Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Don’t move.”

The voice is soft in Jungkook’s ear, and though he had no intention of moving, the commanding tone rendered him motionless and eager to do whatever it said.

He’s in a dark room—his bedroom, he can feel the expensive Egyptian cotton sheets soft on his skin that Taehyung and Hoseok make fun of but they’re a fucking investment and the best money he ever spent—and can’t really tell who the warm, heavy weight straddling his hips is but his body sings with excitement. He’s been wanting this for a long time.

“Good boy,” the voice murmurs, and it becomes clearer, familiar.

Jungkook whimpers and instinctively bucks his hips, gasping when the tip of his cock slides between something slick, tight, and hot. He ruts against it, the head of his cock brushing their entrance and sending Jungkook’s head spiraling.

He tries to move this time, to keep chasing after it, but his hands are tied down and his hips are pinned in place by a pair of long, powerful thighs. The man on top of him shifts, moving away from Jungkook’s cock and stealing away the delicious sensation. A shiver courses down Jungkook’s spine at the loss and he throbs with need.

“Don’t move, JK.”

JK . Only one person calls him by that nickname, one nickname among others that are far more irritating (“Jungkook-ah, you’re not supposed to sleep on the job.” “Oongu-ah, you can close up for hyung, can’t you? I’m leaving first!” “You’re late again, Jungkook-ssi!” “JK, what happened, I thought you were good at this game?”), and the one person on the planet that seemed specifically designed to drive Jungkook insane. And not in a good way.

Why the fuck is Kim Seokjin on top of him, and why is Jungkook so eager to fuck him?

“Jin-hyung,” Jungkook moans, needy and desperate and completely the opposite of what he means to sound like.

Seokjin sits up. “Jin-hyung what?” He rubs his ass against Jungkook, teasing him further.

Jungkook chases the friction with short thrusts, eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head. “Fuuuuuuuuck. Jin-hyung, please .”

“Hm. You’re going to have to be specific. Please what, Jungkook-ah?”

Goddamn he’s irritating. Jungkook tries the bonds on his wrists. They’re gone. He grabs Seokjin’s hip with one hand and wraps a hand around himself with the other, guiding the hard length to Seokjin’s entrance. He wants nothing more than to bury himself deep and show Seokjin just how much he wants him.

Seokjin hisses above him and reaches over to pinch Jungkook’s nipples. “You need to tell me what you want.”

Shit. How does Jin-hyung know I like that? Jungkook doesn’t know how it’s possible but he gets more turned on in response to the touch.

He keeps teasing Seokjin, unwilling to be the only one suffering. “Can I?” Jungkook gulps, suddenly bashful about voicing his wants out loud. He’s never talked to Seokjin like this. “Can I fuck you, hyung?”

“Only if you promise to make it good, JK. Can you do that for me?” Seokjin raises himself and bats Jungkook's hand away, stroking his length languidly a few times before sinking over the tip. Jungkook groans helplessly. “I know you will do a good job. You’re always the best to hyung, Jungkook-ah.”

You’re always the best to hyung, Jungkook-ah . Seokjin said this to him when Jungkook offered to cover his shift so Seokjin could study for an exam. The words elicited a blush back then and Jungkook can feel himself flushing right now.

“I promise,” Jungkook breathes, grabbing fistfuls of Seokjin’s ass to ease the glide as he rolls his hips up. Fuck, that ass is something else and feels amazing in his hands, just like he knew it would be. Seokjin is irritating as hell but there was no denying he is also insanely hot.

Jungkook recalls when he walked into the employee break room last week to find Seokjin changing out of his usual uniform of a baggy hoodie into a dress shirt for a late-night play rehearsal after work. Seokjin was all long lines, lean muscle, supple skin, and shaped like a goddamn hourglass. Jungkook’s eyes greedily lingered on the rippling of the muscles in his back as he moved before snapping himself out of it and berating Seokjin for acting like the break room was his personal closet. 

That was also the first night Jungkook dreamt of him, though in that one Seokjin held him up against the door of the breakroom to keep anyone from walking in on them. He was wearing the blue pinstriped dress shirt, open and brushing against Jungkook’s sensitive skin with each stroke inside of him. Jungkook held onto him for dear life, gently biting into those stupidly broad shoulders of his to keep from moaning out loud.

He’s brought back to the present moment and the room is a little less dark, Seokjin’s face still obscured by shadows but Jungkook can trace the smirk on his face. Jungkook bites down on his lip to keep down the irritation that flares up even though his body seems to revel in it as Seokjin begins to move over him, slow and deep and driving Jungkook absolutely mad.

Seokjin was always immaculately composed and that little smirk always came out when he knew he was succeeding in riling up Jungkook.

But Jungkook has the upper hand now—literally. He slides his hands up the curve of Seokjin’s ass to circle them around his waist, digging the pads of his fingers into the silky flesh, gaining the incredible view of Seokjin with his head thrown back and mouth hanging open as Jungkook takes over the pace and fucks up into him with hard, pointed rolls of his hips.

“You’re so good,” Seokjin gasps. “You’re always the best.”

They’re things Seokjin regularly says to Jungkook, always praising him when he does bare minimum things like sweeping or setting up new software on the computers at work. It’s annoying sometimes because he’s just doing his job, why is Seokjin always so impressed?

In this context, though, they send Jungkook dangerously close to the edge.

“Are you close, hyung?” Jungkook asks, eyes glued to his face. He has to make it good for him. He only gets this one chance to make a good impression and damn it, he wants to give Seokjin the fucking of his life.

“Jungkook-ah,” Seokjin says, his voice coming out odd and hushed. “Jungkook-ah!”

He must be close. Jungkook starts reaching for Seokjin’s cock.

“Jungkook-ah!”

The vision of Seokjin above him dissolves to nothing and Jungkook becomes aware of his body heavy under the covers of his bed and his dick throbbing painfully in his pants.

And someone is shaking him awake. Jungkook peels open one eye and starts when he finds his roommate Taehyung hovering close to his face.

“Ahh!” Jungkook shoves him away and sits up, gathering the covers over his lap to hide his situation. “What do you want, hyung?”

Taehyung crawls back over to his side and starts shaking his arm again. “I can’t find the cereal. Do you know where it is?”

Jungkook flops back on the bed and groans. “You woke me up just to ask me that?”

“Hoseokie-hyung is in the shower,” Taehyung replies, pouting. “I really can’t find it! I have class in thirty minutes, please help me!”

Jungkook rolls over on his side away from him, sneaking a hand down his sweatpants to adjust himself. Why did he agree to live with roommates, especially roommates with no boundaries like Taehyung and Hoseok? 

Taehyung climbs over him and throws an arm and leg around him. “It’ll take you two minutes! I’ll buy you whatever you want for dinner!”

Except Jungkook needs two minutes before he can safely get out of bed. “Did you check the pantry? It should be on the top shelf.”

“Jungkook-aaaaah,” Taehyung complains, nuzzling into his hair.

“Okay, okay,” Jungkook says through gritted teeth. “I’ll be right there. Get a bowl for me too, please.”

He has to drown the embarrassment of having a wet dream about his fucking coworker and being woken up in the middle of it by his roommate in something.

“You won’t go back to sleep?” Taehyung asks, still not moving.

“How can I go back to sleep when you’re crushing me to death?”

He also doesn’t want to. What if he starts dreaming about Seokjin again? He shudders at the thought.

Taehyung reaches over and pinches one of Jungkook’s nipples, making Jungkook gasp and his still-hard dick twitches involuntarily. “You better not!”

Jungkook grimaces. Oh fuck why this why now what did I do to deserve this...

“Go away, hyung!” Jungkook pushes him away and buries his face in his pillow, wishing it would strangle him to death. 

Taehyung rolls off of him and dashes out of the room with a cackle. “I’ll be back if you’re not out here in two minutes!”

Jungkook stays face-down on his pillow until he hears the door shut and Taehyung’s footsteps disappear down the hallway. He then flops onto his back again and stares up at the ceiling and places a hand over his racing heart, still stupidly aroused and angry with himself.

The image of Seokjin riding him pokes at the forefront of his thoughts. Where did that even come from?

Jungkook then remembers how Seokjin looked down at him the other day while he was under one of the computer stations untangling computer cables. 

“Wow, Jungkook-ssi, you’re so good with your hands,” Seokjin said, squatting down over him. Literally over him, legs spread apart over one of Jungkook’s thighs.

The light of the computer screen at the next station caught a dark glint in Seokjin’s eye.

“Jin-ssi, don’t you have food orders to take out?” Jungkook replied, trying not to sound flustered. Seriously, this hyung was way too comfortable around him.

When Jungkook makes his way into the kitchen a minute later, Taehyung is waiting at their small kitchen table, spoon in hand and one of their largest mixing bowls in front of him.

“Took you long enough! Hurry, I only have five minutes to eat,” Taehyung says, waving his arm around. “Did you really need a minute to get out of bed?”

“Yes,” Jungkook answers without hesitation as he heads for the pantry.

