7: Making and breaking boundaries

Part 8: [28th November, 2024]

Part 9: [5th December, 2024]

Part 10: [12th December, 2024]

“Your place or mine? Or better, the library?” Namjoon had questioned, staring down at you expectantly, clearly too excited to be induced into a science project. 

While it was unlikely for the teachers to pair two good students up on the same team, it was the lottery which put you and namjoon together. 

That is where the concept of being destined first struck you. 

Though you had brushed it off. 

“Library sounds good.” you answered. 

Later while working on the project, he had asked you another question, something very personal this time. 

“Why do you think I am your enemy?” He gave you his utmost attention. 

“I- what?” your pen scratched against the surface of the notebook crudely. 

“You think I am your rival or something. I know. I am asking you why?” He kept an impassive look on his face. 

“I used to top before but I come second these days. Also.. you got it all. It kind of annoys me.” You had answered truthfully, without showing the courtesy of masking your language. 

“I got it all?” Namjoon raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah. You are good at studies and your family is rich.” you shrugged. 

He had chuckled then, “Just because I am good at studies and I have a wealthy family, doesn’t mean I got it all, Y/N.” 

It was the first time he called you by your name. 

And that was the moment you decided to start liking him a bit - only a bit.

Read the full chapter on Patreon.

[evillemons]

Which BTS members are most likely to be the best at oral

This one is pretty self explanatory. Check out the masterlist for other fun content.

*NSFW CONTENT* (obviously)

1. SUGA - This should come as no surprise to anyone. He says so himself - his tongue will send you to Hong Kong, man or woman. Even though his mouth is tiny and delicate, he can move his tongue quickly and with excellent control. He would utilize her entire space and alternate his methods during the act, and would not shy away from her wetness.

2. RM - He really enjoys pleasing his woman, and would have no problem eating her out for a long period of time. He would be excellent at licking and fingering her simultaneously, easily finding her clit and g-spot. Would probably also moan a lot throughout it.

3. V - I see V being good at sex in general, and oral would be no exception. Like RM, he would be skilled at giving her stimulation in multiple areas at once. He might also be a little aggressive and over-enthusiastic when pleasing her and make her cum quickly (and maybe even squirt).

4. Jungkook - Probably has a very strong jaw and good stamina, and the perfectionist in him would make him eat her out persistently until she finishes. He would be good at it, I just feel he wouldn’t initiate oral often or enjoy it quite as much as the members above him, mostly because he's just too eager to fuck.

5. Jin - Doesn't go down on his girl too often, and is overall average. I think he would enjoy seeing the pleasure his girlfriend gets out of him eating her out, but he wouldn’t be particularly enthusiastic or skilled at it. I see him preferring to use his hands instead so he can still kiss her and keep his face close to hers.

6. j-hope - I don’t think he would necessarily be bad at oral, he just wouldn't initiate it or get much satisfaction out of it. He’s very energetic and wouldn’t have the patience to eat her out until she finishes. When he does go down on his girl, it would be fast-paced and sloppy.

7. Jimin - The daintiest and lightest when it comes to oral. Instead of burying his face in her like our top ranked members, he would mainly just use the tip of his tongue and kiss her lightly. And despite wanting to please her, he would get bored rather quickly.

[solarwynd]

Instagram channel, that tiktok profile thing, remix album on the 4th day, 2 extra album versions on Spotify for a total of 4 covers for the title track, Jimmy Fallon performance, Pop-Up store, etc. This is exactly what Muse got. It's clear that Hybe giving these things to Jimin wasn't them playing favorites, it was just their new album release method that they were testing on Jimin first. And Jin got the improved version of this method. 1 extra remix, 1 extra physical album version, 1 extra digital album version, 2 extra single CDs, radio on week 1, etc.

I saw V stans complaining about him being the only vocal line member to not get a remix album, but that's just because he didn't release an album this year, if he did he definitely would've gotten the same things as Muse and Happy. The equivalent of Layover isn't Muse it's Face and Face didn't get more than 2 remixes or any different album versions either. But you know what Layover did get that neither Face nor Muse got? MVs for every song and multiple performances for all those songs.

The reality is that Hybe has never actually given Jimin anything that the other members didn't get too. And often they get better versions of what Jimin got and even things exclusive to them that Jimin was never even offered. What really happens here is that Hybe will use Jimin to test out new types of release and promotion and because he's given these things first he gets all the heat while everyone after him gets away unscathed. Because seriously, tell me one thing Jimin was given that no one else was? Because I can name several things everyone else but him got.

The difference between Jimin and the other 5 members (cause we all know Jungkook is an exception) is not that Hybe gives Jimin more, no the actual difference is that with the same, if not less tools Jimin manages to achieve way more. And Jin is about to prove this. Happy has everything that Muse got plus more versions, multiple stages, probably more than a month of promotion, the artist behind the album not being in the fuckass military and being able to actually promote the album in person or even just acknowledge the album's existence at all. It has all this but you know damn well it's gonna perform way below Muse. Who got a #14 and later a #12 on the Hot 100 with 6 remixes, 4 covers, 1 CD and 0 radio. Running Wild has 7 remixes, 4 covers, 2 CDs and was sent to radio on the first week but you know it won't even see the top half of the chart (if it even enters it at all). And that's not to mention my girl Like Crazy getting a #1 with 5 dollars and a dream. Running Wild will be lower on it's first week than Like Crazy was on it's second and that's what we call karma. The only thing Happy has over Muse is global physical sales. But no wait, Face has more than both and it was Jimin's actual debut album like Happy is Jin's. And both Face and Muse got #2 on billboard 200 while Happy is not even predicted to get a top 5. So yeah, Jin has literally nothing over Jimin.

And I love this actually. I want every member to get everything Jimin got so they can see exactly what the difference between them and Jimin is. The fans of those 5 have been telling themselves that they could achieve everything Jimin did and more if only they were given the same tools and promotion Jimin got. And I want to see it, I want to see they do what Jimin did. I'll even be nice and not include the sabotage Jimin got, they can try to match him without that. I want to see them try and inevitably fail. And I know their fans will come up with excuses nonetheless but I still want to see it.

The only advantage Jimin actually has compared to hyungline is fan support. But unlike Jungkook Jimin's didn't have the company prime the fandom to be his fans. Every fan Jimin has he gained through his blood, sweet and tears (pun fully intend because the number of fans Jimin got with BST cannot be overstated). We all know armys don't fuck with the rapline but Jin is a vocal line member so if he didn't capture people's attention like Jimin did that's no one's fault but his own. Unless you wanna say it's not Hybe, but instead God who favors Jimin and gave him more talent than Jin, which fair enough, Jimin is in fact God's favorite child. And while Taehyung is popular that popularity comes from visual stans and shippers and we all know how well that popularity translated to his music, and by that I mean that it didn't, man is getting outdone by Jin, I would be embarrassed. And Jungkook (who's fanbase consists exclusively of visual stans, shippers, y/ns and psychopaths) would've faced a similar fate if the company didn't work for him harder then they did for even the group. I have said it before and I'll say it again, Jimin has and will always be the only member who's music and performances people actually care about.

.🎯

[7waystreet]

dirty confessions | kim taehyung

This BTS 18+ explicit series will include 7 diary entries (one from each of the bangtan boys) confessing to the dirty thoughts they have about (y/n) and the sinful sexual acts they've part taken in during their lives.

I kindly ask the reader to start with pt.1 and end with pt.7 since it's a series and will contain overlapping scenarios and characters ♡

✬ foreword pt. 1 — seokjin pt. 2 — yoongi pt. 3 — namjoon pt. 4 — hoseok pt. 5 — jimin pt. 6 — taehyung pt. 7 — jungkook

pt. 6 — taehyung

Hi diary,

I have a confession to make. Not only did I indulge in that mind blowing threesome with Jimin and his chick, but I also secretly fucked Jungkook's gf (y/n) in the butt.

It's not just lust when it comes to (y/n)... she's been my best friend for years and I've been in love with her for as long as I can remember, much before the time she began dating Jungkook. I'd never confessed my feelings to her out of the fear of losing her, and looking back, I'm thankful I never did bcuz she ended up falling for Jungkookie anyways. It took me months to finally accept I'd never have her, my heart breaking every single time I saw them together happily in love, until I forced myself to get over it.

Her happiness means the world to me.

But everything changed when (y/n) approached me with a dark cloud looming above her head during our group roller skating meetup last weekend, appearing very much unlike her usual fun self... everything changed forever.

Hobi hyung and I struggle the most while roller skating, the fear of death flashing right before my eyes when I tumbled and got ready to fall smack onto the floor. But I suddenly felt two soft arms curl around my waist and hold me up straight from slipping, her fresh sweet scent seeping into my senses confirming my best friend (y/n) had indeed saved my ass. A heat flared through my chest knowing she was so close to me and enveloping my back in her warmth, my broken heart desperately pleading she'd never let go... but just like that, she inched out of the embrace and helped turn me around, a smile perking up my lips when my eyes met her beautiful ones.

But that happiness quickly faded away after I noticed the somber look on her dulled out face.

"What's wrong?" I asked her with a deepening concern, my fear of being on skates instantly disappearing as all of my attention went straight to her, trying to understand the reason behind her sadness.

"It's Kook."

My heart dropped hearing the depressing tone in her voice bcuz I knew how much he meant to her, her joyless demeanor indicating something was seriously wrong. I asked her what'd happened but it made me feel guilty as her eyes started to flood with tears. So I suggested if she just wanted to hangout after roller skating and talk about it, to which she agreed with a nod, then slowly drifting away towards Jungkookie while he was too busy playing with others.

"I think Kook's cheating on me. He just seems so distracted lately and he barely wants to have sex... I can't help but think he's with someone else. Sorry Tae. I know this is all TMI, but I couldn't share this stuff with anyone else but you."

As much as my sore heart wanted her to shut the fuck up about her sex life with Jeon Jungkook, I knew I had to put aside my hurt feelings and be there for my best friend. I assured her the young one was probably just stressed out bcuz of the upcoming concert prep as he always wants to give his 110% for ARMY, and that's probably why he seemed distant. There was no real proof that could confirm he was cheating on her, and I didn't want to feed her anxiety any more than what the poor girl was already experiencing. I wanted her to feel better.

My tummy madly flipped around when she suddenly flung her body onto mine, making me sink back into the couch's cushion with her weight on top of me, her small face buried in my chest while I could hear her silent sobs and shudders of worry. Nothing else mattered in that moment, my arms engulfing her in a big bear hug at once and holding her tight, her makeup staining my hoodie in the prettiest way possible.

I assured (y/n) that nobody could hurt her as long as I was standing by her side, which would be for the rest of our lives. My gut wrenched when she pulled away and looked up at me with glistening eyes, sniffling her snot heavy before a smile cracked through her gorgeous lips, my own mouth reflecting a grin when she sighed out in ease after a long time of crying.

"Why do you even put up with all my bullshit?" she awkwardly chuckled, cutely wiping her tears away with the back of her palm, but she froze in place when I blurted out "That's what you do for the girl you love."

The next couple of mins are burned into my memory forever for the way they made me feel a roller coaster of emotions... mostly an overwhelming amount of regret though. (y/n) gazed into my eyes while both her hands were still on my chest, her swollen face then leaning up to mine and pressing our lips together in a soft, sizzling kiss. The way our breaths naturally synced and fastened up made us both pause with our eyes closed shut to comprehend what'd just happened, our noses slightly touching as we remained inches away from each others faces. We'd just willingly shared our first kiss together.

I wasn't sure how we'd ended up doing this now after years of being the closest of friends... everything almost feeling like a dream, but to my pleasure it wasn't. (y/n) was mine in that moment, and I was willing to do anything to make her feel happy. I did respectfully ask to check if this is really what she wanted and she confirmed she did... if (y/n) felt peace in my arms, then I was gonna give her just that.

The best part was none of this shit felt weird, not even when we'd both made our way into the safety of my bedroom, probably bcuz (y/n) and I've slept in the same bed plenty of times before, just never in a sexual way like tonight. We'd already gotten into a hot makeout within seconds, our lips struggling to stay detached while I lightly sucked on her tongue, our hands slowly exploring one another's bodies to get used to touching each other in this unashamed way. It's crazy how many emotions I'd repressed all these years, passionate emotions I felt for her that were bursting out of me when my body got on top of hers and saw her crumble underneath my touch.

Her lips quivered when my palm wrapped around her neck and added a slight pressure, her face lighting up with excitement by seeing this hidden dominant side of me in such a way, my lips grazing her shivering ones as I leaned down and asked her "Is there something you wanted to try in bed... something he didn't do that I could help you with?"

My blood set on fire when she choked out "Anal" the more I added pressure on her throat with my palm, my lips immediately crashing into hers after hearing that word, my whole being now kissing her with a raging thrill, her moans mingling with mine while we began to really get into the mood.

The key to making any girl comfortable for anal is foreplay, and although (y/n) suggested drinking alcohol to loosen ourselves up, I refused the offer as I wanted to be in my senses and live in the present without being under any kind of influence. We naturally eased into a rhythm in no time though, our bodies wildly grinding against one another to up our desires even more, my throbbing cock rubbing onto her clit through our clothes enough to make her want to tear my clothes off right then and there.

I'll never forget the shocked looked on (y/n)'s face when she looked down at my big boner pop out after she'd pulled off my sweatpants, her throat visibly taking in a big gulp at the thought of my dick entering her tight lil ass. But the worry on her face faded away the second my mouth touched her clit, the way I was going down on her melting her into sweet pudding, although her pussy tasted way better than that. (y/n)'s moans and yelps were getting me off, my eyes focused up on her face while my tongue circled her clit and sucked on it with the perfect titillating pressure, my mouth then teasing her folds and slurping up her juices already flooding out while I rubbed her clit with my thumb to keep arousing her and loosening her muscles.

