jungkookie [4:33]
hey
where are u?

jungkookie [4:35]
are u busy?

jungkookie [4:37]
its ok if u are
but if u have free time could u come to thw bookstore

yoongi is sort of busy, but only for the moment as he balances a salad and some energy bars and a carton of apple juice in one hand and his phone in the other in the queue at a corner store. his intention was to drop by the chicken place down the street to slowly pay off the dozens of studio dinners he owes namjoon, but - then this.

jungkook sounds off and yoongi is not sure why he sounds off. it's not that he's at work. it's not unusual for him to text yoongi in the middle of a shift when he's on a break or bored. it's not even that he's asking yoongi to come see him, he does that.

yoongi [4:39]
is everything ok?

yoongi forgets to move, trying to pinpoint exactly what's strange, until someone pointedly clears their throat behind him. he mumbles an apology, shoves his phone into his pocket until he's paid for his overpriced items, and by the time he's standing outside the store with the clear plastic bag with the store's red and yellow logo on it, jungkook has replied.

jungkookie [4:41]
yes
kind of

jungkookie [4:42]
dont come if ur busy

and, okay. the thing is that jungkook downplays things so much it's not even funny, so "kind of" is basically a "no".

yoongi realizes why he seemed off. it's not because he asked yoongi to come to the bookstore, it's how he did it, how he emphasized yoongi should only come if he had nothing else to do. jungkook is good at a lot of things but he's terrible at asking for help.

he's already walking in the direction where both the bookstore and the recording studio are as he calls jungkook; the line rings and rings and yoongi tells himself it just means he's working, therefore everything's probably okay; and then he picks up.

"hyung," jungkook says, and doesn't sound awfully different, but yoongi knows... somehow, that something is up. maybe it's the way he breathes, maybe it's some nuance yoongi is unconsciously picking up on.

"hey, what's wrong?" he asks, stepping around a frozen puddle.

"where are you?" jungkook asks; he can probably tell from yoongi's breathing pattern and the background noise that he's walking.

"coming to you," yoongi says simply.

"hyung, if you..." yoongi can hear his hesitation. "if you were in the middle of something, you don't have to, honestly, it's not that big a deal. i can just tell you at home -"

"kook," yoongi interrupts. jungkook goes quiet. "do you want me to come?"

there's a faint rustling sound, inhale exhale. yoongi pictures him at the bookstore, leaning his back against the wall, maybe at the back of the basement floor, surrounded by worn, brown bookcases, or maybe in the room labeled staff only behind the counter. jimin probably somewhere nearby, hopefully aware of whatever's going on.

"yes," jungkook breathes, honest.

"then i'm coming," yoongi concludes, in a tone that's gentle but also very much means, no objections.

after ending the call, he finds namjoon's number next to tell him his dinner's going to be late because something's up with jungkook.

"huh? is he okay?" namjoon worries.

"he... says he is, but, you know..." yoongi mumbles. "i want to make sure."

you never know with him, he means, and namjoon says,

"yeah, of course. i hope everything's okay. call if you need anything. tell him he can call, too. that he should. "

"sure," yoongi promises, and it's hardly a newsflash, but thinks: namjoon cares about jungkook a lot. they all do. he's not sure why he's considering such obvious things suddenly. maybe he's just hoping that jungkook knows.

the bookstore is a bit farther away than the studio, but they're not more than a few blocks from each other and yoongi gets there soon enough. almost slips on ice once but no one saw that so technically it didn't happen. the counter is empty when yoongi walks in, and he easily spots jimin's recently pink head between shelves. jimin's helping a customer at the nonfiction section, but excuses himself once he notices yoongi, half-jogs to him.

"what's going on?" yoongi asks, his chest tightening a bit because jimin looks serious.