Jungkook used that minute to 1) think about the most disgusting things to get rid of his boner, like dirty laundry or accidentally chugging paint water, and 2) to slap some sense back into himself. He’s feeling a lot better but his heart still beats rapidly against his ribcage, his thoughts two seconds away from chasing the dream again. 

Some cereal will definitely help. Food never betrays him.

Jungkook eyes the enormous tie-dyed mixing bowl in front of Taehyung as he passes. “Hyung, that is not a bowl for cereal.”

“There is no rule saying that I can’t eat my cereal in this.”

Jungkook grabs the cereal box from the top shelf in the pantry, where it always is, and turns back to the kitchen table. He scowls at Taehyung. “And where’s my bowl?”

“Oops, I forgot,” Taehyung replies without a shred of remorse. He holds out his hand for the cereal box. “Gimme.”

Jungkook turns away to grab a bowl and spoon for himself. He takes out the largest mixing bowl they have and starts pouring himself a generous portion of Frosted Flakes at the counter.

“Hey, what about me?!” Taehyung exclaims, going over to his side to snatch the box out of his hands.

Jungkook is a lot stronger than Taehyung. He simply shoves him away. “There is no rule saying that I can’t eat first.”

Taehyung tries to fight him back but Jungkook keeps him at an arm’s length with a hand on his chest. “You brat! Don’t eat it all, we’re a family of three!”

“I’m a family of me . And you woke me up for this!” Jungkook grumbles as he finishes dumping the cereal in the bowl.

Taehyung takes the box out of his hands with a deep pout.  “I can’t help that I’m helpless!” He drags his feet over to the table and drops down in his chair, turning the box of cereal on its head and dumping the remaining contents into his bowl. “Besides, it’s almost nine. Don’t you have shit to do today?”

Jungkook grabs the milk from the fridge and carries his bowl over to the table to sit across from him. “I’m probably just gonna go to the gym and spend some time at the studio before I work tonight.”

Taehyung regards him distastefully. “God you’re boring.”

Jungkook pours milk into his bowl and passes the gallon to Taehyung. “I’m not boring! I’m busy.”

Though Taehyung wasn’t far off the mark. Jungkook is in his second year of college and instead of being the social butterfly he always thought he would be, he's stuck in his routine of working out, going to school, and his shitty part-time job at a PC cafe. No wonder his subconscious was running wild with stupid coworker fantasies.

Taehyung makes a face. “No. You need to go out and get laid.”

It’s like Taehyung knows what he’s thinking. Jungkook sulks over his cereal. “I do.”

He hasn’t been with anyone since the start of the semester, but looking back on it makes him shudder and has turned him off from random hookups. At the art department’s pre-semester social, alcohol flowed freely and the hot art history major he hooked up with in a bathroom stall ended in a horrific hangover and, without his soju goggles, the hot art history major was just history. He avoided the art history wing as much as possible now for fear of running into them.

“Didn’t you say you were hitting it off with one of your coworkers?” Taehyung asks, milk dribbling over his chin as he chews. Jungkook, in the middle of shoveling cereal in his mouth before it gets soggy, accidentally inhales most of what’s in his mouth and begins choking. “What was his name? Jimin?”

Jungkook pounds a fist against his chest, coughing and gasping for air. Taehyung watches him unblinkingly from the other end of the table and makes no move to help him. Well now Jungkook knows his only hope for survival in a crisis is Hoseok if he is miraculously around. He picks up his bowl of cereal and takes a long draught of milk. 

That was fucking close. Thank god he didn’t say Jin-hyung.

“Jimin is really nice,” Jungkook answers once he’s recovered, voice hoarse, “but first of all, he’s not single, and second of all, he’s shorter than me. Not my type.” He emphasizes this last point with a definitive slice of his hand.

Jin-hyung is my height. Or is he taller than me? Definitely not shorter. What if he’s shorter?

Jungkook internally punches the thoughts away. 

Taehyung shakes his head and clucks his tongue. “You’re never going to get anywhere being that picky. So what if he’s taken and short? Maybe his partner is everything you’ve dreamed of. There is no rule saying that you can’t join someone else’s relationship.”

Jungkook grimaces. “In that case, why don’t you just let me join your relationship? I like you and Hobi-hyung the best and we already live together. We can go from being a platonic polycule to a polyamorous polycule.” He doesn’t add that they’re basically there already.

“I would love that,” Taehyung says, pointing his spoon at him.

Hoseok strides into the kitchen then, glowing golden with his all-yellow outfit and blonde-streaked hair. Jungkook squints at him. It’s too early and he’s blinded by Hoseok’s sunny aura. 

“I would not love that,” Hoseok says, going over to Taehyung’s side and kissing Taehyung’s chin. “I’m not sharing Taehyungie with anybody. Not even you, Jungkook-ah, the second person I love the most in the world.”

Taehyung pouts up at Hoseok. “But babe, I’m thinking of you! You’ve seen him naked. Imagine what he could do to you.”

“Wait,” Jungkook exclaims shrilly, half standing up in his seat, “when did you see me naked?!”

“You don’t lock the bathroom door, Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung answers without looking away from Hoseok’s eyes. “Babe.”

“But I do lock it?!”

Hoseok’s smile is beaming. “Baby, nothing Jungkookie can do will ever compare to you. He hasn’t even had sex in what? Six months? He’ll just embarrass himself.”

Jungkook is muttering to himself about changing the locks when he catches what Hoseok just said. “What the hell—hyung?!” He remembers to tack on honorifics when Hoseok levels a look at him.

Taehyung blushes deep pink and giggles. “Aw, babe, you’re too sweet. And you’re totally right.”

“I’m leaving,” Jungkook grumbles, his appetite lost now that he’s been rudely awakened, properly insulted, and about to be subjected to his roommates’ public displays of affection. “I hate it here.”

“Jungkook-ah, we still love you!” Taehyung calls after him.

Jungkook goes back to his bedroom and softly shuts the door. His blackout curtains are still drawn shut, the room dark just like in his dream earlier. His eyes seek the bed and his thoughts automatically begin drawing up the scene that was playing in his head before he stops and shakes himself off. He will not be going back there.

He gets ready for the day instead, throwing on a loose black t-shirt and gray sweatpants to wear to the gym and packing a ratty long-sleeved white t-shirt and faded black cargo pants for the studio later that he won’t mind getting paint on. He goes over to his bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face and stops to observe himself in the mirror to decide what to do with his hair.

His hair is getting long and falling into his face a lot. The red dye at the ends, once a deep and vibrant shade of ruby, has faded to a burnished copper and his natural black hair has grown out so much it looks like he dyed the very ends on purpose. He runs his fingers through his hair and pinches a few strands between his index finger and thumb, measuring where the red dye ends and the black begins. Finally he might be able to cut it off and not look like a freaking helmet head. 

The only reason he dyed it was because of a pact with Hoseok and Taehyung to dye each other’s hair as a trust-building exercise when they first moved in together at the beginning of the year. Jungkook, still oblivious and trusting of people older than him, went first and got the brunt of his roommates’ combined rampant imaginations and lack of skills to back it up. Jungkook asked for a deep burgundy shade that would not look too far off from his natural hair color and ended up with bright cherry red hair. When he asked his roommates what happened they acted like it was what he wanted all along and refused to let him dye it back. Needless to say, he drew more attention in his second week of classes than he ever has in his life and the trust-building exercise taught him not to trust his roommates for anything.

Jungkook’s hair was cherry red with dark roots when Seokjin started working at the PC cafe. Jungkook recalls that day clearly as if it were yesterday because the first thing he said to Jungkook after exchanging introductions was that only weebs dyed their hair bright colors to look like anime protagonists. If ever Jungkook believed he would have a villain origin story it would have started right then because Seokjin’s obviously natural and totally normal hair color when they met was fucking violet . Who was trying to be the anime protagonist, exactly?

Jungkook grabs a hair tie from the medicine cabinet and gathers his hair in a ponytail at the back of his head. Six months had passed since then and he still occasionally gets comments from Seokjin about his hair. Seokjin himself kept the purple hair for a month before switching to blonde and then pink and he walked into work with black hair a couple of weeks ago. 

As Jungkook makes his way out of the apartment, the first sight of Seokjin with black hair replays vividly in his thoughts.

It was like meeting a complete stranger. Jungkook walked over to the front desk thinking they had a new employee, this one with cropped black hair styled into that trendy comma hairstyle celebrities wore. He made a fool of himself by saying “whoa” out loud like some starstruck idiot, only belatedly realizing it was Jin-hyung , but the worst part was that Seokjin looked twice as flustered and turned tomato red and was unusually quiet that entire shift. Which in turn made Jungkook quiet and awkward that whole shift.

Jungkook shakes off any further thoughts of Seokjin as he gets on the bus. Stupid wet dream. It meant nothing. He didn’t have to obsess with that man during his waking hours too. That’s just creepy.