It was the most intimate night of my life, the trust we both feel in each other as best friends allowing us to let go and perform such a sensitive act without worry. Just seeing her arch her back and get on all fours for me made me harden up even more, the sexy view of her fine ass right in front of me making my stomach drop while I poured a ton of lube on my cock and rubbed a little on her hole, her knees instantly shuddering at my touch. Leaning down towards her face, I kissed (y/n) and told her to communicate with me if anything hurt or felt uncomfortable and she eagerly kissed me back and smiled to finally give me the go.

Holy shit was it magical... the level of tightness in her ass something I'd never experienced before, the tip of my cock gradually inching in while I observed her moves, (y/n) whimpering and clutching the sheets in fists to get through the initial pain. I wanted to do everything possible to ease her into it so I guided my girl through the entirety of the sex, encouraging her to simultaneously touch herself the way she liked it while I stretched her butt out. My dick was fully nestled inside her hole by now, (y/n)'s fingers rubbing her clit in circles to the dirty talk I was now feeding her, praising her for how hot she was making me feel, how she was going to make me cum so hard, and how I wanted to keep fucking her all night long until she couldn't stand up or walk.

All of my fantasies were playing out one by one as I talked nasty to her and told (y/n) just how bad I wanted to ruin her, her chest shuddering while she kept touching herself and I picked up the pace of fucking her anally, my cock on cloud 9 feeling the friction of her ass against my bare skin, the need to cum approaching soon while (y/n)'s screams indicated she was nearing her end too.

My huge load of cum dripped right out of her asshole like a cream donut after I came straight into her with a breathless sigh, (y/n)'s legs clenching and her chest collapsing after she'd cum herself from the heightened combination of things. The sight was too beautiful to take in. Her legs gave out and she fell flat on the bed, her face in the mattress and body shaking as she tried to gain her severed breath, my body laying down next to her and rubbing her back to soothe her as I tried to calm down from my high myself.

(y/n) finally turned around and smiled at me, the both of us acknowledging the fact that nothing would change between us despite sharing this unforgettable experience together. Everything felt perfect.

a/n ♡

i imagined a "friends to lovers" plot for tae as it'd suit him the best over the others, knowing he's a social butterfly with many friends irl. altho this storyline has similarities to hoseok's, the motive behind the sex in both plots is diff; tae's not wishing revenge or lust like hobi. tae simply loves (y/n) but it blinds his judgement of betraying jungkook. tae is known to acting on whim irl and just doing what his heart freely desires, so the unplanned act with (y/n) doesn't come as a shocker.

— social butterfly: tae's able to establish a rapport with jimin's gf just like he is with jungkook's gf without having his own gf. he naturally possesses the quality to bond with various people, which is shown by the way he's able to hookup with both girls without any awkwardness

— eccentric persona: anal isn't the most common sexual act but it doesn't scare him when (y/n) suggests it. he's accepting of trying new things especially with his best friend, a reflection of tae's "free spirit" personality and lifestyle irl

— care giver: instead of drinking alcohol as a short cut to loosening up, he makes (y/n) feel comfortable by going down on her, easing her into things bcuz acts of service is a big part of his love language irl

[melancholy-of-nadia]

love u lately (m) #5 | myg/knj/pjm

title: love u lately​ chapter title: #5 - home girl​ pairing: yoongi x f. reader, namjoon x f. reader, jimin x f. reader (yoonminjoon x f. reader) rating/genre: m (18+) ; smut ; college/university au , pseudo frat! bts; best friends! yoonminjoon friends to lovers; summary: after getting entangled with jimin and him revealing that he knows your secret at the halloween party, you decide coming clean to yoongi about what happened would be the best choice. however, this doesn't come without consequences, as it creates a distance between you two. when jimin comes to remedy this with a wild idea, what would happen is something you'd never expect. warnings:  halloween party ending bits, smut, cunninglingus, blowjob, alcohol/recreational drug mentions, swearing, kissing, A LOT, fingering, CONSENSUAL and PROTECTED sex, penetration, HEAVYYYYYY on the ANGST, does this count as cheating if they're not together, confessions???, good end of the chapter!, jimin being a wild card note: as always thank you to @daegudrama for editing this chapter and writing the smut as I struggled with life last month. truly appreciate all the hard work and support you give me to write this fic total word count: 10.5k drop date: December 13th, 2023, 4:00PM PST cross posted on AO3 here ← #4 | Series Masterlist | #6 →

“I knew it.”

Huh? What does he mean he ‘knew it?’ Knew what? Jimin’s response sounds coy, which is definitely not what you were expecting. A brief moment of silence and confusion passes by before you verbally react.

“Wait what?”

The ringing coming from your phone comes to an end. You guess Yoongi reached your voicemail and just hung up. You’re a little relieved, but that’s not the point. Forget the call! Forget the orgasm! What is Jimin talking about?

Jimin starts giggling, “Jungkook spilled the beans to me, actually.”

Jungkook? What? How does he know? You feel that you’re missing a big piece of information that Jimin is withholding from you and even Yoongi.

You grab Jimin’s arms, flipping him onto his back until you’re on top of him and straddling his thighs. Jimin’s eyes are agape confused by your sudden quick movements. You've always managed to over power him with your strength, which he has always admired. In a different scenario similar to that of an erotica novel, this would lead to steamy sex, however now you’re trying to get him to spill whatever he knows.

“Now tell me everything you know, Park!”

—————————————

October 13th [Sunday] — past —

 "Are you good, Jimin?"

Jimin, caught off guard while deleting pictures and Irene's contact from his phone, replied, "I'm fine. It was long overdue anyway." 

The purple lighting added an mystic ambiance to the conversation.

After Jimin broke up with Irene and she decided to leave the party, Jungkook entered the hallway where Irene had just left Jimin standing, eyes wide from witnessing their breakup. Jungkook, clearly a bit more talkative than usual due to the alcohol, casually put his arm around Jimin, concern etched in his features.

Clearly intoxicated, Jungkook's chattiness took a turn towards your direction. "So what finally got you to do it? Was it her?" He gestured towards you across the room, engaging in a lively conversation with Namjoon and Yoongi. Jimin’s gaze fixed on you in an endeared way, admiring the way you glowed and laughed while conversing with the two men. He admitted, "Maybe." Interrupting abruptly, Jungkook said, "Well, you better start making moves before it's too late, Jiminie, because—" He immediately covered his mouth, realizing he was about to spill something he shouldn't. "Because what? What are you talking about?" Jimin questioned, feeling a sudden pang of anxiety. Was there someone else already pursuing you? His mind raced, wondering if it was JB or someone else. He wouldn't let Jungkook leave without answers. The younger boy was suddenly sweating, eyes looking around for an escape to exit the scene he unintentionally created. "You better fucking spill, Jeon! I'm not letting you leave until you tell me." Jimin threatened, his voice a mix of sweetness and poison. Jimin is one of the scarier members in the house, so frankly, Jungkook was fucked if he stayed silent. The younger boy sighed, finally relenting, “Okay, fine. But will you please, please, PLEASE promise me you won’t get mad with what I’m about to tell you.” Rolling his eyes, Jimin held his pinky up, "Yes, I promise." 

Sealing the promise with a pinky swear. Of course he won’t be mad, he thinks. How bad could it even be? "Okay, well, uh, do you remember last Friday when we couldn't have game night because the majority of us had plans except for honey and Yoongi hyung?" Jimin nodded, prompting Jungkook to continue. "So, um, they went to the Gamma party." Jimin eyed him curiously. "A party? So they lied about having a game night somewhere else. Interesting, keep going."

"Okay thought the only reason I know that is because my friend Yugyeom told me! I didn't know they went together. But when I came home earlier that Friday night since I wasn't feeling well…I...uh...I heard sounds."

"Sounds? What sounds—" It took Jimin a full minute to catch on to what Jungkook was hinting at, the realization dawning on him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Fucking. They were fucking? No way. Yoongi was the one least likely out of the three of them to ever make moves on you first. Jimin had always assumed that even someone like Jungkook would've made the first move, especially since he had a minor crush on you last year. Not in a million years would he had thought Yoongi would do it.

"Are you being serious with me right now?" Jimin leaned into Jungkook, his eyes searching for any signs of deceit.

"Yes, the fuck? Do you think I would be lying to you?!" Jungkook defended himself, his tone firm and resolute. "No, this is just so insane. But wait, are they dating or something?" Jimin cut to the chase, seeking clarification.

Jungkook sighed, "I don't think so. I think they're still friends, but I haven't heard them do it since that time. So I don't know if it's anything more serious or just a one-night thing."

"Interesting."

"So you're not mad?"

"Nope. If they're still friends and maybe doing that on the side, I still have a chance."

"Jimin." Jungkook looked at his close friend, appalled that he would even say that.

Jimin continued to blabber out his thoughts, "I wouldn’t even mind if we’re both taking turns fucking her if he was done. Hell, maybe get Namjoon in on this too if he wants."

"JIMIN."

"Oh, sorry." Jimin paused as Jungkook cut him off, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. The alcohol had also exposed his inner desires, which wasn't entirely surprising. The house knew Jimin was adventurous in the sheets, but Jungkook hearing and know all these details made him rethink the life decisions that had led him to this peculiar group of people.

 "But it seems they're being lowkey about it, so please," Jungkook implored, grabbing Jimin's shoulders and towering over him. "For the love of God, don't tell anyone you know what I just told you."

"I won't! Lips are sealed!" Jimin grinned, miming the action of zipping his lips and locking them with an invisible key.

 Jungkook sighed, looking down at the older boy. He knew Jimin was a wild card, and the revelation of your situation with Yoongi could indeed flip the whole house upside down. He hoped Jimin would exercise discretion and make wise decisions with the new info he had been given, in a rather seductive manner, threatened to spill.

———————————

"Holy fuck..." you mumble curses under your breath as Jimin explains his story from weeks prior.

 He ends it by explaining his decision to find you soon after to start planting ideas in your head, like that birthday kiss wish. He admits to acting like nothing happened afterward, just to see you stressed out, fully aware of how well he knew you.

You couldn't help but berate yourself for not checking everyone's location the night you got home from the party and fucked Yoongi. While you weren't exactly in you right mind, you were still rational enough to want what you did with him. Yet, you seemed to have missed the fact that Jungkook had entered the house while the deed was taking place. Maybe you’ll need to treat him to some bubble tea as an apology.

"I have a lot of questions to ask you, but one I should ask right now is, are you two dating?" He inquires, a mix of concern and curiosity in his voice.

You know the answer to this question is an obvious ‘no’, yet for some reason, a part of you wishes it wasn't. Before you can overthink it, you answer, "Nope. We're just...you could say, best friends with benefits?"

"And it's nothing serious?" Jimin inquires further.

"Well…no. We’re just…fucking each other?" Jimin looks at you waiting for you to continue with the new info drop you’re giving him. “It’s a long story…” 

You really don’t want to get into the nitty gritty details about this right now. It would take all night and you know Jimin would jokingly call you an idiot for crafting up such an interesting friends-with-benefits deal with Yoongi just because you didn’t like that he and Namjoon were distancing themselves due to their relationships. Even thinking about that now, you’re not sure why you were so incredibly eager to do that.

"Good,” He answers right away, catching you off guard. “So I don't have to feel bad for doing this to hyung." He says with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Confused, you look at Jimin until he playfully flips you back onto the bed, kissing up your neck. This back-and-forth banter reminds you of the playful wrestling you two engaged in as middle schoolers, only now the context is entirely different.

With gentle but firm hands, he takes hold of each of your wrists and presses them against your sides, keeping you in place. Before you can fully understand what’s going on, Jimin leans down and ducks his head under your skirt. His warm breath sends shivers down your spine as he wastes no time in flicking his skilled tongue against your already sensitive clit. You squirm against his grip on your wrists, desperately wanting to move your dress up to get a better view of him pleasuring you. The anticipation and desire building inside you is almost unbearable as he continues to expertly bring you closer to ecstasy with every flick of his tongue.

“Do you want me to stop?” He breathes out sending another shiver of pleasure up your spine. 

“Don’t you dare, Park!” You reply in a haste, breaking your wrists free of his grasp.

With a light force, you push his head down, feeling giddiness within you as he eagerly obliges, his tongue zigzagging through your slick folds. His hands run up and down your thighs adding to the array of sensations coursing through your body. Your head falls back while your back arches in response to the one finger he uses to circle your entrance. 

But as Jimin continues to suck, lick, and kiss your wet pussy with expert precision, you suddenly become aware of how uncomfortable your once cute angel wings are in this situation. Frustrated by their presence, you sit up just enough to rid yourself of the accessory, determined to fully enjoy the pleasure that Jimin is bringing you. His tongue works wonders on your sensitive skin, earning breathy moans from your lips. It's almost as if you can feel him smirking against you, his teasing movements only adding to the intense sensations enchanting you.

Jimin's hand slides under your ass, gripping and squeezing before he emerges from under your skirt. He wipes his mouth on the back of his hand with a sly grin, your own heart fluttering in response. As he sits back on his feet, you reach for the button on his pants, eager to feel him against you. Your breath hitches as you trace the outline of his cock through his pants, drool pooling in your mouth at the thought of tasting him. In your drunken state, it takes you longer than usual to unbutton his pants and push down his boxers.