"he's downstairs. i told him to go home, but he didn't want to leave me alone here because it's just us today, so i just made him take a break," jimin says, then licks his lips, lowers his voice just a bit. "it's something to do with his parents, i think. he didn't really tell me. i told him to call you."

yoongi nods curtly, and it's also a thanks for looking after him, although it's not really something people need to be thanked for, it's just what friends do. he heads to the stairs, already knowing exactly where to find him.

jungkook's parents, he thinks, and no matter how hard he tries - not that hard, actually - like word association, the thought that crosses his mind is something like, what the fuck do they want? it better have been them calling to apologize, tell him they were wrong to kick him out, but yoongi doubts it's that because jungkook was upset and even then it wouldn't undo what's been done.

jungkook hasn't mentioned his family in a long time. hasn't mentioned them a lot in general, and yoongi hasn't pried. jungkook would tell him about them if he were to ask, he has that feeling; but he wants it to be on jungkook's own terms, doesn't want to bring up a past before jungkook brings it up first because jungkook is building a life, right now. finding his own way and making a home in a way that many if not all of them did when they ventured into the house one by one or two by two, and, as it happened with the majority of them, announced, i live here now. they're all strays of a sort that way.

the erotica section is a small secluded, forgotten corner on the basement floor. there's probably good erotica in the world, but it is not on the shelves of this bookstore, and no one comes here, understandably so. which is why it's become their thing to hole up in the erotica corner whenever yoongi stops by on jungkook's break. which is how yoongi knew it's where he'd be now.

he's sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, turning the pages of one of the shitty erotica novels with disinterest. yoongi loosens the scarf around his neck as he walks, unzips his coat.

"i didn't know you were into this genre," is the first thing he says. jungkook looks up, and the first thing yoongi notes is that he looks tired. he doesn't think he's been crying, at least his eyes aren't red and there's no puffiness on his face. he thinks he also sees his face light up just a little bit, sees some tension in his body dissolve. would like to think the small smile he gives is genuine, but isn't too sure about that.

"i was keeping my mind occupied," jungkook says, pushing the book out of his lap as yoongi gets down on the floor with him, sets down the plastic bag containing namjoon's food - ah, right, he still has that - sits cross-legged and faces jungkook. he rests a hand on his denim-clad knee, rubs a deliberate circle with his thumb. the first thing he asks is:

"are you okay?"

jungkook draws a breath.

"yeah. i'm a bit... yeah. mostly."

"what happened?"

"it's stupid, really. ridiculous," he says, and yoongi is about to say, it's not stupid or ridiculous, but jungkook takes the hand resting on his knee, fingers gently playing with yoongi's like he just needs something to fiddle with, eyelashes downcast. "my parents called me. or my dad, really. i almost didn't pick up, i... shocked? i think that's what i was. they had an offer to make. they'd let me come back home and give me money if i went back to business school. they... said some other things, too, but that was the main point. they didn't even ask about me. it's been over half a year since i heard from them... and they didn't ask me how i'm doing. where i'm staying. if i'm, you know, alive. ridiculous."

"kook," yoongi starts, his brow furrowed, fingers curling against jungkook's instinctively.

"i told them no, of course. that i don't need their money. the thing that... got to me, i guess... is that they know i hated it so much i'd rather drop out and live in my car than stay. yet they still... push it." he lifts his face, looks up at yoongi. he looks so tired, yoongi thinks, he looks mostly tired but also hurt, also disappointed, also sad. he rarely shows it so openly, unmasked, and yoongi's heart hurts. "like it just doesn't matter for shit. like i deserve to be unhappy?"

the way he says it, the look on his face, yoongi's heart goes like a thin-edged glass object dropped from the fifth floor. he doesn't really notice himself leaning in and reaching up; but he did, because then jungkook's face is in the nook of his neck, and yoongi's holding him, with a hand in the space between his shoulder blades, the other on the nape of his neck. you deserve the world, he has the urge to say, is that cheesy? i would give you the world.

"it matters. it should be the only thing that fucking matters," he mumbles, and it comes out low and dark, "that you're happy."

jungkook is gripping his waist so hard it feels bruising even through the winter coat. he draws a long, disjointed breath. yoongi smooths his hands against his back, soothingly runs them up and down, tries his best. he hates feeling like he can't communicate well enough, can't articulate just how wrong it is, the thought of jungkook not deserving happiness. hates that someone made jungkook feel this way, hates even more that it was his own parents who shape your self-image a great deal and should never fucking make you feel worthless.