Except the dull bus ride has him dozing in his seat next to the window and his half-conscious brain starts conjuring up the image of Seokjin riding him again. He slams his hand against the window, both to snap himself out of it and to do something with the pent-up energy inside of him that wants to kick and scream. It takes another second before he remembers he is in public and a quick look tells him he’s startled everyone around him.

He makes an attempt to placate the shock on their faces with a smile. “There was a bug,” he offers awkwardly.

The grandma sitting next to him does not look convinced. She shifts as far away from him as her seat will allow. Jungkook keeps his head down the rest of the bus ride. 

When he gets to the gym he wastes no time and heads straight for the treadmill. He hates cardio with every fiber of his body but it’s the one exercise that empties out his brain entirely and he needs that badly right now. He keeps going until his clothes are soaked through with sweat and sticking to his skin and his lungs are on fire. 

And yet the first thing his brain does when it turns back on is think about stupid Seokjin.

Jungkook goes through his usual workout with more gusto than usual, pushing himself to failure on the bench and the squat rack with the help of some enthusiastic buff bro who then tried asking for his number. Normally, Jungkook would be thrilled that someone with a shared interest wants his phone number, but the first thing to cross his mind is Seokjin’s face, looking annoyed at Jungkook. Jungkook internally berates himself, politely turns down big bear himbo, and decides he needs professional help. 

On his way to campus, Jungkook pulls up his counselor’s calendar and does a small celebratory fist pump when he finds that they have one appointment left right before noon. Therapy was not exactly his favorite thing in the world but his counselor was cool and had an open mind for the most part. He schedules the appointment and his day is suddenly looking a little brighter. 

When he arrives at his counselor’s office, the first thing he hears is a loud crash followed by an even louder curse. Jungkook throws the door open in a panic.

“Aha! There you are, you little bastard!”

Jungkook gasps at the sight before him. The tiny office is, to put it lightly, a goddamn mess. There are papers flying in the air and a mess of them on the floor nearest the outdated walnut desk on one end of the room. 

His counselor, Lee Hyun, is on his knees in the middle of the pile and holds up a manila folder with a triumphant, almost crazed look on his face.

“Uh, hyung?” Jungkook asks carefully, unsure if it’s safe to approach.

Hyun looks over in his direction, glasses sliding down and precariously hanging onto the end of his nose, his floppy hair a wild mess around his head. Jungkook is reminded of Albert Einstein. “Ah, Jungkook-ah, is that you? What are you doing here?”

Jungkook furrows his brows. “I, uh, made an appointment?” He begins backing out of the office slowly. “I’ll come back later.”

“No!” Hyun exclaims, making Jungkook jump back another step. “Come in, come in, Jungkook-ah, have a seat, hyung will be right with you,” he says, waving him in absently as he gets to his feet. “I have been looking for this little bastard of a file for hours! Changmin-ie kept saying that I imagined doing the study, but here it is! Ha! Ha!”

Jungkook carefully picks his way through the mess and primly sits down on the couch across from the desk. “What happened here?”

Hyun drops into his desk chair with a deep sigh. “My life happened! This is what my life looks like right now! Go to grad school, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Don’t worry about the debt, they said.”

Suddenly Jungkook’s problems feel completely unimportant. “I’m sorry?” He doesn’t know what else to say.

“Yes, I’m sorry too.” He drops the manila file on the desk and pushes his glasses up his nose. “So. You were the little bastard that took my last appointment, huh?” 

Jungkook sits up stiffly. “I’m...sorry…?”

Hyun laughs again and shakes his head. “Jungkook-ah, we need to work on your self-esteem. Don’t be sorry! Now what can I do for you? Something bothering you again?”

Jungkook gulps. He is so not ready to talk yet. He decides to buy himself some time. “Can—can we clean up your office first? I can’t think with the mess around here.”

“I see, I see,” Hyun says, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from his desk. “Do you find yourself cleaning obsessively when you’re stressed, Jungkook-ah?”

“What? No, not really,” Jungkook replies, shrugging off his backpack and jacket to bend down and start gathering the papers on the floor. “I mean, sometimes I do, because I live with Kim Taehyung, also known as the most careless person in the world.”

Hyun responds only by scribbling loudly on his paper.

“But when I’m stressed, I usually work out,” Jungkook continues, his mounting anxiety forcing him to keep talking. “I already went to the gym today and it didn’t help. I’m down bad, hyung, I don’t know what to do.”

Hyun hums at his desk. “Well what about something else to relieve stress? Like painting? Or maybe some weed?”

Jungkook snaps his head up to look at him bewilderedly at the second suggestion. “Hyung!” He pauses and drops his head dejectedly as he makes a neat stack of the papers gathered in his hands. “Neither works for me.”

Art was Jungkook’s major and it was already stressful enough to paint for a grade. He could hardly pick up a paintbrush these days without thinking of this or that project that would be of better use to his time.

As for the latter, his roommates invited him to their room to smoke once but all it did was make him eat two pounds of pork belly and his clothes reeked of the fetid scent the rest of the day. He swore off the stuff thereafter for fear of his body fat percentage edging away from its perfect 7.5% and the unpleasant smell clinging to his clothes.

“Well, then, I guess good old talking will have to do for you,” Hyun says, leaning back in his desk chair. “Come, come, leave those papers alone and sit down. Tell hyung all about what’s bothering you.”

Jungkook gets to his feet and places the stack of papers he gathered on the cushion beside him as he sits down on the couch again. He folds his hands on his lap and gnaws on the inside of his cheek as he thinks of how he wants to begin.

“Well, uh—it’s the same thing as last time.”

Hyun hums and nods but looks no more enlightened. “The same thing as last time. Please remind hyung about what that was again.”

Jungkook takes a deep breath. “It’s—it’s the dreams again.” He stops himself and looks away.  “I had another dream about—about my coworker—”

This time he stops at the sound of a drawer being opened. He looks over and finds Hyun taking out a green glass bottle.

Hyun looks at him. “Continue, I’m listening.”

“You’re drinking?” Jungkook asks incredulously.

Hyun produces a shot glass and begins pouring. “No offense, Jungkook-ah, but this ‘problem’ of yours stresses me out.”

Jungkook’s face goes hot. “So you remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Hyun laughs. “I don’t have a single patient that tells me about their wet dreams! You’re the first.”

Jungkook’s face goes even hotter. The window behind Hyun is open to let in the warm summer air and looks out to the grassy lawn in front of the psychology building. For a brief second, Jungkook considers if he can make the jump out the window without breaking his legs.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Jungkook-ah. I just need a little something to take the edge off to listen to you.”

“Isn’t it super illegal to drink on the job?” Jungkook asks, desperate to shift the subject.

“Jungkook-ah. I am an overworked and underpaid grad student. They can kick me out at this point for all I care! I can barely afford this !” Hyun holds up the bottle. “The representative drink of our people!” He puts it back down and sighs deeply with a slow shake of his head before looking at Jungkook. “Do you want one, by the way?”

Jungkook shakes his head. “No thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Hyun raises the shot glass to his lips but stops abruptly to face him again. “Wait. Do you have any problems with school right now?”

Jungkook shakes his head again. “Uh, no, not really.”

“No teachers giving you a hard time or too much work?”

“Always too much work, hyung. But mostly no. No.”

“Just these dreams again, then?”

“Pretty much.”

Hyun nods and then throws back the shot. Jungkook watches him nearly gag it back up and then turn back to him with his hands folded under his chin. “Very well then. Tell hyung all about these dreams. Again.”

Again. 

When Jungkook had the first dream, he was so freaked out that he immediately came to see Hyun, thinking his subconscious was trying to tell him something. 

“You know, I didn’t have to tell you what the dreams were actually about,” Jungkook says with a delicate scowl, recalling how Hyun weaseled out every detail the last time he was here.

Hyun hums and shakes his head. “This is a special privilege between a medical professional and their patient! I need to know everything in order to help you.”

Jungkook would argue that Hyun particularly enjoyed hearing everything for his own benefit, but it was something Jungkook kept to himself out of respect for his pseudo-professional grad student counselor. Hyun did listen to everything Jungkook had to say, though their conversations were mostly about school and trying to get Jungkook to open up to others. It felt natural for Jungkook to bring up whatever was bothering him.

“Besides,” continues Hyun as he moves on to pour another shot of soju, “I already know what is wrong with you now that you are having these dreams about this coworker again.”

Jungkook sits up. “You do?!”

Hyun nods. He has a warm, satisfied smile on his face. “Of course I do! It’s quite simple, really. The simplest thing in the world! You like them, right?”

Jungkook gapes at him. “I—I what now?”

“You like them!” Hyun keeps smiling as he raises the shot in cheers after saying the most batshit insane thing Jungkook has ever heard. 

Jungkook’s heart goes wild in his chest as he thinks of Seokjin, the dumb jokes he’s always making, the nicknames he has for Jungkook, the look on his face when he eats, the squeaky laughter, all echoing in his head and making his heart beat faster.

Me? LIKE JIN-HYUNG?!! 