Finally free, Jimin's cock springs up, throbbing and ready for you to please him. You wrap your fingers around him, stroking lightly as you watch his reaction. His lips part as he sucks in a sharp breath of air, his eyes never leaving your face. Without hesitation, you dip your head and take his tip into your mouth.

“Are you sure you want to—” Jimin begins cutting himself off when your tongue begins swirling around his tip before sinking further, taking more of his length into your mouth. You’re definitely more than sure, you think.

With cheeks caving in and a steady rhythm, you expertly slide his dick in and out of your mouth, eliciting a song of pleasure from Jimin's pretty lips. Just when he's getting close to the edge, you pop your mouth off with a teasing grin, drawing a desperate whine from Jimin's mouth.

As much of a tease as he is, you would think he could handle some himself. With a devilish smirk, he guides you onto your back again before standing to remove his pants. As he grinds his naked cock against your slick folds, every cell in your body screams for him to just fuck into you already. 

“Jimin, please!” You whimper, taking his cock in your hand and stroking.

“What do you want, Y/N?” He asks smirking like he knows you might be hesitant to ask for what you want. 

“You.” 

With that he stands searching for a condom in his pants before muttering curses. Jimin turns to Matthew’s bedside table, opening the top drawer first and finding what he was looking for. Also some things he wasn’t looking for. He holds up a whip thinking he is learning so much about his friend that he doesn’t want to know.

“Next time.” Jimin says with a wink and you can feel your face flushing despite the situation. This is definitely a premonition for something to come and you don’t know whether to be excited or scared.

With a swift motion, Jimin tears open the condom packaging using his teeth and expertly rolls it onto himself. He positions himself between your legs and lines up with your entrance, pushing in slowly and groaning at the ease of his entry.

And once he finally enters, it feels like pure ecstasy.

A curse tumbles from your lips as he reaches the hilt and holds himself there for a moment, savoring the tightness.

Unable to resist any longer, he leans over and captures your lips in a heated kiss as his hips begin to rock back and forth. The pace is anything but gentle, as if he's releasing all the pent-up sexual tension and frustration that has built up over the years. Jimin breaks away from the kiss, leaning back to thrust into you with even more force. Your body arches off the bed in response, and you can't help the moans and cries that escape your mouth.

"Do you want everyone to hear you?" His voice is laced with pleasure and teasing as his fingers dig into your hips, urging you closer to him.

“Oh, is that what you’re into?” You indulge him with your words, biting your lip in pleasure.

“Let’s talk about that another time.” Jimin laughs before he leans down to capture your lips again, his tongue pushing through and tasting all of you. His hips continue to thrust into you and the friction mixed with his tongue and warm breath is almost too much for you to take. 

He thrusts into you with a fierce force, causing your whole body to jolt and your nails to dig into the sheets. Jimin flips you onto your stomach and kneads your ass with strong, experienced hands. You let out a small whimper as he positions himself on his hands and knees behind you.

Without warning, two of his fingers slip inside of you, stretching you in a way that makes you press your face into the soft mattress beneath you. For several seconds, Jimin drills his fingers in and out of you, making you moan in pleasure before you quickly cover your lips.

Just when you think you can't take it anymore, Jimin pulls his fingers out and pushes his cock back inside of you with one swift motion. His length is hitting new angles in this position, rebuilding the pleasure that was torn away from you earlier. 

Jimin's hand comes down hard on your ass, giving a satisfying slap, before he lets you take charge. After a few moments of adjusting, you find a rhythm that elicits intoxicating sounds from deep within his throat. You are completely lost in the overwhelming pleasure when suddenly, a faint crackle fills the air behind you followed by the unmistakable scent of peach.

Curiosity getting the best of you, you shift your gaze over your shoulder to see Jimin taking a hit from a familiar vape pen – one that you've seen in Matthew's hands many times before. All movement halts as confusion washes over your face before quickly being replaced by desire once again when Jimin resumes thrusting his cock into you lazily as if it’s an afterthought. 

“Jimin! Are you seriously vaping right now? And using Matthew’s pen!?” Your eyes widen as you watch him take another hit from the small device. He’s so unserious at a time like this, but it’s somehow attractive. He’s so hot.

Jimin exhales a thick cloud of smoke and then tosses the vape onto the other side of the mattress with a mischievous glint in his eye. He snickers while glancing at you and your amused expression. His strong hands grip your hips tightly as he thrusts deep inside of you, sending shivers down your spine.

And just when you think things couldn't get any more wild, Jimin blows out a stream of smoke and shapes it into a playful heart with his fingers, making you burst into giggles.

 "Don't worry about it, angel." he says with a innocent grin before diving back to fucking you deep in Matthew’s mattress. This man is really hustling you with the same nickname Yoongi gave you… fuck.

He picks up the pace pounding into you, filling the air with the sound of your pleasure and skin slapping together. Heat is pooling in your stomach bringing you back to the brink of orgasm. 

With a low growl, Jimin pulls away pulling you up to kiss your lips hungrily. He guides you onto your back and pulls your legs onto his shoulders. Heat and electricity surge through you as he effortlessly moves your legs onto his shoulders, positioning himself between them.

Jimin’s dick slides in easily and perfectly into the warm embrace of your body.  The sensation is overwhelming as he rubs his thumb expertly over your clit, setting fire to every nerve ending in your body. You bite down hard on your lip to stifle the moan that threatens to escape.

Jimin's head falls back, lips parted in pleasure as he rides the waves of ecstasy building within him. Your best friend looks like a dream, with sweat glistening on his skin and his brows furrowed in concentration. And all of this pleasure is because of you.

His brow scrunches together when you clench your pussy around him, and it only fuels his desire further. He runs his finger quickly over your clit without resistance, thanks to the soaked state he’s left you in. His actions soon send you tumbling over the edge into pure blissful orgasm. Your toes curl and your legs shake as Jimin carefully removes them from his shoulders, leaving a soft kiss on the side of your leg.

As he pulls out and removes the condom, you watch curiously as he jerks himself off with one hand while looking at you lying completely spent and disheveled before him. It doesn't take long for hot ribbons of cum to spill from him and land on your legs, creating an erotic mess.

But the mood quickly shifts as Jimin loses his balance and falls onto the wet spot, making a mess of the sheets. You grab his hand and pull him upright, both of you bursting into a fit of giggles at the ridiculousness of the moment you two are in.

Surveying your wet patch on the sheets mixed with Jimin's own release, you can't help but laugh even harder. In this moment, there is no one else in the world but the two of you, lost in each other's company and overcome with pure joy. 

"Fuck, we made a mess of Matthew's sheets," Jimin exclaims, looking down with panic.

"Huh? Oh shit!" You quickly get up, hastily fixing your outfit before darting into the closet, searching for extra clean sheets. Oh he’s going to be so pissed his marketing class team members just fucked on his bed.

Your eyes light up as you find your solution on the top shelf. "Jimin, please help me take off those sheets and put them in a basket or something! I need to put these clean ones on, and...how are we going to sneak them into the washing machine so he doesn't see or smell them!" 

Panic takes over your tone, and Jimin finds amusement in your flustered state.

The two of you hurriedly set about cleaning up the evidence of your sex session, trying to maintain a semblance of order in Matthew's room. As you wrestle with the sheets, Jimin can’t help but chuckle at the comical situation unfolding before him. "I'll take care of the rest, darling," Jimin assures, placing his hand on your bare shoulder. "The majority of this house is drunk or stoned, so a guy carrying a bunch of sheets downstairs into the laundry room isn't going to spark obvious suspicion." He chuckles, in a way that sounds like what you imagine an actual angel to laugh like. "You should get your stuff and go back out to your friends. Tell me all the details about your thing with hyung tomorrow.” He pauses a bit before continuing “Talk to hyung too..something tells me that his sixth sense is aware."

Your tense shoulders deflate in slight relief, until they tense up once again at the thought of talking to Yoongi about this. You nod at Jimin, "Okay, I trust you'll do some 'Jimin Magic' and fix this, so I'm going now. I'll talk to Yoongs too, so, see you at home?"

"See you at home, love."

The endearing nickname, the same one Yoongi gave you, somehow gives off a different vibe when Jimin uses it. You can’t pinpoint why and decide not to dwell on it right now. Exiting the room, you head downstairs, pulling out your phone to type a message to Yoongi.

You [12:58 PM]: Sorry I couldn’t answer your call Yoongs.You [12:58 PM]: When you come back, can we talk?

+++++++++++++++++++++

November 5th [Monday]

Yoongi arrives at the airport early that morning, greeted by the sight of you waiting by the curb with Jimin's car with the trunk open. He smiles as he places his luggage in the trunk, appreciating the effort you made to pick him up. After a brief moment of pleading, you convince Yoongi to take the driver's seat since you are hesitant about driving Jimin's fancy car. Without much resistance, he agrees, and you settle into the passenger seat.

"So where to, princess?" Yoongi teases, catching you off guard with the nickname.

"Princess?!" You sputter, cheeks reddening. "You’re clearly the passenger princess here," He says, gesturing to your seat and chuckling.

"D-Damn, you just got back, and you already got me good, Min." You laugh, using your hands to cover your flushed cheeks. "Anyways, I was thinking of going to the breakfast place on Main Street." 

You take your phone, perched on the dashboard, to navigate Yoongi on the road.

"Is this also where we're going to discuss what you wanted to talk about?"

You take a moment before responding, "Yeah, there was something we may have overlooked in our rules while I was too busy sealing the deal by giving you a blowjob." You shyly admit, your gaze focusing on the road as he starts to drive.

"I think I know what you mean." Yoongi chuckles, using his right hand to pat your head, reassuring you about the upcoming conversation. 

The two of you change the topic for the time being, deciding to wait until you are at the restaurant to delve into the important discussion. The anticipation lingers in the air, adding a layer of tension to the otherwise casual breakfast outing. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It would be a lie to say that you’re not nervous to be having this conversation with Yoongi. It’s odd. You’ve never been this nervous about talking to him. It’s always been easy to approach Yoongi when it comes to difficult topics compared to your other besties. He always takes a more logic or reason-based approach rather than letting his feelings consume him. He’s the Yin to your Yang. When you tend to let your feelings get the best of you, he always comes to ground you with reason. Come on, Y/N. It’s a simple conversation. He’ll understand, right? Nothing can go wrong.

"So, we need to establish a new boundary in our agreement…" You finally let yourself begin, taking a bite of your blueberry pancakes.

"And the reason behind this is because..." Yoongi prompts after swallowing a piece of his bacon and spinach omelet that just arrived at the table.

Sitting on the restaurant's patio, shielded from the sun by a patio umbrella and surrounded by a variety of plants, you and Yoongi engage in a conversation. Despite it being November, it is comfortable enough to eat outdoors. You prefer the open space to avoid the risk of eavesdroppers inside the restaurant.

You fiddle around with your pancake, breaking the silence with, "Okay, you remember our talk about communication and our friends-with-benefits arrangement..."

Yoongi nods, signaling for you to continue with your confession. A momentary hesitation lingers, aware that Yoongi values straightforwardness without any sugar coating. This isn’t just about the communication rule; it is a characteristic of how he deals with everyone, especially you.

You sigh, making a deliberate effort to meet his gaze, conveying the sincerity of your words. "Well, I may have done something last week on Halloween...consensually, of course." Your eyes briefly wander, finding solace in a purple flower still blooming despite the season.

“You had sex with someone else?” “Yeah…” You continue, words carefully releasing from your lips from the anxiety. “I had debated that whole night before this encounter whether getting involved in this would break our agreement, but then I realized we never even discussed exclusivity.” You turn your gaze back to Yoongi, noting the firm expression on his face. However, his eyes betray a different story—they looked slightly glassy and sad. Despite this, he remains silent, leaving his thoughts unreadable. You hesitate to delve into what he might be feeling, fearing the unknown and the potential overthinking it could trigger.

Why did the weight of this situation suddenly hit you so hard? You aren’t in a relationship with Yoongi, yet it feels like cheating on him. In the past few days, you actively avoided confronting these conflicting emotions, aiming to shield yourself from the potential consequences. If you did, you probably would’ve tried to hide it in fear of the possibility of hurting him until you couldn't hide it anymore. But deep down, you know that wouldn't have lasted long; hiding anything from him is an impossible feat when he knows you so well.

"Would you mind if I asked who it was?" Yoongi inquires firmly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." His eyes look into yours reassuringly.

Although you're not obligated to share, you feel it is only fair to Yoongi that you reveal the truth. Keeping it from him would likely make you feel even worse. You are aware that Jimin, to some extent, also feels a level of remorse for this shared encounter, despite his enjoyment in the moment.

"It was Jimin." You reply in a similar tone, keeping your gaze fixed on Yoongi. A brief silence settles over the small space that contains you and Yoongi, feeling like it lasts a century. You decide to add on, “Jimin also found out about us, from Jungkook, actually.”

Yoongi’s eyes flickered in confusion at the added revelation. A thousand more questions popped onto his mind. Did he tell more people? But he figured Jungkook was smart enough to not blabber about this to anyone unless he was be forced it cough it up, by none other than Jimin. And it didn’t seem like anyone else knew, yet at least. 

Finally, he sighs lowly, shifting his gaze down to his remaining food while rubbing his left temple. "Okay. Well shit, that was an oversight in our deal. I admit it."

Yoongi has pondered the possibility before, but he hasn't considered it a significant issue. Especially given his more prominent concern over JB, rather than Jimin, who was with Irene up until a few weeks ago. Namjoon is another factor that lingers in his thoughts since you ran after him when he and Jihyo broke up, but he seems to maintain a distance from anything too intimate with you. At least, from what he’s seen.