He scrambles to his feet and tears the shot out of Hyun’s hands before Hyun has a chance to drink it.

“Hey! That’s mi—oh, well, you can have it, I suppose—”

Jungkook throws back the shot and nearly gags it back up. The soju is room temperature and tastes like it’s been sitting in that drawer for years. “This tastes nasty , hyung.”

Hyun, bug-eyed at Jungkook’s action, blinks and then starts laughing. “Is that your first drink ever, Jungkook-ah? You acquire a taste for it as you get older. I highly recommend it for stress. Even just for fun!”

Jungkook levels a sharp look at him as he sets the shot glass back on Hyun’s desk. “I drink! I’m old enough!”

“Well I just wanted to be sure. You know this is all normal, right? You’re only in your second year of college, there are still lots of changes, things to experience—”

“Hyung,” Jungkook interrupts with a shake of his head. “I’m not some greenhorn! I know things!”

Hyun clasps his hands together over his chest. “But do you know your own heart, Jungkook-ah? Listen to what it has to tell you.”

Jungkook scoffs and turns away to grab his backpack. “I appreciate your help, hyung, but you’re wrong this time and I’m leaving.”

Hyun gets up, goes around to Jungkook’s side, and puts an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders. “Oh, come, come, Jungkook-ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. But really now, why else would you be having these explicit dreams of another person if you didn’t like them?”

“It can’t be true!” Jungkook cries, horrified with the thought of his dreams meaning something like that —hot as they admittedly were. He begins wriggling out of Hyun’s hold. “It’s just because I’m around Ji—that person so much. I see him almost every day. And he’s so—so—”

“Just a moment,” Hyun says, holding up a hand. “This person? You see him every day? But your dreams about him began only last week? You didn’t mention that the last time I saw you.”

Jungkook nods. He needs all the shifts he can get at the PC cafe to make his share of the rent. Seokjin worked a lot of the same hours that Jungkook did, since their school schedules seemed to be similar, and were thrown together the most often. If Jungkook actually liked Seokjin— which he doesn’t —shouldn’t the dreams about him have begun sooner?

Hyun motions for Jungkook to sit down again. “I think we need to dig deeper. So this person you work with, has anything changed recently with him?”

“No! Not at all,” Jungkook replies as he sits down.

But that wasn’t entirely true. Seokjin was acting differently lately—before he came into work with the change of hair and that weird thing with the computer cables the other day, he was pensive and quieter than usual. Jungkook was relieved at first since their work shifts together were less chaotic, but as the days began to pass, he noticed Seokjin was growing distant from his old ways but at the same time more attentive to Jungkook.

Hyun grabs Jungkook by the shoulders. “Jungkook-ah, I can tell you’re lying because you’re the most honest person I’ve ever met, so I’m going to spell it out for you. Listen closely.”

Jungkook is too startled to respond and only looks up at him with wide eyes and nods.

“You. Like. Your. Coworker.” 

Hyun says every word succinctly.

Jungkook opens his mouth. “I—“

“No. Let me say it one more time.” Hyun leans closer to him and bores his eyes into his. “YOU. LIKE. YOUR. COWORKER.” He nods as he says each word.

A long second passes.

Jungkook blinks at him. “No I don’t.”

Hyun lets out an ear-shattering screech and crumples to the floor face-down into the carpet.

Jungkook sits up, alarmed. “Hyung? Hyung, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this anymore,” Hyun moans. “I can’t do this anymore.”

The door to the office is thrown open a second later and a tall man with a black mop of hair rushes in. “What happened?!”

Jungkook holds up his hands. “I don’t know! Is he okay?!”

The man drops to his knees next to Hyun and rolls him onto his back. “Hyun-ah. Hyun-ah, what is the matter?”

Hyun moans and lolls his head to the side. “I can’t do it anymore, Changmin-ah. I can’t. I can’t.”

“Shh, there, there,” Changmin says, stroking his hair. “I know, I know.”

Jungkook takes out his phone. “Is he going to be okay? Should I—Should I call for an ambulance?”

Changmin looks up at him and wrinkles his nose while shaking his head lightly. “Go,” he mouths, waving him off with his other hand.

Jungkook backs away slowly until he’s safely out of the office and then sprints out of the building.

“That wasn’t my fault, right?” Jungkook mumbles to himself as he crosses the double doors out into the university courtyard. “He looked stressed. I didn’t help anything by showing up.” He pauses and looks over his shoulder back to the building. “Sorry, Hyunie-hyung.”

He heads in the direction of the arts annex on the north side of campus, keeping to the sidewalk. The grass that shaped most of the courtyard looked spongy and inviting, but Jungkook knew that he would only find a spot under one of the tall, leafy trees and do nothing but think. And he can’t let himself think right now.

The only thing left was to drown it all in work. Luckily, in this case, he has a lot of work to do with finals coming up in the next couple of weeks.

He’s crossing through the arts buildings when he hears someone calling his name from somewhere.

“Jungkook-ah! Jungkook-ah!”

Jungkook looks over his shoulder and spots a sunny yellow figure at the end of the courtyard waving at him. 

He turns around and keeps walking.

“Hey, Jungkook-ah, I know you saw me, wait up!” Hoseok calls.

Jungkook considers sprinting the rest of the way to the arts annex building. Not even the track team can keep up with Jungkook when he’s at full speed.

He’s hoisting his backpack tighter over his shoulders when he hears quick steps behind him and an arm is thrown around his shoulders.

“Ha! Caught you!” Hoseok laughs, pulling Jungkook into his side. “Aigo, is my little Jungkookie mad at me?”

“Get off, hyung, I have to go to the studio!” Jungkook complains, trying to squirm out of his hold. “What do you want?”

Hoseok nuzzles into Jungkook’s hair. “I’m sorry for this morning. I can’t think straight when Taehyungie is involved. You know that I love you, right?”

“Funny way of showing it, hyung,” Jungkook mutters.

“I really do!”

“Okay, you love me, thanks.”

Jungkook is being a brat but he does know that Hoseok loves him. They met during Jungkook’s freshman orientation when Jungkook was completely lost as to where to go and Hoseok took Jungkook under his wing since then. It was because of Hoseok’s kindness that Jungkook hadn’t taken off back home during the first week of college. Hoseok instantly befriended him, held him through several bouts of crying, introduced him to Taehyung, immediately offered up the extra room in his apartment as soon as it became free at the beginning of the year, and even helped Jungkook land his part-time job among a million other kindnesses. He owed Hoseok a lot.

Hoseok, unfazed by Jungkook’s ungraciousness, laughs and kisses Jungkook’s hair. “I’m gonna make it up to you, Jungkook-ah, and I have it all planned out for you. Do you wanna hear about it?”

“Is Taehyung-hyung involved in any of these plans?” Jungkook asks, narrowing his eyes.

Taehyung always has terrible plans and Hoseok is a terrible enabler when it comes to Taehyung.

“No, he isn’t, I did this all myself for you!” Hoseok exclaims, shaking Jungkook’s shoulders. “I have a hoobae who is super hot and has agreed to a blind date with you.”

Jungkook’s first instinct is to make a face at the suggestion. “I dunno, hyung…”

“Oh come on! You won’t meet anyone any other way. Remember when Taehyung and I dragged you to the bar a few weeks ago and you wouldn’t look at anyone?”

Because Jungkook was still a little scarred from his drunken hookup at orientation. He trusted his decisions the least when alcohol was involved. “But still, a blind date?”

“Jungkook-ah,” Hoseok says, a worried little crease on his brow, “all you do these days is go to the studio, work, and home. Pretty soon, you won’t be in school. So what are you going to do, just go to work every day? And the gym?”

Jungkook hadn’t even thought about that. If his only ventures outside of the apartment were just the gym and work, that meant…

He stops in his tracks as a new thought crosses his mind. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Hoseok stares at him in shock. “Wait, seriously?”

Jungkook nods once deliberately. “Yes! I’ll go!”

If it means less time around Seokjin, Jungkook will go on a blind date every week. One of these random people would work out, wouldn’t they? And the dreams would stop. That’s all Jungkook needs.

Hoseok looks rather confused as he laughs. “Well, great! I’ll get you my hoobae’s number when I get out of dance practice later, okay? And you had better not back out!”

He leaves Jungkook’s side with a happy wave as he heads for the dance studios on the other side of campus. Jungkook smiles and waves back until Hoseok is out of view.

Oh, he will not be backing out. Not a chance. Even if a typhoon hits, he will be at whichever random little cafe he and his blind date may end up at even if it’s at the shore in the middle of the storm. 

Jungkook continues his way to the studio feeling a little lighter, the fiasco in Lee Hyun’s office shrinking from his thoughts.

I’ll prove Hyunie-hyung wrong , thinks Jungkook as he sets up his area in the studio he shares with a few other art majors. I am like this because of my dry spell and because I haven’t done anything exciting in a long time. It is the only explanation. Who wouldn’t go a little crazy with the routine I’ve been following?

With this conviction, Jungkook goes over to the racks where he left his final project to dry after a long session the other day. The small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth immediately morphs into a grimace. Why he picked oil as the medium for his final project when it took forever to dry was another decision he looked at with regret. The reason behind his spending so much time in the studio lately was that he had to work in small sections and wait for them to dry before going back to them. It was too late to back out now, though, with just a few more weeks left in the semester, and Jungkook’s professor egging him on to add more detail and asking him to rework several parts.

Jungkook sets the canvas on the easel with a sigh. At least this would take his mind off of everything else. He stands back and observes his painting for a few minutes before sitting down on a stool in front of it, his sketchbook in hand to look at the practice drawing he made of the section he planned on working on today. 

He flips through the pages to find the one he’s looking for and finds himself pausing and smiling every time he spots random little doodles and notes on the corners of the pages.

Stupid Jin-hyung .

Jungkook carried his sketchbook everywhere he went, including work. Seokjin would often flip through it and add his own drawings and write in random comments and words of encouragement when he thought that Jungkook wasn’t looking. It annoyed Jungkook at first but after a while the scribbles made him laugh and smile. Seriously, the doodle Seokjin insisted looked like his dog Jjangu looked like an evil Furby drawn by a two year old. Jungkook will have to tease him about it next time they work together.

Abruptly, Jungkook sits up straighter and shakes his head. Goddamnit Jeon Jungkook, stop thinking about him!

He drops the sketchbook on the floor with a loud thwack , earning startled glances from a couple of other students in the studio. Jungkook pretends he’s not embarrassed as he puts in his earbuds and looks for the most obnoxious playlist on his phone to drown out everything. Once his head is sufficiently swimming in music, he picks up his paintbrush and paint palette and starts mixing his paints for the session with enthusiasm and lets everything that isn’t his canvas fall to the wayside. 

Jungkook is making good progress on his final project when his flow is interrupted by his phone buzzing with a call. He pouts at the interruption and digs the phone out of his pocket, ready to silence it, and realizes he’s about to ignore a phone call from his manager at the PC cafe. His manager never calls him. He knows that Jungkook hates phone calls. Jungkook spots the clock in the top right corner and gasps as he scrambles to swipe on the screen to accept the call.

“Hey, Jeon Jungkook, did you forget you’re scheduled at 4 today?” asks his manager in lieu of a greeting. He sounds annoyed.

And he should be. It’s almost 5.

“N-no!” Jungkook exclaims as he shoots up out of his seat. His back protests with the change of position. Shit, he hasn’t moved in hours . “I’m on my way right now! I’m sorry!”

“Next time do me the courtesy of telling me if you’re going to be late, okay?”

Before Jungkook has a chance to explain or even apologize again, the line goes dead.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck chants in his head over and over again as he throws his things into his backpack and haphazardly puts his painting on one of the racks to dry before sprinting out of the studio.

“Jungkook-ah! Put your damn things away correctly!” yells a sunbae after him as he passes by.

“I’m sorry, sunbae, please do it for me!” Jungkook calls back.

“You owe me lunch, damn talented punk!”

Not if Jungkook gets fired today. He’s never on time to work, sure, but he’s never been a whole hour late before. 

Jungkook sprints at full speed across campus, cursing himself for the day he’s having and lamenting that he didn’t even have time to go home and change out of his ugly painting t-shirt and pants. 

This is all Jin-hyung’s fault! Who asked him to show up and make me fuck him in my dreams? Jungkook thinks irritably, hearing someone shriek when he hurdles over a bench in his way. And why did Taehyung-hyung wake me up in the middle of it too?

He doesn’t ask himself why the last question popped into his head. 

Fortunately, the PC cafe is near the university and Jungkook only takes a few minutes to get there. He bursts through the front doors, only narrowly avoiding faceplanting as he skids to a stop at the front counter to his right and bends over to catch his breath.

“I’m here!” Jungkook pants, voice hoarse and lungs burning. “I’m sorry I’m late!”

No answer. Jungkook looks up and finds Seokjin staring at him from behind the front counter. Seokjin holds a bowl of food in one hand and a spoon in the other. His cheeks are puffed out like a chipmunk’s, obviously mid-chew, and the rest of his features are drawn up in surprise.

As soon as they make eye contact, Seokjin inhales sharply and begins coughing.

“Jin-hyung?! Why are YOU here?!” Jungkook’s already pounding heart rate kicks up another notch. “Where’s Jimin-hyung?!”

Seokjin continues to cough like he’s choking and flushes bright red.

Jungkook groans and goes around the front counter to Seokjin’s side to help him. 

At Jungkook’s approach, Seokjin’s eyes widen and he turns even redder. He then turns away from Jungkook and keeps choking and coughing. 

Jungkook twists his mouth to the side and claps a hand between Seokjin’s shoulder blades several times while looking around the counter for something to help Seokjin wash down the food. He remembers the steel water bottle he packed for the gym that morning and grabs it out of one of the side pockets on his backpack.

“Hyung, you always do this,” Jungkook complains as he holds out the water to Seokjin, who takes it from him right away. Jungkook sighs and adds, “Why do you like having your mouth stuffed so much?”

Seokjin sprays the counter with the water he just finished slurping from Jungkook’s water bottle. It takes Jungkook a second to realize what he just said sounds like.

“I—I mean you always eat so much!” Jungkook cries shrilly, face flaming, and adds some healthy distance between them. He ends up crashing against one end of the L-shaped counter. “And you never chew, hyung!”

Their manager pokes his head out from the office that is just beyond the counter. “What’s all that noise? Ah, Jeon Jungkook, you’re here, huh?”

Jungkook clambers to bow in apology. “I’m sorry I’m late, manager-nim! I was working on a final project!”

The manager waves his hand. “Sure, sure, you’re here now. You and Seokjin are going to close up together, okay? I’ll be in here if you need me.”

Closing? When Jungkook has class first thing in the morning tomorrow?

“Yes, sir.”

The door is shut before Jungkook finishes speaking.

Jungkook groans and slumps his shoulders. He hates it here.

Beside Jungkook, Seokjin seems to have sufficiently recovered to snicker at him. “You’re always too nice for your own good.”

“You shouldn’t be laughing at me! I just saved your life!” Jungkook says, smacking Seokjin’s shoulder. 

Seokjin breaks down into giggles. “I’m sorry, it’s just funny.”

Jungkook scowls at him. Seokjin looks back at him and claps a hand over his mouth as he starts laughing harder.

He looks so stupid, the way his face is red, his eyes shine with tears, and his big broad shoulders shake with laughter. It is funny. Jungkook can’t help but join him after a moment and they both double over in a fit of hysterical giggles.

“Did you come here straight from the studio?” asks Seokjin once their laughs have quieted down. He reaches over and tugs at Jungkook’s t-shirt. “Is that why you look like this?”

Jungkook starts at the casual non-touch and looks down at his clothes. “What do you mean ‘look like this’?”

It is not hard to guess what he means. Jungkook is sticky and sweaty from the sprint here, not to mention the smears of paint on his hands and his shirt. 

Seokjin tugs on the hem of Jungkook’s shirt again. “You’re looking a little rough, Jungkook-ssi.”

Jungkook makes a face and bats his hand away. “I know, okay? I wouldn’t be looking like this if it weren’t for—”

— you.  

Jungkook can’t say that, because then he would have to explain why. Seokjin will call Jungkook a weirdo pervert for thinking of him in that way, or worse, laugh at him. 

“—Whatever,” Jungkook finishes with a shake of his head and marches towards the break room in the back. “I’m putting my things away. You clean the counter.”

Seokjin follows after him. “Jungkook-ah, wait. Did you bring a change of clothes? You should change if you can.”

Jungkook only has the gym clothes that he completely soaked in sweat after the useless gym session that morning. They’re too gross to change into. “Who cares what I wear, hyung?” he replies as he opens the door to the break room. 

Seokjin closes the door behind him and clears his throat. “Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your shirt is completely see-through.” 

Jungkook stops in front of the body-length mirror at the opposite wall of the break room and his insides promptly go up in flames. 

Seokjin is right. The t-shirt is so old that the fabric has thinned to sheerness and leaves little to the imagination. It even shows the tattoos Jungkook has on his upper arm and shoulder, the ones he hasn’t told anyone about except for Hoseok and Taehyung. He started getting them last year with his Seollal money and was slowly adding to them with the little bit of money he saved up from work. He only planned on revealing them when he made it a full sleeve.

Normally, Jungkook is not ashamed of his body and even likes it when his muscles occasionally show through his clothes. But not like this! He’s never even left the apartment shirtless! Jungkook can also see Seokjin eyeing his tattoos in the mirror with an unreadable expression on his face like he’s trying to think of something to say and, for some inexplicable reason, it magnifies Jungkook’s embarrassment.

Seokjin’s gaze flits from Jungkook’s shoulder to Jungkook’s eyes. In the moment their eyes meet through the mirror, a dark look passes over Seokjin’s eyes and he visibly pokes the inside of his cheek with his tongue before it melts back to his usual placid expression.