Jimin must’ve questioned you and made you realize on that oversight in the deal. Leading to what happened. Thought he isn’t sure.

Yoongi looks back at you and offers a smile, a gummy grin that makes you feel undeserving in this moment. "I don't know what you and Jimin did that led to that point, but don't feel bad. You did just as we agreed after all."

"No, I should've told you either way before that happened."

Yoongi internally wants to scoff. What could he have said if you had texted him about planning to hook up with Jimin that night he wasn't there? ‘Have fun? Let me know how it goes?’ The truth is, he’s in love with you. He wouldn’t be able to say that shit without it eating away at him. He cares about you and Jimin so much, and the thought of receiving a text from one of his best friends, that he’s in love with, saying they are going to fuck another one of his best friends, who he also cares about a lot, feels like a very fucking hard pill to swallow

Opting for a chuckle instead, he replies, "Yeah, but I'd rather not know about that." His attempt at lightening the mood is a feeble defense against the complex emotions swirling within him.

You look at him puzzled, uncertainty clouding your expression. Fuck, were you not supposed to say that? Did you fuck up that bad? Your mind raced with doubts; you thought communication should’ve been key.

"I'm so sorry, Yoongi." You apologize, the tightness in your chest growing as you witness his altered demeanor.

"It's fine." He responds in a feeble voice. Despite his words, you can’t shake the feeling that things aren’t as okay as he claims. The remainder of breakfast unfolds in silence. Soon after, Yoongi signals the waiter for the bill, pays it, and both of you make your way back to the car, driving home in a heavy atmosphere.

You offer to help Yoongi with his luggage when you open the trunk, but he signals with his hands that he has it covered. Walking inside together, a quiet heaviness lingers in the air. Before entering his room, Yoongi turns to address you one last time that day.

"Y/N, I'm going to need some time," He states, his words carrying a weight that mirrors the unresolved tension between you.

You sigh quietly, "I understand."

As he enters the room, the door closes with a deliberate yet not overly loud slam. It resonates enough to signify that he needs this space to process the revelations and emotions stirred by the day's unfolding events. Left standing in the hallway, you can’t help but wonder how this will impact the dynamics of your relationships with both Yoongi and Jimin in the days to come.

Back in your room, you throw yourself onto your bed, burying your face in the pillow in frustration. The weight of the situation presses down on you. You don’t know how long it will take for Yoongi to process. You’ve never really fought with Yoongi before compared to Jimin and Namjoon. Any disagreement you’ve had with Yoongi was very minor, like firmly saying strawberries are better than tangerines. Even during times when you’ve upset each other before, you two would quickly resolve things, whether it was through a heart-to-heart talk or food. Food is always the friendly option in a ceasefire between you all.

But this situation is entirely new and different, when will that happen…if it does?

You wouldn’t blame him if he decides it's best to end this agreement with him once and for all. Would you even want it to end? 

You’re not sure if that’s what you want him to do.

++++++++++++++

In the evening, you meet up with your marketing class team in the library to continue working on your group project. Jin has a Kappa Psi Pi board meeting, and Matthew has an intramural basketball match, leaving you, Hwasa, and Jimin to tackle the remaining tasks for the night. After completing the slide deck, Hwasa, with a midterm to study for, finishes her part of the work and heads back to her dorm.

Now, it's just you and Jimin in this small study room, working on the paper portion of the assignment.

Jimin has been sensing that something isn’t right since you entered the room earlier. He knows you were supposed to be talking to Yoongi today about the events at the Halloween party. By the looks of it, he doesn’t think the talk went well. He decides to ask you about it.

"So, how did the talk with Yoongi hyung go?" Jimin inquires, his eyes reflecting genuine concern for your well-being. Despite your attempts to stay strong throughout the day, Jimin's question finally shatters your exterior. Tears stream down your face as sobs escape uncontrollably. The intensity of your emotions surprises you, and you struggle to pinpoint the exact reason behind this overwhelming surge of despair. After all, it was your choice to have sex with Jimin that night; there was no commitment or exclusivity with Yoongi to tie you down to him. You’re not dating each other. Yet, witnessing his saddened and upset expression has an inexplicable impact on your heart, leaving you burdened with an empty pit filled with guilt. What kind of friend are you, using him for sex and moving on to the next when he’s not around? You didn’t even have the audacity to at least tell him beforehand.

“Hey, hey,” Jimin gets up from his seat soon after the first tears fall and wraps you in a tight hug that cradles your head in his hands. “You know you can talk to me, right? About anything.” he reassures you, giving you a smile of encouragement as you nod, trying to control your sobs.

You pull away from him, taking a long breath, you open your mouth and finally speak again. “H-He said he wants to take some time away from me…I think he actually hates me…” You continue to sob.

 It feels dumb somehow to be crying when you were the one who let everything happen with Jimin. It also feels dumb that you pushed this friends-with-benefits idea to Yoongi, only to be the one to hurt him as you failed to make rules that wouldn’t have you questioning them.

”Oh honey,” Jimin pulls you into another hug again.  “Yoongi can’t stay mad at you forever. He’s literally like your soulmate. You guys are so alike, and I know he feels heartbroken to do this too. I feel like he’ll come around soon.” The doubt lingers in your voice as you question through sobs, "You really believe that?"

"Of course I do!" Jimin pulls away, gazing directly into your eyes with sincerity. He wipes your tears away with the sleeves of his purple hoodie. His words act as a reassuring remedy for your overwhelmed mind. Maybe he's right; Yoongi will come around. You're just overthinking everything, scared because you've never faced this kind of thing before. But looking back at your past, you managed to overcome obstacles and reach resolutions, right?

Your mind drifts to your past relationship with Yeonjun, the one time you weren't able to do that. 

You don't want to end up in the same situation, growing strained from your best friend.

With a heavy heart, you and Jimin manage to compose yourselves and finish up some of the remaining parts of the project that night in the small study room. The weight of everything lingers in the air, and as you both head home, your thoughts continue to bother you. The uncertainty of when you and Yoongi will be able to speak to each other again weighs heavily on your mind, leaving you in a state of contemplation and anticipation.

++++++++++++++ November 16th [Friday]

The lingering tension between you and Yoongi seems to magnify with each passing day. The unspoken unease hangs in the air. As the days progress, a noticeable distance grows between you and Yoongi, creating an emotional chasm that neither of you seems eager to bridge.

Yoongi usually wakes up early before you and makes breakfast before you two head off to campus to go wherever you need to go. However, after Monday, he wakes up early, eats and leaves campus without you. Even in the evenings, when he comes home from classes or work, he barely mutters a single greeting before he scurries to his room. Luckily, because everyone has been busy with studying for midterms, no one questions his change in behavior.

However, the lack of any effort of communication from Min Yoongi starts to raise concern from Jimin.

He knows how Yoongi is like a soulmate to you, and reassures you that he can’t be upset for too long. But now it’s Friday evening, 11 days since you last genuinely talked to Yoongi. Too long. Jimin feels like he needs to get more involved since you getting into this mess was very much his fault. He cares about Yoongi, and while he too, loves you, this wasn’t fair of him to do.

There’s also the friends-with-benefits deal that you and Yoongi have. He still has many questions about how and why it even happened, which you have yet to really answer. The one thing he’s sure about is that he senses that neither of you want to end it despite this strain he caused. 

There's also a part of him feeling bitter at the thought of just continuing his life knowing his best friends are sleeping with each other until God knows when. Will this eventually lead you guys to date and eventually marry each other? Is this how Jimin will lose the girl he’s been interested in for years? He trusts Yoongi with his and your life as well, but he doesn’t like the thought of just letting Yoongi end up with you. What if there was a solution that could satisfy everyone in this situation? Jimin, being the wild card he is, comes up with an idea.

Determine to address this conflict, he approaches Yoongi's room and knocks on the door. "Hyung, can you come out?"

Evening falls, and the house that has been a hub of laughter and camaraderie now echoing with a quiet solemnity.  Yoongi and Jimin are the only ones home at this time, which is perfect timing for the confrontation. You, Hoseok and Namjoon are gone on a Trader Joe’s run to get more groceries for the house. Jin, Jungkook, and Taehyung are gone to compete for the university’s first esports tournament.

Jimin is a bit worried that Yoongi will be stubborn and refuse to open the door. If that happens, he plans to stand outside his window making noise until he decides to open it. Luckily for him, he doesn’t have to do that. Yoongi opens the door slightly ajar and looks at the younger man.

"We need to talk." Jimin asserts with a serious tone.

"About?" Yoongi yawns, feigning ignorance as to why Jimin is here. Though, a couple of theories swirl in his mind.

"You know what about!"

Yoongi lets out a groan, opening the door wider and gesturing for Jimin to enter. The room is cast in partial darkness, the ambient glow of LED strip lights on the ceiling and the illumination from Yoongi's laptop the only sources of light. Jimin settles on Jin's bed, positioned across from Yoongi's, as the air becomes charged with the weight of an impending conversation.

"Say what you gotta say, Jimin. I'm not really in the mood to talk." Yoongi responds, his tone carrying a coldness that sets the stage for a tense conversation. He takes a seat on his own bed, exuding an air of detachment.

“Asshole,” Jimin mutters under his breath, biting back the urge to argue. He knows any confrontation might result in an immediate dismissal from the room, cutting off any chance of dialogue. Instead, he pushes ahead with the purpose of his visit.

"Let's both be Y/N’s friends with benefits."

Yoongi's eyes widen, a mix of surprise and disbelief crossing his face. The proposal catches him off guard, leaving him momentarily speechless. Out of all the things he was expecting, this was not one of them at all. Did he really hear that right? "Huh? What did you just—"

"You heard me, Yoongi. Let's both fuck Y/N for a period of time, and then make her pick between us."

Yoongi scoffs at the proposition, disbelief etched across his face. Jimin must have lost his mind, he thinks. The competitive antics of their high school days, especially the virginity race, was one thing, but this suggestion takes the cake for ‘insane shit Park Jimin wants to do’. Words fail him momentarily.

"Whoa. Out of all the shit I thought I'd be hearing you out on, this was not one of them."

"What's so crazy about the idea? You're in love with her, aren't you?" Jimin points out.

Yoongi's eyes widen even further, blinking rapidly, and a flush of bright red colors his cheeks as if he were intoxicated. Love. He recalls the way you’d smile at him with those soft pink lips and sparkling eyes whenever you were intrigued with some of the random bullshit fun facts he’d talk to you about. He loves that about you. When he was 11 years old and fixated on marine biology for a period of time, he would talk to you about unique kinds of fish in the vast ocean and you would respond with further questions out of curiosity. For the first time in his life, he felt like someone was genuinely interested in spending time with him and hearing him out on whatever nonsense he wanted to share. Later on, he started making music because of you. You were the one who went to one of his piano recitals and suggested that he should make his own music. "Yoongi, you really do have so much talent and potential. Wouldn't it be cool if you made your own music and shared that with the world instead of playing pieces that already exist?" you once told him. This advice led him to study music production as a major, with a minor in psychology, driven by the desire to use music as a means of healing—a realization you inspired.

However, was his crush on you over the years that obvious to Jimin? What does that say about everyone else? Do they know? Do you even know how much he is in love with you?

Recalling that Friday night a month ago, he remembers confessing that he had wanted to touch you for so long. Does that revelation linger in your memory, or are you still oblivious to the emotions he has harbored over the years? Now, Yoongi finds himself questioning the sudden proposal of a fuck buddies arrangement and its purpose. Was it merely a distraction from the others, or does it signify something more?

"I am," Yoongi admits to Jimin, prompting a brief silence before he adds, "And what are you trying to say?" "Have you told her?" Jimin presses on.

Reluctantly, Yoongi admits, "No."

"Because you don't want to ruin the friendship we have, right?"

"Exactly."

"Then we're both in the same boat! I like her too, and I haven't told her yet." Yoongi scoffs at Jimin's words, leaving the younger man puzzled. He has been more concerned about Namjoon being the one to potentially sway you away, not Jimin. Until a few weeks ago, Jimin really had seemed committed to his relationship with Irene—a rare occurrence. Jimin usually hops in and out of relationships, so this revelation sounds a bit unbelievable to Yoongi.

Yoongi sneers at Jimin's revelation, disbelief etched in his voice. "You like her too? The guy with the largest body count in this house since high school?"

Jimin responds with a seriousness that belies his usual carefree demeanor. "What's so hard to believe? I've liked her since we were in the last year of middle school together. I was just...scared. So I coped in other ways to move on, but it never worked."

"Scared of telling her and changing our friendship? Welcome to the club." Yoongi sarcastically chuckles, narrowing his eyes at Jimin.

Jimin groans in frustration. "I know you, Namjoon, and I had an unspoken agreement in high school that we wouldn't get involved with her like that, but I think that's out of the window since you two decided to fuck behind our backs. I'm not okay with letting that happen because I like her too. So why don't we become her fuck buddies, and then she picks which one of us she wants to be with?"

"This is fucking ridiculous," Yoongi facepalms at the idea Jimin is proposing. He leans back against the headboard, his expression a mix of disbelief and exasperation. "We don't even know if she loves us in a romantic sense or if she'd be down to do something like that."

Jimin, undeterred, leans forward, his eyes searching Yoongi's for any sign of agreement. "Then how did you make it happen, huh?" He raises an eyebrow, a challenge in his tone. Yoongi, once again, isn't really sure how to answer the question. He takes a deep breath before he spills his own point of view of the situation from weeks ago.

"She was upset because of you and Namjoon being assholes, so I kissed her to distract her from those thoughts, and she kissed me back. Then we just came home and fucked. Then a few days later, she just came up to me while I was TA-ing, saying that she wanted to be fuck buddies. And me, being fully in love with her, agreed. I didn't question her motives nor did I want to."