Jungkook panics and crosses an arm across his chest to cover his shoulder with his hand. What is he going to say?

Seokjin turns away and heads for the small lockers next to Jungkook. “I have an extra shirt in my bag. I’ll let you borrow it.”

Oh god he doesn’t like them does he? thinks Jungkook as he wordlessly takes the neatly folded white shirt that Seokjin hands to him. And why do I care if he does?

“Um,” says Jungkook uncertainly as he unfolds the shirt, “are you sure I can wear this? This isn’t really my style…”

It looks like something that is meant to be worn to a business meeting or fancy dinner. Jungkook has never had an occasion like that to warrant owning anything beyond t-shirts and sweatshirts.

“Don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it! It’s fine for you to wear it since I already wore it earlier today,” Seokjin says with a wave of his hand.

“You what?!” Jungkook exclaims with a glare at him. “You’re giving me a dirty shirt to borrow?!”

“Oh! Jungkook-ah! I think we have a customer!” Seokjin turns on his heel and heads for the door. “You put that on, I’m heading back!”

“This hyung,” Jungkook grumbles once he’s left alone in the break room. Why did Seokjin never do things nicely like a normal person?

Jungkook brings up the shirt to his nose and sniffs at it. No musty sweat smell, only that gentle cotton-y scent that seems to follow Seokjin everywhere.

A smile creeps over Jungkook’s lips. Well, if it wasn’t dirty before, it’s about to get dirty now with all of Jungkook’s sweat from his run over here. That would serve Seokjin right for thinking he can one-up Jungkook. 

Jungkook makes quick work of putting away his things and changing into the borrowed shirt, making sure to smooth it all over his body to pick up any sweat left on his skin, grinning maniacally as he does so. He knows it’s a little insane but Seokjin is the one person who can take all of Jungkook’s teasing and vice versa. Seokjin will either laugh at him or get him back with something else. The cycle between them has continued like this from the moment they met.

Jungkook gets ready to strut back out to the front counter when his phone buzzes once in his pocket. A text message. He fishes his phone out and looks at the screen. It’s from Hoseok. 

hey, my hoobae says he’s free on saturday night. i told him it works for you too 😊

Jungkook’s head buzzes with panic. Saturday? As in this Saturday? That soon? Why was the other person available so soon?

Immediately Jungkook begins typing out an excuse. Hyung, I dunno if I can do this…

Jungkook halts before hitting send. 

He has to do it though. He promised Hoseok he wouldn’t back out. And if he doesn’t go, what will happen? He will be breaking his promise to Hoseok and make him look bad. And he has the dreams to consider. What else would he be able to do to stop them? Everything else so far has failed him. Jungkook is not sure he can ever go back to Lee Hyun for another therapy session. 

He looks back at Hoseok’s text and deletes what he wrote and sends,

saturday is good. did you give him my number?

Hoseok’s reply is instantaneous. 

yup. i know you’ll cry if you have to text first 😊 i told him no pictures allowed since it’s a blind date. so don’t send him anything, not even those beautiful abs of yours, jungkook-ah!! 😍

Jungkook grimaces. He has to trust Hoseok’s word that the blind date guy was hot?

“Whatever,” he mumbles to himself as he pockets his phone. “It doesn’t matter at this point, I guess.”

He walks back out to the counter and grabs the rolling chair next to Seokjin and drops into it with a short grunt. 

“Wow,” says Seokjin, looking up from his bowl of food, “clothes really do make the man, eh?”

Jungkook shoves at his shoulder, inadvertently pushing Seokjin’s rolling chair away a few more feet from him, but has no comeback. 

Seokjin grins and scoots his chair back to Jungkook’s side and reaches over to grip Jungkook’s bicep. His touch, firm and warm, sends a jolt up Jungkook’s arm. “It’s a good thing you don’t have too many clothes like this, Jungkook-ssi.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jungkook asks irritably, and a little self-consciously, as he shakes off Seokjin’s hand. “Are you calling me poor? Or ugly?”

“Not at all,” Seokjin replies with a laugh.

He doesn’t add anything else and Jungkook feels no more enlightened as to what he means.

Jungkook scoffs and turns his attention to the work computer in front of him and clicks around to log in. “What are you doing here anyway, Jin-ssi? I know for a fact Jimin-hyung was scheduled today.”

Jimin was Jungkook’s usual—and favorite—work companion on Tuesdays. Though Jimin did often switch shifts with Seokjin for whatever reason. For a while, Jungkook suspected that Jimin was doing it on purpose. When Jungkook made the briefest allusion to it, Jimin assured Jungkook it was not on purpose. 

“Today is Jiminie and Namjoonie’s anniversary. I couldn’t say no when he asked to switch shifts,” Seokjin replies. “I don’t mind, anyway, since—well it’s not a chore to come to work.”

“I can’t believe you like working here,” Jungkook mutters as he pulls up the work program screens.

Seokjin chuckles. “You make my job a lot easier. Actually…” He trails off in a way that Jungkook snaps his head up to look at him. “I was hoping to work with you.”

Jungkook flushes hotly. No wonder he was having weird dreams about him. Seokjin often said things that could be interpreted weirdly.

The door to the manager’s office clicks open. “Hey, one of you go sweep the floors and check the computer stations,” the manager calls out from within, and the door clicks shut again.

“Well, that sounds like your first task, Jungkook-ssi,” says Seokjin with a big grin. “Fighting!”

The warmth in Jungkook’s face flames again, this time with irritation. “Why do I have to do it?!”

Seokjin gestures to his food with his spoon. “I’m still eating, obviously I should finish this delicious bibimbap before I do anything else. Not to mention that you were very late today!”

Jungkook’s insides flare with indignation at the former but is washed over with guilt at the latter. He has every urge to call it unfair but he really has no excuse for his tardiness today. 

So he swallows his indignation, pushes his chair back, and gets up without another word.

Seokjin pumps his fist. “That’s the spirit! You’re the best, JK!”

Jungkook blows some air through his nose. Seokjin looks all too happy as he turns back to his food and resumes watching some anime— Anohana ? At work? Seriously?—on the work computer. The manager doesn’t care what any of the employees do on the front desk computers but Jungkook finds himself annoyed nonetheless that Seokjin is always so perfectly content no matter what he is doing. Jungkook is having one of the worst days of his life by far and it’s all because of this dumb broad-shouldered handsome man who is already tearing up at an animation and seems to have forgotten all about him already.

Stupid Jin-hyung. Jungkook watches as Seokjin scrapes his spoon around the bowl and brings up a heaping portion of bibimbap to his mouth, pillowy pink lips formed into a soft “O” to blow on it.

Before the spoon makes it to Seokjin’s mouth, Jungkook grabs Seokjin’s wrist and pulls it towards him. Seokjin stares at him with wide eyes and tries pulling his hand back. Jungkook puts all of his strength into bringing the food to himself and shoves the spoon in his mouth.

The bibimbap is still hot and burns Jungkook’s mouth but he licks the spoon clean before letting Seokjin tear his hand back. 

“Hey!” Seokjin exclaims, his face and neck beet red. “I could have brought you a spoon if you wanted some!”

Before Seokjin can grab at him to retaliate, Jungkook dashes away out of reach.

“Brat!” Seokjin calls behind his back.

Jungkook heads into the back and grabs the broom and dustpan with a satisfied smirk. If Seokjin felt half as flustered as Jungkook has been feeling all day it is no loss to Jungkook. 

He takes his time sweeping the floors and tidying up the empty computer stations. Seokjin passes by a few times carrying out food orders and stops to annoy him with his usual dumb jokes and comments and playful shoves. Once, as he walked by, he put his hand on Jungkook’s hip to move Jungkook out of the way. That single touch seared straight through the layers of Jungkook’s clothes to his skin and his head immediately conjured the thought of what it would feel like to actually have Seokjin’s hands on him. He had to scramble and hide under one of the empty computer stations and wait until he had normal thoughts again to come back out.

When Jungkook returns to the front desk, Seokjin is not there. He breathes a quiet sigh of relief and glances at the clock as he drops down into his chair.

He only spent fifteen minutes on his task. What the fuck. He gets back up to find something else that will while away the next six hours and freezes in his tracks when he sees Seokjin approaching from the back with a tray of food in his hands.

Seokjin smiles brightly. “Perfect timing, Oongu-ah!”

“Perfect timing…?” Jungkook repeats. He glances at the food tray and seizes the opportunity to get away. “Oh, do you want me to take that out? What station is it for?”

Seokjin chuckles and places a hand on his shoulder. “No, sit. I brought this for you. Since you were so busy at school, you missed lunch, I presume?”

Jungkook’s stomach answers for him with a violent growl. He turns away to hide his embarrassment and sits down. He completely forgot about eating while he was at the studio earlier. “Um. Yeah.”

Seokjin places the tray in front of Jungkook. There’s a still-bubbling bowl of spicy ramyeon, a bowl of rice, a large serving of grilled pork belly that looks like it was just freshly taken off the grill, and some side dishes with kimchi, seasoned spinach, and a whole roll of sliced gimbap. 