"I'm guessing you hoped she would eventually start to fall for you through that experience." Jimin comments, a speculative tone in his voice. Yoongi sighs, but nods in agreement. Jimin. finally understanding the sequence of events that led to the being friends with benefits. Though, he wonders about your feelings. Why else would you want to do that with Yoongi?  The same question lingers in his own mind regarding his own actions on Halloween. There has to be underlying feelings that pushed both of you to take such risks. Feelings still left untold by you.

After a bit of contemplation from Yoongi, he finally breaks the silence. ”Mm, I wouldn’t be opposed to your idea, Jimin.” Jimin beams at Yoongi’s words as he continues. "Maybe through this, we could get a definite answer about who she'd rather be with. Then we can finally be free and move on from the feelings we have for her and find other people." Yoongi feels a bit liberated by saying his thoughts. As much as he'd love to keep this up forever, he wants to truly shower you with his uttermost love and affection instead of being bound to the restrictions of this friends with benefits situation. He knows it would hurt both of you in the long run due to uncertainty of your futures. 

"Exactly! So please don't be mad at Honey or me anymore for what happened. I know nothing we do will be able to turn back time to whenever you made your arrangement, but this new agreement will provide more clarity for all of us." Jimin explains, seeking understanding from Yoongi.

"I hate to agree to this, but fine. Let’s try this," Yoongi nods in agreement. "We should talk to her in her room when she gets back."

"Really?!" Jimin's response carries a hint of excitement, slightly more than he intended, prompting a chuckle from Yoongi. "Sounds good." he adds, signaling a tentative step toward resolving their intertwined feelings.

+++++++++++++

You just got home from buying groceries with Namjoon and Hoseok. While you hoped that leaving campus for a bit would take your mind off of Yoongi, it doesn’t prove to be as effective as you want. It’s been days and you don’t really know what to do except wait. Though it’s not easy because in no way are you a patient person. If you didn’t have Jimin or Hwasa to talk to about your struggle, you would’ve been having an agonizing time. Hwasa advised you earlier to do what you felt was best, but you didn’t know what that could be. You care a lot about Yoongi, and seeing him hurt makes you realize you never want to see him in that position again. Is it the best idea to end this arrangement? You don’t really want to do that, and that makes you question things further. Do you actually love him beyond the scope of friends?

As more questions continue to plague your mind, you decide to go up to your room to change into your pajamas after helping unload groceries. 

What you don’t expect to find once you close your door and turn on the lights are Yoongi and Jimin sitting on your bed with their arms crossed.

"Holy fucking shit?!" The exclamation bursts from you in fear, but before you can utter any more words, Jimin hastily shushes you.

"Please shut up before you make the other two downstairs suspicious!" Jimin insists with an aggressive whisper. As he utters those words, Namjoon's voice drifts from downstairs, inquiring if something is wrong.

”Uh, nothing wrong! Just…killed a spider!” You open the door and shout back to him, receiving a nonchalant 'okay' before closing and locking your door this time.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" You whisper, eyeing both men with suspicion, unsettled by their secretive behavior.

"Well, the good news is that Yoongi's not mad at us, right, hyung?" Jimin nudges the older man gently in the side, and Yoongi nods while looking at you.

Your shoulders slump in relief upon hearing and seeing that Yoongi's doing better. "O-Okay, that's great. But I'm assuming there's gotta be something else to this, isn't there?"

Yoongi and Jimin both gesture for you to come sit on the bed so they can speak to you closer and avoid being too loud for anyone else in the house to hear. Yoongi clears his throat. "What I'm about to say might sound crazy, but Jimin proposed this idea that he wants us both to be your fuck buddies."

Similar to Yoongi’s reaction when Jimin spoke to him earlier, your eyes bulge out in shock over his bluntness. Did he really just say that him and Jimin both want to be your fuck buddies. Huh?! What even led them to reach this conclusion and propose this idea to you? While the idea sounds crazy, yet enticing, it definitely sounds too good to be true. They can’t be serious, can they?! What the fuck.

”Hahahahaha!” You find yourself suddenly giggling manically with hints of nervousness laced to your laughs, but then you remember you have to keep quiet so you cover your mouth. They stare at you with confused expressions on their faces. “You guys are joking right? Is this a test of my loyalty or what? I’m trying to understand the motives behind this.”

”We…” Jimin slowly voices out, with hints of hesitation and fear. “We have feelings for you, Y/N.” 

Huh…

Your heart instantly drops to your ass as he finishes his sentence. You stop laughing suddenly and look at them anxiously.

Did Jimin really just say that they both have feelings for you? No way. This new revelation just adds onto the previous questions you had within the last month. You remember when Hwasa said that Yoongi seemed obviously in love with you last year, but you brushed it off by saying he’s being kind to you because you’re his best friend. Maybe she was really cooking with that theory, you think. On the otherhand, Jimin breaking up with Irene, coming to find you right after and kissing you? Could they really think of you beyond being their best friend? Or is this just because we’re horny college students mistaking an orgasm high for something else…

"What...feelings for me? When? How?"

You've been evading the questions Yoongi posed to you on that October night at the GOT party. The notion of being in love with your best friends feels forbidden, but you fear you can't escape those thoughts any longer as you’re being presented with this deal.

"We talked, and we thought this would be a good way to figure out whatever feelings we’ve been struggling with, while also… enjoying ourselves?" Jimin's voice is hesitant as he struggles to articulate this in the most convincing way possible. He's a business student and can't pitch this idea, he screams internally. Well, to be honest, he never thought he'd ever have to pitch this to anyone.

Yoongi cuts in before Jimin could say something else, "I thought he was insane too, not gonna lie. Even hesitated smacking him—"

"Hey!" Jimin uses his elbow this time to smack him in the side, making Yoongi wince.

"But he had good points. And also, you've been clearly trying to figure out your feelings since I asked you how you felt about us that one night. Maybe this will help you figure out some of those answers." Yoongi hits the nail with those words, sparking an epiphany within you. As crazy as the idea sounds, maybe this really could help resolve your dilemma. Oh god, you're really about to agree to this.

There's a bit of silence as you glance at both of them. You still have a lot of questions about their alleged feelings for you, but you go ahead and respond, "I-I'm down for the idea."

"You are?!" Both men say in unison, each with a different tone.

"Yeah, but we just really have to set better boundaries this time so we don't end up in another fight. Please." You look at them with pleading eyes, hoping to avoid another conflict with them. They exchange glances and nod in agreement.

Yoongi clears his throat, breaking the momentary silence. "Alright then, let's establish some to make sure we don't mess things up again." He leans back on his palms, breaking into a smirk. "Rule number one, we need to be brutally honest with each other. No cryptic messages, no hidden meanings. Just straight talk, yeah?"

Jimin, slouching comfortably, nods, "Yeah, I like that. We could also add a rule on emotional check-ins. We’re still best friends at the end of the day, so we gotta make sure we’re all doing this and we’re feeling good about it. And if any of you are having doubts, we need to discuss it, like hyung said."

"Oh! That’s a good one!” You add, tapping your fingers on your knee, trying to think of something else. “Transparency is kinda similar to Yoong’s idea, but just want to add that so we don’t keep secrets from each other. I’m going to be sleeping with both of you, but we don’t have to stay exclusive if you don’t want to. Just let me know whatever booty calls you decide to have and I’ll let you know too. Don’t think I will have any more though!” You laugh lightly, trying to brighten up the atmosphere from this tough conversation.

You know you’ll be plenty occupied being filled by 2 men, so the thought of someone else filling up another slot doesn’t cross your mind right now. Maybe it does, but you’re actively trying to avoid thinking about it too hard. That person would make things more complicated than these two.

Yoongi nods silently in agreement while Jimin responds, "Yeah, I agree with that. I don’t think we’ll get involved with anyone else because we’re trying to settle this, but we’ll keep the rules in mind,”

“Any other stuff we're missing?" Jimin continues, staring at both of you before he clears his throat to speak up, “Well, it’s time to bring up my grand idea to make things more exciting: experimentation. I don’t know if you two had something like that.” Well, it was mentioned, but you guys didn’t do anything too crazy besides the blowjob in Mr. Kang’s office and the mirror sex. Otherwise, things were pretty tame. You exchange glances with Yoongi, both intrigued and wary. "We kinda did, but we didn’t really do much. What kind of things are you suggesting we experiment." The idea excites you, injecting a thrill into arrangement, yet beneath the excitement lurks a hint of nervousness. The unknown territory of experimentation sparks curiosity, but you wonder how it will affect the dynamic between you three. What things could they both even suggest? "You'll find out soon," Jimin says, a deep smile forming, his eyes transforming into crescent moons. It sends a shiver down your spine—this man is undeniably dangerous. "But, of course, consent is crucial in whatever we do. And protection! We'll use condoms, and it's up to you if you wanna use birth control. I know it sucks for you guys."

You’re glad Jimin is aware of the complications of women’s birth control and is considerate of your needs. The birth control idea is something you'll need to think about, but it does spark a tinge of fear to use it. Though, there is something you wanted to try out and that would require you on birth control. You’ll see.

“Would a group chat between us be good to stay up to date or whatever?” Yoongi suggests. You and Jimin hum and nod in agreement. Yoongi begins setting it up, naming it 0309x1013. Right after he does that, he looks up, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Now, we gotta seal the deal somehow," 

You look at him innocently, "Seal the deal? How?" You of all people know how this went last time with Yoongi, but you want to hear from them this time.

Both Yoongi and Jimin exchange a knowing glance, and then Jimin speaks up, "How about with a kiss?"

Your eyes widen in surprise. The thought of a kiss catches you off guard, especially with the awareness that Namjoon and Hoseok could come up any minute to randomly check on you. You might not have enough time, and you realize you all need to act quickly.

"Are you sure we should do that, what about them?" you ask, a mix of curiosity and nervousness in your voice as you point out to the two men downstairs

"It’ll be fine!" Jimin shrugs, “We’ll be quick,”

"Yeah, and the kiss will make it official," Yoongi adds, his gaze still fixed on you.

You take a moment to assess the situation. The idea of sealing the deal with a kiss feels surreal, but you can't deny the underlying excitement. Glancing at the clock, you calculate the time left before Namjoon and Hoseok might come by to check on you since you haven’t returned downstairs. You did mention wanting to watch a movie with Namjoon after they finished putting groceries away. Shit.

"Okay," you say, a hint of a smile forming. "But make it quick. We don't want any unexpected guests."

The three of you lean in, creating a makeshift circle on your bed. The atmosphere is charged with a blend of anticipation and curiosity as the prospect of this unusual arrangement takes a concrete step forward.

As Yoongi and Jimin lean in to kiss your cheeks, the gesture feels surprisingly tender, a prelude to what's to come. Yoongi places a gentle kiss on your left cheek, while Jimin follows suit on the right. The air seems to crackle with a newfound intensity. Your heart is beating fast, and for some reason, you can sense that things are about to take an unexpected turn.

Just when you thought it would end there, Yoongi's actions catch you off guard. After planting a sweet kiss on your cheek, he quickly redirects his lips to yours with an undeniable hunger. The kiss becomes heated, fueled by a fire that seems to have been lingering beneath the surface. For a moment, you're swept away by the intensity. This kiss feels more intense than the first one you had with him. You find yourselves detaching, breathless as a thin string of saliva still keeps you connected

As you process what the fuck just happened, Jimin seizes the opportunity. With a sly smile, he leans in, taking over where Yoongi left off. The transition is seamless. Jimin's lips, warm and soft, carry a subtle taste of anticipation as they meet yours. The sensation is both thrilling and delicate, creating a vivid contrast to the bold move he just orchestrated. The plushness of his lips melds seamlessly with yours, each movement leaving a lingering lust. Just as you feel yourself get more into it, he lets go of your lips. You’re still stuck in the haze of lust when you suddenly hear the distinct sound of footsteps ascending the stairs. Fuck. Panic sets in, dispersing the remnants of horniness as the reality of your situation dawns on you. With a synchronized effort, you and the two men scramble to discreetly rearrange yourselves around the room, attempting to appear less conspicuous. You go into the bathroom.

Just as you manage to compose yourself, a knock echoes through the room, and Jimin swiftly moves to open the door. He opens the door, revealing Namjoon on the other side, you try to suppress the nervous flutter in your chest. Jimin's casual greeting conceals the recent tumultuous events within your room. “Oh! Hyung, hello!” Jimin looks surprised, and smiles.

“Jimin? You’re here,” Namjoon remarks, his gaze briefly darting around the room and sees the other cat-eyed man seated on the floor scrolling on his phone. “Yoongi too? Where’s Y/N?” He’s a little caught off guard by the little club in your room, but nothing too suspicious because you all are best friends.

Yoongi nonchalantly points to the bathroom. “She’s in the bathroom taking a shit.”

You can't help but scoff from behind the closed door, annoyed at Yoongi's less-than-dignified explanation. "I’m not! I’m changing!" you retort, cursing Yoongi silently for his misinformation.

Namjoon lets out an understanding sound. "Well, I have the TV set up so we can watch the movie. You better come down after you finish," he shouts towards your direction before heading back downstairs.

As the coast clears, you slide down against the bathroom door in relief, feeling the weight of the chaotic deal you’re in.

“This is the virginity race all over again, isn’t it?”

Yoongi and Jimin can't help but chuckle at your question from outside the door. Their laughter, in a strange way, reminds you of the random antics you all would get involved in from high school. 

A time when your best friends would orbit your life like planets encircling the sun. Things are really starting to feel back to normal. 

However these grown men now, with their absurd proposal and spontaneous antics, will undoubtedly be the end of you.

tbc :o a/n: still so much left to uncover! holidays are approaching for these peeps, so many questions left unanswered, also NAMJOON. we need more of him so don't worry I'M ON IT! anyone have any thoughts? i'd love to heart about them so lmk hehehe if you did enjoy, please interact however you can! reblog, like, share with friends!

[tokyokookmin]

𓆩♡𓆪𝘑𝘐𝘒𝘖𝘖𝘒-M𝘖𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚 𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛★☆

MY FAVORITE / TOP SERIES & A COLLECTION OF OTHERS -

link 1; #JIKOOK best vocals

link 2; #JIKOOK favourite stages (concerts, music banks etc)

link 3; #JIKOOK top 2021 moments

link 4; #JIKOOK top reasons why jikook is something else

link 5; #JIKOOK - The definition of "there for you".

link 6; #JIKOOK - The way Jungkook lifts Jimin (bridal style)

link 7; #JIKOOK - Black Swan.. we don't discuss this much.

link 8; #JIKOOK in 2019 (timeline, but discontinued)

link 9; #JIKOOK Holding hands

link 10; #JIKOOK Staring at each other (most likes)

link 11; #JIKOOK - Jungkook finding Jimin cute

link 12; #JIKOOK - I think a lot about how Jungkook adores Jimin

link 13; #JIKOOK - Jikookery in Hong Kong

A compilation of JIKOOK moments -

link 1; #JIKOOK being in love on camera/ in public (pt1).

link 2; #JIKOOK being in love on camera/ in public (pt2)

link 3; #JIKOOK moments I feel is the most authentic version of them

link4; #JIKOOK 2019 AWARDS & EVENTS PT.1

link5; #JIKOOK TOP 9 best moments during concerts.

link 6; #JIKOOK -Their gazes, their stares (one of my most liked)

link 7; #JIKOOK - It's a genuine connection. They are each other's support systems (PART 1)

link 8; #JIKOOK Favourite flustered Jimin andJungkook moments

link 9; #JIKOOK - "Acts of Service", massages.

link 10; #JIKOOK Top 5 underrated gestures/Significance

link 11; #JIKOOK - The way Jimin looks at Jungkook

link 12; #JIKOOK Things I love about Jikook's relationship (holding hands)

link 13; #JIKOOK - Jungkook carrying Jimin

link 14; #JIKOOK - It's a genuine connection. They are each other's support systems. (PART 2)

CONT/

𝘼 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙅𝙄𝙆𝙊𝙊𝙆'𝙎 𝙈𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙎 (EDITED BY TOKYOKOOKMIN) - link 1; can I just stay here? / link 2; I love you for infinity/link 3; I was only falling in love / link 4; you're mine. Video edits &lt;3

𝙅𝙆/𝙅𝙈 𝙑𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙎 & 𝙅𝙈 𝘽𝘿𝘼𝙔 𝙑𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 -

𝙅𝙄𝙆𝙊𝙊𝙆 𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙋𝙎 𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙈 𝙈𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙎 2020 -;

2023 GUIDELINES (UPDATED) - PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE ENGAGING IN ANY OF MY CONTENT

✎ ARCHIVE - https://tokyokookmin.tumblr.com/archive

✎ SEND ME AN ASK! - https://tokyokookmin.tumblr.com/ask

✎ MY TWITTER - https://twitter.com/kookminivoir

✎ MY BLOG WEBSITE - https://tokyokookmin.tumblr.com/

[bookscandlesnbts]

2024 Things I’m Looking Forward To

This is not as easy to compile a list for as it might seem. Because while I am excited about some things, I’m still deeply annoyed that BTS is gone (until we get Jin back this year and Hobi too). I miss Jikook terribly, but in the spirit of it being a new year and of me tending to look on the positive side of things, I’m making a list really for myself of things to look forward to this year. I encourage you to make your own or let me know in the comments or DMs if any of these resonate with you 😊

1. Jikook Travel Vlog- I’d be lying if I didn’t put this as my most excited thing for the whole year. Nothing I love more than being comfy cozy on my couch with some snacks, lighting my candles, and witnessing Jikook shenanigans

2. My trip to Tokyo and Seoul with my sister this summer. Crazy that this isn’t number 1, I know, but truthfully I am nervous. I’ve never flown abroad and for such a long flight I’m nervous. Not about the plane itself but for being in such a confined space with strangers for that long is not my jam. But it will be worth it, I’m sure. I’m also pretty bad with time changes and well, 14 hours is something I can’t imagine. But I’m really excited to see all the places that I’ve been watching on my tv screen for the past 3 years.

3. All the new music content we will get from the tannies this year. I love new music in general (I participate in a group that does new music friday where we listen to new music that comes out every Friday) and getting new music from my favorites while they are away is so amazing. I love sharing that joy with people.

4. Bit of a sidetrack away from things BTS related but I’m super super excited for an actually good live action remake 🤞🏻 of my favorite series of all time at such a pivotal age (12) during my childhood. The equivalent of HP for me is Avatar the Last Airbender and from the looks of the sneak peek trailers, I think it might be worth the hype and I’m ever cautiously the optimist. I’m so excited to enter back into a world that I love so much and characters that mean so much to me. Maybe I’ll be inspired to write some crossover fics 😂

5. The return of Jin and J-Hope will definitely be a grounding experience and a source of great comfort to get real time content again from Bangtan.

6. Any other merch or little surprises or communication from our boys (especially Jimin and Jungkook around here you know the deal) I especially need all the magazine covers and content of Jimin in his natural hair color, blond. He could rule the world.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but it’s enough to keep me going. Fighting! 🫰🏻

[ask-serendipity-sky]

Jimin's article written by a fan...

On March 24, Jimin released “Like Crazy” (with no features). "Like Crazy" didn't need a feature.

Outside of his work with BTS, Jimin’s highest-charting Hot 100 hit as a solo artist was “Set Me Free pt. 2,” his own song, at number 30.

There were a lot of noteworthy new songs coming out the Friday “Like Crazy” was released, including “Eyes Closed” by Ed Sheeran, “Spice Marley” by Spice and “Don't Play With It Remix” by Lola Brooke ft. Latto and Yung Miami. Not only that, but songs like “Flowers” (Miley Cyrus), “Last Night” (Morgan Wallen), “Kill Bill” (Sza) and “Die For You” (The Weeknd and Ariana Grande) continued to dominate streaming charts. With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at how “Like Crazy” performed in its first week. The chart data for the seven days following March 24 was reflected in the Billboard chart dated April 04.

According to Billboard, “FACE” and "Like Crazy" massed 10 million streams and sold 234,000 units on the week of its release. According to Oricon, "FACE" recorded 222,120 sales on the first day, making it the 3rd album with the biggest first day sales. Jimin earned the BIGGEST First Week sales for a Korean album by a Korean Soloist in Oricon History. Immediately after its release on March 24, Jimin’s album made Hanteo history by being the first to surpass 1 million first-day sales of an album by a Korean soloist, despite the unclear issues that arose that day and the sales that were deleted. Even though the cd single of "Like Crazy" has not been restocked after 4 months, the sales it pulled from full album sales and digital sales were impressive. Although most were not counted after week 2 because fans were not informed of the rule changes Billboard had made to its chart. By the end of the first week, the song had been streamed nearly 22 million times and sold 234,000 album equivalent units in the US. With those 234,000 sales—the second highest of any song for the week—thrown on top of all its streaming figures, “Like Crazy” climbed to the top spot on the Hot 100. 

The song’s performance on the charts is noteworthy, but what is particularly impressive is its extensive streaming numbers, especially worldwide. On Spotify, “Like Crazy ” swiftly rose to number one on Worldwide iTunes Chart, Worldwide iTunes Song, European iTunes, and Japan's Line Music. "Like Crazy" also topped Spotify’s Daily Top Global Songs chart and Jimin was the first Korean soloist to do so. "Like Crazy (English Version)” also debuted at no. 2 on the daily Global Top Songs chart with 6.6 million streams. Out of the 7 tracks, 6 of them took up the top 6 positions on the Oricon Daily Digital Ranking, showing how much the album had been anticipated. The album also dominated the Worldwide Apple Music Album Chart and all songs were top sellers in Digital Music New Release, Digital Music Best Seller, International New Release, and International Best Seller in Amazon Music USA. According to Melon, "Like Crazy" in its first day, peaked at #8 and maintained the position in the chart. After 24 hours, "Like Crazy" obtained almost 3 million streams on Melon. Even after months have passed by, the song continues to be streamed over 2.5 million times every day. So far, the song has been no.1 in 111 countries, setting the record for the most no.1 on iTunes in 2023.

It's pointless to compare "Like Crazy" to other Western Songs or Korean song because there is nothing like "Like Crazy". It is one of a kind.

The song is written in Korean and there is also an English version that should be combined but hasn't been despite other artists having theirs combined, this marks an even more historic debut for an Asian artist, and the fact that it had only 0.6m of radio airplay is reflecting that significance. A sultry club synth pop song was the last thing I was expecting among solo discographies of BTS members. But the fact that this song has become one of the biggest K-pop hits is beyong exciting. As K-pop continues to explore new themes and approaches, the bold move of “Like Crazy” and its early and ongoing success may serve as inspiration for the next generation of K-pop artists, even his own company, to take similar courageous steps.

[unbased-kpop-ramblings]

“Favorites - Top 10 Kpop Dancers/Performers”

Welcome to post three in my kpop favorites series. This is an ordered list (with #1 being my absolute favorite) of, in my opinion, the best dancers/performers in all of kpop. Now that that’s out of the way…😈

1. Mark Lee (NCT)

2. Ten (Wayv)

3. Kai (EXO)

4. Hyunjin (Stray Kids)

5. Taemin (Shinee)

6. Jimin (BTS)

7. Taeyong (NCT)

8. Shotaro (RIIZE)

9. Lisa (Blackpink)

10. Ateez*

And yes, I included Ateez as a whole on this list because they bring unmatched energy—argue with your mom—to every performance they do, and they look great doing it. If you need convincing, simply go watch any of their dance covers on YouTube 🤷🏾‍♀️

[riaarivic]

HATE 8: EGO (M) I MYG x F!reader

🌙 Pairings YoongixReader

🌙 Genres Mafia!AU, Smut, Angst, Action, Thriller, Enemies to lovers

🌙 Rating 18+ minors DNI

🌙 Summary  You were an INTERPOL Agent assigned to infiltrate the depths of the most powerful Gang in South Korea: The Seven Moons. Your objective: to impersonate the daughter of one of their leaders and destroy the operation from within. That is, if they don't discover you first.

And Traitors won’t have the mercy of a quick death

🌙 Warnings For this chapter: mentions of death, drugs and vioence, foul language, mentions of organized crime.

🌙 A/N At no time do I (the author) encourage this activity in life, it is important that you know that the criminal acts in this book are that, a crime, as well as harmful to health and should not be romanticized. This is all a work of fiction for entertainment.

Love, Ria

🌙 Chapter wordcount 3k

🌙 Series Index

1  2 3 4  5 6 7 8 9 10 11

HATE 8: EGO (M) I MYG x F!reader

I go back every day. To me of yesterday. To the life of giving up

I let myself go away. But in this world, you know. There are truths unchanged.

Han River Bay, cargo port, Seoul South Korea

Keep calm Jung Hoseok...

Keep calm.

There is a rumor that Jhope was the clansmen favorite son to inherit the Seven Moons. His talent for cleaning up a crime scene was almost as good as his amazingly good eye for new recruits. 

No one was as loyal as Jung Hoseok.

That made him one of Kim Dohan’s favorite sons.

And a ruthless son of a bitch too.

Most of the lower clansmen were quietly favoring Jhope to be their next leader. 

A rising star in Seoul’s underworld.

Like a twisted cinderella story.

He could really have a chance to become the heir.

But JHope wasn’t born with Clan’s blood.

Kim Dohan saw a lot of himself in the young gangster. In a decade of being in the Seven Moons he had managed to rise to the highest levels of the clan. He went from being a simple drug dealer to being one of the key leaders of their criminal organization.

You didn't see that every day.

Besides being the Clan’s Recruiter, Jhope's specialty was cleaning up his brothers' messes.

Whether it was the bloodied body of an enemy killed by Suga in a back alley.

Or JK getting a little out of hand in one of his fights.

Or that time Taehyung crashed a brand new Lamborghini into a historical sculpture in the city.

And let's not talk about the incident involving the Bengal tigers that Jimin asked him to bring to the club for one of his shows.

It still made him want to throw up every time he remembered it. Let's just say that in the end, they weren't cute kittens.

Anything that needed to be fixed Jhope would fix it.

Anything the clan asked for Jhope found it.

Anybody that had to dissapear...

You get the picture.

But even in all his years belonging to the Seven Moons he never thought he would witness a disaster the size of the one tonight. If someone had told him about it, he probably would have laughed in their face. His two brothers were fighting over the same woman.

In public.

At Jimin 's club.

Unbelievable.

Well, he wasn't so sure Namjoon really had feelings for you. The right hand was known throughout Asia as the most eligible bachelor. Hope knew of her brother's reputation with women. But Suga, he had never seen him behave like that. He never went to the club and when he did, he ignored all the angels. Male or female, he didn't care.

JHope was beginning to think that his brother had made a weird celibacy pact with the Leader.

Never in a million years did he imagine that he would witness Suga, the most indifferent man on the face of the earth. Who didn't care about you or anyone or anything, literally make out on an alley like a horny teenager during prom night. 

And to top that with the pretty pampered heiress of one of his father's allies. 