“You shouldn’t skip your meals, especially around finals,” Seokjin says as he puts a pair of chopsticks in Jungkook’s hand. “If you want more pork belly, I’ll ask our cooking auntie to make some more for you.”

“I’m—I’m okay,” Jungkook mumbles awkwardly, keeping his eyes on the tray. “This is way too much food.”

The mixed scents of the spicy ramyeon and pork belly make his mouth water though. Jungkook quickly pops a piece of meat into his mouth and relishes how the flavors burst on his tongue and the meat is so tender it practically melts as he chews. 

Seokjin sits down next to him again. “We both know you can eat all of that and more. Eat up.”

Jungkook squints at him. He is being awfully nice today. “Is something up with you?”

The smile that was on Seokjin’s face fades. “Huh? No, why?”

Jungkook squints at him further. “You’re not planning on leaving early or anything, are you?”

It would not be the first time he’s done something like this. Jungkook has received a fair share of “good deeds” from Seokjin only to be saddled with closing the cafe by himself or helping with some task that Seokjin needed to do. 

Seokjin scoffs. “I—I just wanted to do something nice for you! Nothing else!”

Jungkook swirls his chopsticks around his ramyeon bowl and keeps eyeing him suspiciously. “Did you put a choco ball in here?”

“I’m not nearly so devilish as you, punk,” Seokjin returns, reaching up and gently pushing Jungkook’s face to look away from him. “Now eat your food before I change my mind and tell our manager that I get to leave early since you were so late.”

Jungkook considers pushing Seokjin further but he also knows that Seokjin leaving early is not an empty threat and doesn’t want to have to close the cafe by himself. So he quietly eats his food and hates how it’s everything he would have craved and everything is so fucking good while Seokjin goes back to sniffling while watching Anohana . Eventually, Seokjin pokes at him to share the food and Jungkook begrudgingly finds himself taking turns feeding himself and Seokjin.

Near the end of his meal, Jungkook’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He fishes it out and reads the screen as he slurps some noodles into his mouth.

hey :) it’s ur blind date how r u :))

Jungkook loses his grip on the phone and it clatters loudly on the countertop. 

Seokjin looks his way with a chuckle. “You should only do one thing at a time, Jungkook-ssi.”

He starts reaching for Jungkook’s phone.

“No!” Jungkook exclaims, smacking away Seokjin’s hand with more force than he intends, and then gasps at what he has just done. 

Seokjin also looks stunned, his hand suspended in the air where Jungkook smacked it away. 

Guilt floods through Jungkook immediately. “I’m—I’m sorry—I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—“

“Hey!” Seokjin cries, smacking Jungkook on the shoulder. “I was only trying to help!”

The phone screen lights up and buzzes again with another text message. Jungkook swipes it off the countertop and shoves it in his pocket before turning away. “I’m sorry! I was just surprised!”

“Are you trying to hide something? If it’s one of your gym thirst traps, I’ve seen those like a thousand times already.“

Jungkook whirls around and looks at Seokjin scandalously. There are only a few post-workout selfies scattered across Jungkook’s Instagram feed, not a thousand of them. Then it hits him that Seokjin meant he looked at the gym selfies a thousand times. “Why were you looking at them?”

Seokjin reddens and turns away. “We’ve all seen them! Jimin sent them to me.”

Jungkook purses his lips. Why was Jimin sending his pictures around? To Seokjin of all people?

His cell phone buzzes in his hand with another text message. Jungkook’s heart gives a sick lurch against his ribcage. Was it his blind date again?

Fortunately, the tablet that alerts them of customer timers, food orders, and computer issues beeps with a new notification. Jungkook, seeing an out to both the conversation and an excuse to check his phone in private, gets to his feet and dives for the tablet. Unfortunately, Seokjin goes for the tablet at the same time and they both shoulder each other off in their attempt to get to the tablet first.

He and Seokjin are more evenly matched in strength than he and Taehyung, so though Jungkook tries shoving Seokjin away, he is successful for only a beat before Seokjin cloaks himself over Jungkook’s back and reaches around Jungkook to block him from accepting the order on the screen.

Jungkook tries to elbow Seokjin’s arms away. “Jin-ssi! Aren’t you doing too much?”

“You already cleaned everything earlier, Jungkook-ssi, you really should allow me,” Seokjin insists as he tries for the tablet again. 

He ends up pushing Jungkook against the counter, the edge digging into Jungkook’s stomach. 

But that is not what makes Jungkook freeze and steals the air from his lungs. 

Jungkook freezes and goes breathless when he feels all of Seokjin’s chest and hips pressed up against him. 

A moment that feels like years hangs in the air. The part of Jungkook’s brain responsible for the dreams he’s been having kicks down the wall keeping it in his subconscious and instantly Jungkook’s imagination is flooded with what it would be like to have Seokjin bend him over the counter. His body goes aflame with the mental image of Seokjin’s naked chest against his back and his hips grinding against his ass. Jungkook’s back arches and hips reactively buck against Seokjin in the midst of the daydream. 

Seokjin’s breath hitches in Jungkook’s ear, and, for a second so brief that Jungkook can’t be sure if it was just his imagination or not, he bucks back against Jungkook. The whole thing makes Jungkook’s head spin so fast he gasps.

And the moment is broken.

The warmth of Seokjin’s body disappears. “Oh, sorry, Jungkook-ah.” Seokjin’s voice is quiet as he steps away. “I just wanted to beat you.”

Jungkook slowly turns around and keeps his eyes down at his feet. Seokjin has stepped back so far that Jungkook can’t even see the tips of his shoes. “Oh,” is all that comes out of Jungkook’s mouth.

“I’ll take care of this one, alright? You should, uh, finish your food.”

Seokjin sounds so awkward. Jungkook looks up and finds that Seokjin has left already.

Jungkook drops back into his chair and digs the heels of his palms over his eyes. “Jeon Jungkook, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he mutters to himself.

Why couldn’t he just shrivel up and die? As much as he and Seokjin both played around, they had never crossed the line into inappropriate. What happened just now, thanks to Jungkook, was not just inappropriate but borderline harassment. Who in their right mind would rub on somebody’s dick when they never had that type of relationship? When anyone could walk past and see them? Seokjin must be thinking that Jungkook is some kind of freak. 

The thought of Seokjin thinking less of Jungkook stings. As much as he annoyed Jungkook sometimes, Seokjin was always nice to him. In his own way. What if Jungkook just ruined everything? How would Jungkook fix this? Should he apologize?

Jungkook is pulled back from his thoughts when his phone buzzes again in his pocket. He takes it out and checks the notifications, finding two more unread messages from his blind date. He swipes the first one on the screen and opens the message thread.

hey :) it’s ur blind date how r u :))

sunbae said saturday works 4 u :))) i know a really good thai place that takes reservations how does that sound :)

ok well let me know :) i’m up for anything can’t wait to meet you ;)

Jungkook chews on his bottom lip as he reads the messages and considers how to respond. The gray storm clouds blanketing his thoughts begin to clear away as he starts thinking about his blind date. He takes a deep breath and types back as soon as he thinks of what he wants to say.

hey blind date! yes i like thai food. let’s do it!

i’m looking forward to saturday too. can’t wait!

The reply is instantaneous.

awesome :))))) i’ll send you details tomorrow :) i have practice now but i’ll text you later blind date ;)

Jungkook puts his phone away with a small smile. All he needs to do is make it to Saturday. Everything will be okay after Saturday.

A couple of customers come in at that moment and Jungkook busies himself helping them. He passes by Seokjin at a computer station on his way back, where Seokjin is busy with a customer himself, and thinks Seokjin won’t notice him, but Seokjin manages to poke Jungkook’s side without looking up. Jungkook yelps and jumps nearly a foot in the air in surprise. Seokjin glances at him with a grin and goes to poke him again. Jungkook dodges him with a huff.

Things were back to normal then. Jungkook is glad but no less annoyed. Sometimes Jungkook wonders how Seokjin can be so unflappable and why it’s just him that is affected. It wasn’t fair. 

He stalks back to the front desk and flops down into his chair again. The tie that’s been keeping his hair together all day loosens off dangerously as Jungkook slumps in his seat.

Jungkook slips off the hair tie before he loses it and looks around the counter for the mirror one of the other employees keeps nearby to fix his hair. As he gathers his hair back into a ponytail again, he takes a moment to laugh at how funny a sprout ponytail would look on him.

Seokjin returns to the front desk as Jungkook finishes tying his hair back.

“Jungkook-ssi, this hair of yours is getting long, no?” asks Seokjin as he sits down. He reaches over and pats Jungkook’s ponytail with a small laugh. “I still remember how you looked like Gaara when I first met you.”

Jungkook grunts and bats his hand off. “I know! I’m thinking of getting it cut.”

Seokjin’s eyes widen. “Really? What’s the occasion?”