Unbelievable, really.

He really didn't want to be there when the Leader found out what happened in the club. The thought of it  sent a shiver down his spine.They would probably both end up castrated. Although that would not be very beneficial to the clan now that he thought about it.

If it left the two leading candidates to inherit the clan without the possibility of having children…

“Jhope, where are we going?” your voice croaked from the passenger seat.

He was so focused on his internal monologue that he had forgotten that you, the aforementioned daughter of a former clan chief, fiancée of the heir, possible mother of the Seven Moons' legacy....

He had lost himself in his thoughts again, 

“We must wait for things to calm down, Princess Nari '' he gave you a quick glance as he continued driving “Suga-hyung and Namjoon must be at this very moment extreme make overing each other's face with their fists and later when they get to the house, our father is going to finish what's left of them.”

You shrunk a little, he realized that your pupils were still very dilated, lips trembling as you were about to cry “Hey, princess calm down. We've all had a bad trip. Tomorrow you can say you don't remember anything and that you have low resistance to designer drugs. It's probably true, two doses of the new formula that arrived today from the labs mixed with alcohol? Wow, even I would have kissed Suga-hyung” That brought a smile to your face.

“Jhope, have you ever been to Russia?” he paused for a second to look at you, surprised a bit by the sudden question.

“Oh yeah, several times. It comes with the job, you know? I've been on several tours around the world, I like to call that my Mafia Tours. I'm sure you'd love it, if you take away the drugs, the guys with guns and the probability of getting arrested at an airport... Again “Jhope winked at the last part and the car came to a stop at a small warehouse.

“Let's go. You can have a hot tea and finish passing the Molly effect. And If you promise not to kiss me too, I'll tell you a bit of my story to keep you entertained” You nodded and got out of the van to follow Jhope.

Jhope’s small warehouse was on the outskirts of Seoul. It was a dimly lit space filled with stacked crates and boxes, casting long shadows on the concrete floor. The air was thick with the scent of musty cardboard and stale cigarettes, and the only sounds were the distant hum of passing cars and the occasional rat scurrying across the floor.

You noticed a few young men and women sitting on a table on the far back of the place. Most of them barely looked a day older than eighteen.

Some of them probably were still in highschool. 

Or at least supposed to be. 

They spoke in hushed tones, their faces obscured by the shadows, as they dealt in illicit goods and discussed the inner workings of their assignments. 

To put it in a simpler way. 

They were the clan’s runners. 

Rookies that were being trained by Jhope to push merchandise in the streets of Seoul. The real reason why he was also one of the Clan’s favorites to inherit the leadership. Is because he was in charge of recruiting and training the new generation of the clan. Raise them, to become ruthless gangsters like him.

And you guessed it. 

They were all extremely loyal to him.

Jhope guided you to a staircase that led to the second floor, secluded from the numerous containers that lined the place. Two men, more like boys, were guarding the front door and when they saw them arrive they bowed in respect. “Oh and Princess Nari, you can call me Hobi. That's what the people I like call me” 

He opened two heavy metal doors. Inside, the room was sparsely furnished with a simple wooden desk, a few mismatched chairs, and a filing cabinet pushed against the wall. The walls were bare, save for a few framed certificates and diplomas hanging crookedly, giving the impression that the space had been abandoned long ago.

“Let's see, first the tea and then the story. Come on, drink up” Jhope passed you a hot cup as you sat together on the small couch. You could see pictures and souvenirs from different parts of the world.

He was about to start his story when a quiet knock was heard on the other side of the office’s door. “Boss, do you have a minute?” Soo-jin, a young recruit, and one of Jhope’s favorites, was standing on the other side. 

“So-jin, I hope it's something too important for you to think you have the right to come into my office like this, when I have company." Jhope said.

She nodded strongly, "Yes, yes. Boss, you have to see this for yourself.

Jhope got up to follow the young woman. He stopped  before the doorframe to give you an empathetic look. “Stay here, Princess Nari. Then we continue our conversation”

The air was thick with tension in Jhope’s warehouse as he stood across Soo-jin. He knew the young woman since she was a scrappy teenager who just dropped out of school. In a way, he saw her as a younger sister. 

And he knew perfectly well that careful expression she had on her face right now. Like a kid who’s about to tell their parents they failed a class. 

He saw through the broken window and released a tired sigh "So, what did you find out about my brothers?" JHope leaned forward, his piercing gaze fixed on Soo-jin.

Soo-jin shifted in her feet, her eyes darting nervously around the room. "I...I followed them for a few days, like you asked me to," she began hesitantly. "And I found out that...they're both involved in shady business. I saw the right hand covered in blood leaving the Han-yong bath house last night. He is definitely the one behind the murder of the leaders."

"What about the Shadow?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

Soo-jin licked her lips nervously before answering. "I'm not sure, but it's something big. He was meeting with some men in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. I tried to get closer, but one of them spotted me and I had to run."

“Boss” she continued, eyes trembling and her voice almost a whisper “Those men are the same that attacked the Shadow’s warehouse three months ago. It was staged. They were working for him”

Jhope’s face remained impassive, but inwardly he seethed with anger at the news. He had always known that his brothers were ambitious, but he never thought they would stoop so low as to betray their own family.

He leaned back on the wall behind him, his mind racing. He knew he had to do something to prevent his brothers from fucking everthing up with whatever scheme they were planning. 

But he also knew that he couldn't do it alone.

"Thank you, Soo-jin," he said finally. "You've done well. I need you to keep an eye on them for me. And if you find anything else, let me know immediately."

Soo-jin nodded, relief washing over her. She had been worried about what Jhopes's reaction would be, but he had always been fair to her, even when she made mistakes.

He stood up, his tall frame towering over her. "You can go now. I’ll take it from here," he said, gesturing for her to go down the stairs.

Jhope's mind was already working on a plan to stop his brothers. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he was determined to protect his family at all costs, even if it meant going up against his own flesh and blood.

Because Jung Hoseok’s specialty was cleaning up his brother’s messes. 

Even if he also had to take care of them.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Of course you had heard everything. 

The second Jhope left you alone in his office you bolted to the door and hid behind it. You already knew Namjoon was up to no good, but now you could link him to the murders of the ten Mob Leaders that were killed last night. You guessed that he did it behind his clan’s back by the way he was acting this morning.  But now you knew for sure that the only biological son of Kim Dohan was conspiring against his father.

And the shadow…

You had to dig deeper into the information about the attack on the main shipping port. Maybe you could use some persuasion techniques. 

Definitely not an excuse. 

You were just doing your job.

After giving several sips to your hot tea, you started to feel the effect of the drugs wear off. Looking at the pictures Jhope had scattered around his walls, you realized that most were from places where the most powerful clans, mafias and cartels reside.

Also some pictures with gang leaders you helped take down. 

Well, fuck.

“I look pretty handsome in that one. Right, princess?” You were so startled by his voice that you almost dropped your cup. 

“I- I got bored waiting for you” you said begging internally that he would believe you. He gave you a cheeky grin “I’m sorry, it took longer than expected. Are you feeling better? Do you want to continue the story?”

You nodded as you both walked again to the couch “Hobi, how did you end up in the clan? I mean, I know Namjoon and Jin were born into it. But what about you, did you always belong here?” 

“Uhmm you can say yes and no, princess” Jhope pursed his lips in a thoughtful gesture before continuing to answer “My family was involved for many years in the trafficking and smuggling of goods. Not at these levels, of course. But let's just say they were trading partners of the clan.”

“To make a long story short, my parents were caught by the police. My dad was convicted and my mom ran away, I haven't heard from her in many years” the man's gaze saddened and you let him continue. You couldn't help but feel a little bad to hear his story. 

You remember that from his file.

A father in prison.

A mother in exile.

And a sister who had left him more than 10 years ago.

Leaving him alone in the middle of their mess.

“I was left alone at a quite young age. For the 15 year old Jung Hoseok the best answer to that was drugs and dropping out of school. It wasn't easy, let me tell you” he let out a dark chuckle “I had to be pretty creative to get something to get high on the streets of Gwangju” 

He looked out of the office window deep in his own thoughts “Eventually that creativity led me to the Leader, our father. He offered me a roof over my head and free dope if I joined his clan. But the only condition was that I had to finish High School” Jhope laughed but his smile never reached his eyes.

“I was more than enthusiastic about the free drugs and not long after I discovered that I had a talent inherited from my parents for, you know, scamming. That made me a useful man to our father. The feeling that I belonged to something made me stay clean..... well, almost” Now he was silent, looking a little lost in his own memories.

“That's why I chose that code name, Jhope. Hope. Of never returning to my past self.” He said with a sad sigh.

15 years old. Too young to be an addict, you thought.

“Tell me about Russia” you asked trying to lighten the mood a bit  “Do you have friends there?”

“We mobsters don't have friends, Princess Nari. Only associates, acquaintances and enemies” Jhope again went back to his usual smile “But yes, in Russia I met someone some years ago. I convinced her to stay away from this world... ironic, isn't it? But for some reason, in the time I was with her I didn't feel so lonely”

The hell?!

He was talking about Anya. You were sure of it.

Does he know she works for Interpol?

Does he know you work for Interpol?

You could feel your heart racing and this time you were sure it wasn't from the effect of any drugs.  The image of the young woman in the store came to your mind. Jhope and Garam were too much alike, they had the same mannerisms when they spoke. The possibility that they were siblings perhaps seemed crazy, but to an agent's brain it made all the sense in the world.

It has to be...

“Hobi, do you have any other blood relatives? Like, you know, a sister?”

“What?” The man's expression turned completely dark in a second “Who. The fuck. Told you. About my sister?” he uttered every word approaching you, no longer looking like the friendly person he always was.

Maybe this was his true face.

But before you could even think about what she could answer him a clansman rushed into the office. “Boss! The dragon! The- they sent something again. I am very sorry to interrupt, but you need to see this” the young man's face was one of complete terror, as if he had seen the devil himself.

“The Dragon '' You furrowed your eyebrows at the name, remembering what you’ve read about the clan wars 20 years ago. But the report said that the whole Jade Dragon Clan was wiped clean by Kim Dohan. 

You thought that there were no survivors.

But you were wrong.

Very wrong.

“Stay here,Princess. Please.” He stood up quickly and rushed out of the door. Obviously, you were not going to stay there. You wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

It didn’t take a second to reject that you didn’t listen to Jhope.

You  failed to stop a scream of terror as you peeked over the railing of the stairs. Inside one of the containers were at least 30 completely mutilated and decomposed corpses stacked on top of each other.

Looking at them, it was hard to believe they were ever human.

And above of them a dragon's head made of solid gold, biting into a round piece of Jade. Watching you on top of that mountain of death. Hanging from the bodies was a message of victory, which seemed to have been written in blood:

This is how the devil pays for your loyalty.

That is when you realized that all of the corpses had the tattoo of the seven Moons on their necks.

They were clansmen.

And The Devil.

The note was referring to Kim Dohan making it clear that he had betrayed his own men.

That is how the Devil pays for his loyalty.

These were the men Namjoon had ordered to kill three days before.

The ones Suga was sent to disappear.

And you had a bad feeling that if you didn't find out what had happened there....

You would soon join them.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Hello,

I tought a lot about publishing this chapter today or not. First I have to confess that i did not plan that Hobi's special chapter would drop the day of his enlistment.

But today has been a very weird/sad day and I needed to just change this feelings into something productive. So I finished translating/adapting this chapter.

Hate! Hobi is one of my ultimate fav characters, we love a dual king.

And for real life Hobi, we will miss you 💗

I hope everyone is doing well, I'll send you all a virtual hug.

Thank you so much for reading this story, it really means a lot to me.

Love,

Ria 🌙

Tag List @drunkzseok @allamericanuniverse

If you want to join the tag list. You can coment this post or send me an ask!

[kanmom51]

Jikook Birthdays

JM’s tweets for JK’s birthday over the years

Jungkook birthday 2015

JK 2015 Vlive

JK birthday Vlive - the 50 Tshirt gift

Jungkook birthday 2018

JM clip uploaded on JK’s birthday 2018 - was there a kiss?

Jungkook birthday 2019

JM flying back for JK’s birthday 2019 - his Saudi Vlive

Jimin flying to see JK on his birthday 2019

JK birthday 2019

Jungkook birthday 2020

Jikook being together at 4 am - what makes it more

Jungkook birthday 2021

Jikook selfie for JK’s 2021 birthday

JM’s birthday tweets for JK

JM’s Jikook selfie for JKs 2021 birthday

Spot the differences

Jimin birthday 2021

JK birthday posts for JM

Hobi spilling the beans

No translation needed, but if it is, JK’s not a kangaroo, lol

Another no translation needed, but just in case we shared it, lol

JM when telling us JK is on his way

JM’s phone call to JK

JK recommending JM’s mom’s cooking

I think JM is happy

K-army adding fuel to the Jikook fire (reblog)

Vlive decorations and the use of JM

6 years apart and yet

Jikook on camera in a nutshell (reblog)

Again Jimin is happy

They just have to hold hands, don’t they?

JM is genuine

Jimin is human

Was JM hinting to JK “don’t order food babe we have dinner plans”?

Was JK joining JM for dinner with his parents?

The birthday cake

JM’s birthday Vlive 2021 one more time

Jungkook birthday 2022

JM on Weverse 31 August 22

JK day 2022 the flower photo

JK birthday Vlive

JM did post for JK’s birthday

The Jin-JK skit, cause why not?

JK and JM’s posts on Weverse

About JK’s birthday Vlive but also not

Jimin birthday 2022

Jungkook’s Weverse posts

Just saying

It’s the angel’s birthday

Jjyaman still wearing the necklace

Jjyaman Jaekay and daisies

Is that JK I’m hearing?

Irony: A little fandom lesson

Happy birthday Jjyaman

JK’s mom made seaweed soup for JM’s birthday

JK’s mom and the seaweed soup

Jungkook birthday 2023

Happy birthday JK

Ahm... Happy birthday JK

Yes, JM posted this for JK's birthday

JK CK photo drop for JK's birthday

So, I couldn't not post this, right?

JK birthday pics

JM live 1 September 2023 20:54 or 8:54 pm KST - part 1

JM live 1 September 2023 20:54 or 8:54 pm KST - part 2

Jikook on JK's birthday - reblog

Top 5 Jikook moments for 2023

[evillemons]

hiii who do you think is most likely to enjoy / engage / initiate make up sex after an argument? in my head i see some members getting in such a bad mood that they wouldn’t even want to touch their partner, but not so much for others. would love to know what u think✨

Oooo what a sexy prompt! I had a pretty immediate idea of which members would be on the top and bottom of the list. I'm curious if you have opposing thoughts though, I'd love to hear them! (also these pictures are SO big I'm sorry)

Which BTS members would be most likely to initiate makeup sex

*NSFW content*

1. V

KING of makeup sex. In fact, arguments turn him on so much that he would purposefully push his girlfriend's buttons so that he could "make it up to her" immediately afterwards. It would be passionate, aggressive, angry, hot and heavy, but Tae is a little bit of a masochist in bed so that's exactly how he likes it. He would probably get hard in the middle of her yelling at him and then push her against the wall to kiss her mid-sentence.

2. Jin

Surprisingly high on the list, I imagine Jin wanting to initiate makeup sex after arguing with his girlfriend as a form of an apology. Unlike Tae though, he hates relationship conflict and seeing her get upset or angry, so sex would be a way of showing her that he loves and cares for her, despite whatever they were arguing about. It would probably happen a few hours later or the next day rather than immediately proceeding the argument, and it would be gentle, giving, and affectionate.

3. Jungkook

Kind of a hybrid of Tae and Jin - he loves the passion and aggression of makeup sex, but he would also feel so bad for hurting her feelings that he would feel the need to earn her forgiveness. He would be SO good at, too, desperately trying to please her and give her what she wants. However, if it's a really bad argument over a major issue, he would rather distance himself for a few days to mull over his thoughts instead.

4. Jimin

Makeup sex with Jimin would be more romantic and emotional rather than hot and sexy. It would have to be completely mutual though, if one person initiates while the other is even a tiny bit hesitant, it would feel awkward and ingenuine. And it's not that Jimin isn't capable of more aggressive sex, but I think he would prefer the feeling of being emotionally close to his girlfriend again after an argument.

5. j-hope

It's not that Hobi wouldn't enjoy engaging in makeup sex, but he probably wouldn't be the one to initiate it. He's extremely mature in relationships, and I think he would rather talk everything through thoroughly and make sure he is in a healthy headspace first. I don't think he would turn it down if it's what his girlfriend need to feel better and closer to him again, though.

6. RM

Despite being the horny boy Joon is, sex is a mental and emotional act for him, so it's unlikely that he would be interested in being intimate after an argument. In fact, he would probably need to spend a week ruminating alone before he's ready to make up with his girlfriend. If it's a silly argument and he's already in the mood, there might be a rare occasion where he engages in it for the experience.

7. SUGA

Absolutely not. Although Yoongi is generally nonchalant when it comes to sex (as in he'll give it to his partner whenever they want), he would find it inappropriate if his girlfriend tried to jump on him following an argument, much less initiate it. Like Joon, there is a mental component to sex for him, and he would rather reflect alone and solve the issue before he's able to get close with her again.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi, I know you're resting now, I wanted to share my opinion about the album. I noticed that there are five tracks in Face and they are so similar to the 5 stages of acceptance. What do you think about it? Perhaps my question is incoherent, I am writing it through a google translate.

*

Ask 2: FACCE IS SAURRR GOOODD!! 😭😭😭 WHEN IS THE REVIEW BPP?

*

Ask 3: Which remix is your fav?? I think beans and toast won this won

*

Ask 4: Bpp Imma need to go to SK and hold Jm hostage…I need him to make more music…Im going crazy Hes not my bias or my bias wrecker but hes wrecked me…I cant believe that he made my soty my aoty…I just wish the album had more songs…Like crazy is crazy good!!!!

*

Ask 5: BPP, hi!

I was hoping JM would show us a bit of his true self in his new album. And did he, huh? That MV and song reeks of homosexuality. I know it's simething ARMYs do not talk about. But... What do you think?

*

Ask 6: So did Jimin really end kpop for you BPP? Which song is you’re favourite? ☺️ He’s blown my mind at least. It’s Instant AOTY for me!!!!!! I hope Like Crazy is promoted really harf because I think it has really good potential It’s my favorite in the album ☺️

***

Hi Anon(s),

Before we get into it...

...I have a bone to pick with Jimin.

I don’t understand what Jimin thinks he’s doing not putting Letter on Apple Music or Spotify. Like, why does he think that’s a good idea? Does anybody know? This song is so perfect - Jimin's lush vocals harmonizing with Jung Kook's is beautiful - Letter needs to be available on as many platforms as possible. See, these are the kind of choices the tannies make that just causes me to laugh because yeah these hidden songs are 'gifts to fans' but it's also a crime against all that is good and honest in this world to keep it off channels those fans will gladly pay for? The fact Ddaeng is still stuck in Soundcloud purgatory is reason enough to kidnap Bang PD's nephew and sell him to the mafia, far as I'm concerned. The only reasons I haven't done it yet because kidnapping is illegal in my country, the Cosa Nostra require a blood oath, and Jin wouldn't like delays to his game update.

Letter is Promise all grown up, a little wiser and more developed, and I hope in every subsequent album Jimin releases for the rest of his career, that there is a version of Promise, a song that feels like Jimin - comforting, easy, warm, simple, and beautiful. Listening to it I'm so thankful Jimin exists. (Yes Jimin, I'm that fan who is simply happy you're alive - Pixid reference, so for anyone who hasn't watched it yet I've linked it here).

*

FACE is a solid 8.1 / 10.

(Are you streaming?)

It's a great thing Jimin has been so forthcoming in talking about the process and his reasons for making the album, the songs on it, as well as how he had key input on the choreography. I strongly suggest everyone watch his live (linked here - I should probably also mention the English subs aren't up yet, just FYI). Jimin has been very clear about what he's communicating in FACE so I won't tarry on it.

My favourite songs in order of least to most:

5) Like Crazy

4) Face Off

3) Letter

2) Alone

1) Set Me Free Pt 2

Something about each song in reverse order with the exception of Letter - for Letter, see mafia case above.

Set Me Free Pt 2

This is the best song on the album.

Alone

There are two reasons why SMF Pt 2 comes out on top over Alone though Alone in many ways is the superior song. (1) The production (including the use of autotune) in SMF Pt 2 is incredible, and (2) because Alone ends on too disturbing a note for me to dwell on, knowing that it has come from Jimin.

Everything about Alone is perfect. The way the song begins with piano, then guitar, and then drums. Jimin’s voice. That man’s voice seriously fucks with my head. It’s the way I feel every time Yoongi twitches his voice when he’s being particularly nasty. Or anytime I hear Joon’s adlibs in a song. Or what happens in my head every time Hoseok slathers his vocal inflections with grit. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but what I mean to say is that Jimin’s voice during the entire song feels like a gift. It draws you in. And then you hear what he’s singing about...

It’s heartbreaking.

I can’t abide the thought that this is something Jimin went through recently, and that I relate in a very personal way. The emotions expressed in Alone feel too raw, too scary, and too real, and while that could point to a worrying state of mind in its author, I think Jimin’s idiosyncratic bluntness and clarity of speech in Alone shows the state of someone who still reflects often, is self-aware and also resilient.

Still, it’s a sad song to hear, an even sadder one to sing, but it is one of the most powerful and beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

(He's a problem)

*

Face Off

I appreciate the vision Jimin had for this song. Starting with the gag of him playing the Flea Waltz in the intro - the song the members have teased Jimin with repeatedly by saying it's the only song Jimin knows how to play on the piano - Jimin used that common (good-natured) taunt and then weaponized it in a song putting those who have crossed him in their place. It's clear by the second verse when Jimin raps that he's pushing himself to express what he means in as many ways as possible. He's challenging himself and sending a message, and that I can respect.

Anon in ask 1 who talked about the album showing the five stages of grief, I agree sort of. If we were to assign a response to each song, I'd say...

Face Off is Anger

Like Crazy - Denial (though bargaining works too)

Alone - Depression

Letter - Acceptance

(PJM2 will be madness)

*

Like Crazy

This is my least favourite song on the album because it never really develops, but it's also not supposed to. Jimin has said he wanted to express a dreamlike state in Like Crazy, and he does that impeccably well. The song leans into its 80s groove, heavy padded synths, something reminiscent of if Foster The People and The Weeknd made a song together. The thing about dreamlike states is that they lull your mind, and one easy way to create that effect is repetition and monotony. Think about why someone trying to hypnotize someone else tries to keep their voice steady, calm, and monotone. So, many times listening to Like Crazy I wanted the song to go somewhere, to become fuller or less predictable, but that would kill the trance so it didn't. While it's not my preference, I can appreciate Jimin's commitment to the idea of the song.

It's a great track even then. I sometimes listen to it right after Big Man, Little Dignity by Paramore.

Speaking of Like Crazy, there's been much ado about about Jimin's sexuality, queer-coding, etc in the song and so Anon in ask 5, I see where you're coming from.

Jimin is queer. I don't know what else there is to say about it or why even the mere possibility of Jimin being queer should generate the amount of fuss/discourse it does. It's possible I'm wrong of course, but like you Anon I don't think I saw Jimin even stand straight once during the entire MV. There’s not a single straight thing about this guy.

For the sticklers, perhaps the more diplomatic way of saying it is, 'many of us strongly suspect Jimin is queer.'

(What a stunner)

*

Jimin seems very pleased with his first album and this is my favourite thing about the last few weeks. Watching him for the last nine years, it's gratifying to see how he has fully embraced himself, his limitations, his pride, his vices, his virtues... Jimin is a strong tenacious person and in making this album, he turned that intensity inwards, towards learning to love himself. The result is five great tracks, and I'm eager to see what more he will show us in the future.

[themiddleofwonderland]

My favorite k-pop videos

This list is likely to change depending on what day I'm posting it, but I just rewatched #1 on this list three times in a row and felt like making a list.

1. It's You - ATEEZ (Yeosang, San, Wooyoung) - this video makes me absolutely feral. The song was already my favorite on the album and then they went and released this?!?! It's so hot?! So Sexy!?!! I have an irrational fear that KQ will take it away because it's too perfect and sexy and wonderful and we don't deserve it. I was a Wooyoung/Seonghwa bias beforehand but now it's a four-way tie because holy shit have you seen them???

2. BTBT - B.I (Performance Ver.) - This was the first non-BTS video I became obsessed with, again after falling in love with the song and overplaying it (it was my top-played song of 2022). The dance is amazing, the way they flow, and it's such a simple video (the official video has cool cyberpunk vibes) but it works. This is the only video I've ever watched derivative videos for (dance covers, reactions) because I just can't get enough of it. (gif from the official vid bc the performance vid is criminally under-giffed)

3. Black Swan - BTS - Again, another one where the song got me first. The aesthetic of this video is just so good. I mean, the corsets speak for themselves, but I love how Jimin's amazing dancing gets such a highlight, the backdrops for Yoongi's meaningful verse, how good they all look. The dancing is great, the setting is beautiful, I can rewatch this ten times in a row and still want to watch it again.

4. Move - Taemin - Soooo good. Taemin is considered one of the best dancers in k-pop and he is showing you exactly why in this video. I love him embracing his androgyny here, with the more feminine dance moves and outfit silhouettes. The song is one of my favorites of all time and the video does it complete justice.

5. Rover - Kai - Hot hot hot. Kai. Shirtless. Blond. Those sunglasses?! I didn't like the dance much at first but it has really grown on me over time. Also, apparently this song is a cover/remake?

6. Super - Seventeen - You know, I can't figure out why I love this video so much. Like it's super basic as a concept - just all of them and a whole heap of dancers in one scene. But it works. As soon as they revealed Woozi being held up like he's on a throne with his little smirk, I knew I was done. The dance is so fun and I never get tired of watching this one.

7. Daechwita - Agust D - It's hard to decide between this and Haegeum, but this is the one that starts the story and my Agust D obsession, so obviously I had to choose it. I love the concept and how he lays out the Agust D story in just one mv. Royal Gangster Yoongi is just hnnng. I love the power here.

8. God's Menu - Stray Kids - This one is just super fun. I love all the different outfits - and like, Han in the chef's outfit is top-tier Han, he looks so hot.

9. Shalala - Taeyong - This is one of the most fun music videos I've ever seen. I love all of the different versions of Taeyong and he's the only idol I've seen pull off that shade of lime-green hair. The macarena dance should not work at all and yet it does.

10. Hip - Mamamoo - They slaaayyy in this video. I'm so obsessed with Queen Hwasa literally spitting on her haters. Moonbyul is amazing as always, I love how they have her in various roles that are typically male "anything you can do, I can do better" vibes. Also I really want to dye my hair the same shade as Whee-In's in this video.

11. Don't Call Me - Shinee - I call this the 'weird hat video'. Their hats are ridiculous. And you can tell Minho is really feeling it, just look at the gif. I love it.