Jungkook drops his hands from his hair and picks at the skin of his neck. “I’ll probably have to do it before Saturday…” he mumbles, mostly to himself. His blind date would probably run in the other direction if they saw Jungkook as he was right now. 

“Saturday?” 

Seokjin says it in such a way that Jungkook snaps his gaze to look back at him. Like he’s choking. Seokjin looks at Jungkook with what he can only describe as dismay. It is not a look Jungkook has ever seen on him before.

“I, uh, kind of have something that day,” Jungkook replies, unsure why he feels the need to explain himself.

“I see.” Seokjin turns back to his computer. Jungkook has the urge to turn him back around so they can face each other again. “It must be very important. You rarely go anywhere, Jungkook-ah.”

Jungkook shifts uncomfortably. “I guess so…” He trails off and hesitates. “My roommate set me up on a blind date.”

Seokjin visibly goes rigid. Something twists inside Jungkook and he wishes he could take the words back.

Before Jungkook can add anything else, Seokjin looks back at him with a bright smile. “Wow, look at you, going out and doing something new! I’m happy for you, Jungkook-ssi.”

There is no playfulness in the way Seokjin says Jungkook-ssi like he usually does. Though there are no more than four feet between them, Jungkook feels like a vast cavern just opened between them.

Seokjin turns away again. “So you’re going to cut your hair and everything, eh? It’s certainly going to be an occasion.”

“I’ve been meaning to cut it anyway,” Jungkook adds, awkward and still unsure why he keeps explaining himself.

Seokjin hums and turns his attention to his computer again.

Jungkook turns away, too, but feels like the conversation has been left unfinished. What does he want Seokjin to say? To not go on the date? That would be absolutely ridiculous. Seokjin has no reason to say something like that to him. It is Jungkook only who has weird feelings that are not 100% safely platonic.

The rest of the shift goes on in this awkward and silent manner. Seokjin does not completely ignore him, but the cold politeness with which he addresses Jungkook is enough of a dismissal to make Jungkook confused, annoyed, and angry.

What did Jungkook do wrong? Why did it matter? The questions repeat themselves in Jungkook’s head over and over again with no clear answer.

At one point, their manager graces them with his presence and Seokjin is not only nice to him but starts joking around with the manager the way he usually would with Jungkook. What’s worse, the manager finds every single one of Seokjin’s corny jokes hilarious and laughs more than Jungkook has ever heard him laugh in the almost seven-ish months he’s been working here. Every single one of their laughs grates on Jungkook’s nerves and he has to get up and announce he is going to sweep the floors again to get away.

He gets to the farthest corner of the cafe and starts sweeping the floor with more aggression than he intends. After a few sweeps the bristles snap clean off the handle of the broom.

Jungkook mutters a curse. Now he has to go back to the front desk to grab one of the other brooms they keep over there, defeating the purpose of staying far away from Seokjin’s stupid jokes and stupid laugh.

A quick glance at the front desk shows that neither Seokjin or the manager are there anymore.

“Maybe they’re going on a date,” Jungkook mumbles to himself as he heads back.

A couple of girls on his right whirl around in their chairs. “We’re just grabbing dinner!” one of them exclaims, making Jungkook jump. “As friends !” the other adds vehemently.

The first girl throws a sharp glance at her companion. “So we’re just friends then?”

The second girl blushes furiously. “When did you ever ask me out?”

“I never get a chance to! You never get it when I try!”

Jungkook slips away as the two girls continue to bicker. He has enough problems of his own to get involved in anyone else’s. 

When he reaches the front desk area, he leans the broken broom handle and the dustpan against the countertop and tosses the broom bristles into the trashcan they keep next to the counter by Seokjin’s computer station. Again, he’s overestimated the force he needed to do it and the broom bristles knock over the trash can and several things spill out on the floor. Jungkook curses himself for not being careful and bends down to pick up the clutter.

He’s putting things back in the trash can when a crumpled up piece of paper catches his eye. Curious, Jungkook straightens out the paper and finds that it’s a glossy flyer for the opening night of a play being held at the university. His first thought is that the flyer must belong to Seokjin—he’s a theater major, after all, and that sort of thing is what he’s into. His eyes then shift to the colorful Pink Bean-themed sticky note on the top right corner and widen as he reads the familiar scrawled handwriting.

Jungkook-ah, 

Hyung would be happy to have you there! I hope you can make it! 

-Jin 💗

Jungkook scans the flyer again, looking for the date, and hopes it’s not what he thinks it is. When he finds it, he gasps like he’s been punched in the gut.

The play is on Saturday. 

And on the list of the cast members, of course, is Seokjin. Seokjin even circled his own name with a pink marker.

The play must be the reason why Seokjin acted so weird when Jungkook told him about the blind date on Saturday. 

Jungkook hears the sound of the manager’s office door opening and Seokjin’s voice emerging from it a second later. He jumps to his feet and stuffs the paper into his pants pocket before putting the trash can upright again and rushes to the supply closet to grab another broom.

“What are you doing?” Seokjin asks at Jungkook’s back.

Jungkook flushes warmly as he grabs a broom and turns around, carefully avoiding facing Seokjin directly, and heads for the main floor again. “Nothing. I’m, uh, gonna go finish sweeping.”

“I can help if you wa—”

Jungkook shakes his head. “No, I’m fine! Thank you!”

He dashes away without another look back.

Jungkook spends the rest of the shift avoiding Seokjin as much as he is able. He does not trust himself enough to be around Seokjin and not blurt out that he knows about the play on Saturday. Mostly because Jungkook doesn’t know how he feels about it.

Jungkook’s will is tested when the manager dips out early and leaves Seokjin and Jungkook to close everything up by themselves. It’s not the first time the manager does this and normally Jungkook doesn’t think much of it beyond hating his job a little bit more. But once the PC cafe’s closing hour comes upon them and soon enough it’s just the two of them alone, Jungkook is suddenly hyperaware of everything Seokjin does.

“Um, hyung,” Jungkook squeaks out as he and Seokjin close down the registers for the night. “Why don’t you go home now? I was late today so I’ll finish all the closing duties.”

Seokjin gives Jungkook a glance that makes him fidget in his seat. “We are scheduled to close together. Your being late today doesn’t change that for me, Jungkook-ssi.”

Jungkook’s mouth twists to the side. Still with the cold, formal Jungkook-ssi and dismissive tone.

So they finish closing up together in silence. They go to the break room to get their things before leaving in silence. It’s hard for Jungkook not to notice that Seokjin is clearly upset and brushing him off.

As Jungkook grabs his things from his locker, one of the items is his ratty see-through painting t-shirt. He completely forgot that he wore Seokjin’s shirt the entire shift. He didn’t even get to tease him about it.

Jungkook slowly peels back to look at Seokjin. Seokjin is busy going through his locker and seems distracted, his brows drawn together and lips pressed in a thin line.

“Jin-hyung, do you want your shirt back right now?” Jungkook asks, careful.

Seokjin stops what he is doing. When he does not answer after a few beats pass, Jungkook wonders if maybe he didn’t hear him.

“Right now?” Seokjin returns, not looking at him. “Are you sure you can give it to me right now?”

Jungkook gulps. Seokjin sounds almost angry. “If—if you need it right away, I will…I got a lot of sweat on it though…” He can’t find it in himself to tease Seokjin right now.

There is a brief pause before Seokjin blows some air through his nose and glances at him, his expression considerably softer. “Don’t worry about the shirt. You can give it back to me when you don’t need it anymore.”

“I’ll just wash it before I give it back to you,” Jungkook says hastily. “I’ll bring it tomorrow.”

Seokjin slings his messenger bag across his chest and shuts his locker. “If you bring it here, you can just put it in my locker. I won’t be here tomorrow.”

“Why not?” The question flies out of Jungkook’s mouth before he can stop it and leaves him flushing with embarrassment. “I mean, you usually work…”

Seokjin turns to face him. “I have some things to take care of. Anyway, I’m heading out. Are you staying?”

Jungkook shakes his head. “No, I’m going.”

They walk out into the busy street-lit night.

“Have a good night,” Seokjin says, turning away without waiting for a response.

“Hyung, wait—” Jungkook grabs Seokjin’s arm to keep him in place. “Is everything okay?”

It’s a stupid question. Jungkook can tell that everything is not okay. But he wants to hear it from Seokjin himself and he wants to know why he’s upset.

Seokjin answers with a ghost of a smile and slowly releases himself from Jungkook’s hold. “Everything is okay, JK. I have to get to campus to study. Have a good night.”

He leaves down the sidewalk without another look back. 

Jungkook watches him disappear among the throng of people walking on the pavement. He doesn’t know if he’s imagining it, but at one point Seokjin’s broad shoulders drop. A pang goes through Jungkook’s heart. 

Why does it hurt to see Seokjin like that? Why does it feel like Jungkook caused it? Why does he feel guilty about it? What did it mean?

Jungkook chews on his bottom lip as his mind flits through the questions back and forth. He needs to talk to somebody about this to figure it all out. Someone who will listen without making assumptions like Lee Hyun.