"it's not like i expected anything else from them," jungkook says, muffled into his neck, "i shouldn't be so... " he sighs, frustrated, fingers clutching the fabric of yoongi's coat tightly. "i shouldn't be reacting like this, i didn't expect anything else, i should've fucking known -"

"hey, no," yoongi mumbles, gently but efficiently pushes at jungkook's shoulders to separate them enough to look him in the eye. "you're allowed to react however you want, you're allowed to be sad and angry and feel things because - none of that is fucking okay, you don't deserve to be treated like that. god, i'm - pardon my french, i'm going to be fucking honest with you, your parents are dicks, and the fact that you grew up to be so kind and caring and wonderful when they're none of those things is amazing. you're amazing. have i told you that? who the fuck cares about business school if it makes you miserable. they should give a fuck about your happiness and wellbeing. that's what a family does."

jungkook looks at him for a few seconds, blinking like he's taking everything in. what happens then could be likened to stepping into a warm light, or the spring arriving, or whatever the general consensus of the most beautiful thing in the world is. it starts with his eyes, the smile which then reaches his mouth, grows there like a flower in fast-forward, lights up his whole face, his eyes literally, and he does mean literally, outshining all the stars in the universe. yoongi can just stare, in awe, in love, think, wow, and name it the eighth wonder of the world in his head. jungkook laughs, short and breathy but genuine, reaches up to wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand, and yoongi can only hope they are the happy kind of tears.

"when are you not 'fucking honest'," jungkook murmurs behind his hand.

"when i'm bullshitting my way to victory in board game night," yoongi smiles, touches his fingers to jungkook's hand, gently prompts him to lower it. with their fingers tangled, asks, "do you want to tell me more about the call?"

"most of the things they said i'd already heard before," jungkook murmurs. "they started by saying they're just worried, that they care, and when i rejected it, they said i was selfish, that they spent all that money on tuition and other costs and i owed it to them to finish college. as if i hadn't spent months thinking about it, wondering if i was selfish, if i should've just... tried harder, sucked it up, forced myself... wondering if i was making the biggest mistake of my life. and coming to the conclusion that i don't regret leaving. i know i couldn't have stayed. i'm glad i didn't."

"i'm glad, too," yoongi says, reaches up to gingerly brush a strand of hair out of his face. jungkook leans into the touch so naturally yoongi doesn't think he even notices himself doing it. "the last thing you should feel guilty about is putting yourself first. it's such bullshit. if they can't accept that... fuck them. sorry. except not really. fuck them. they don't deserve you."

jungkook ducks his face and hides his smile into yoongi's palm; yoongi watches it waver, watches his brow twitch, feels a wetness between his fingers. jungkook is crying, then, and yoongi's heart drops for the second time. he reaches up to run his hands over the slopes of his shoulders, up his neck, his jaw, softly.

"hey, it's okay - i know it hurts, but you're okay -"

"i'm not -" jungkook wipes at his face first with his right, then his left hand, and yoongi snaps out of it, remembers how to act like a human and shoves his hand into his pocket, frantically fishing around for a tissue. "i'm not crying because i'm sad. i - thanks."

jungkook takes the tissue held out to him, dries his face, wipes his nose. yoongi waits, thumbing at his knees. jungkook manages a wet laugh.

"i'm not crying because i'm sad," he starts again, "i'm just..." he finishes, in a small voice: "i'm really happy."

"can i kiss you?" yoongi asks, calmly and properly. jungkook blinks, twice, rapidly.

"but i'm, like - super gross right now - i mean, yeah, yes -"

yoongi cups the back of his head gently, tips forward, watches jungkook's eyelids flutter shut. kisses his upper lip first, then the corners of his mouth, then the mole under his bottom lip. then his bottom lip, gently tugs it into his mouth; jungkook sighs, leans into him. yoongi presses a final soft kiss fully on his lips before releasing him and pulling back.

"salty," he murmurs, caressing his jaw, "you even taste like the sea."

jungkook blinks slow, and then, very quietly, falls forward until their foreheads touch. they just - stay, for a moment, eyelashes butterfly kissing, and it's, somehow, the most intimate moment they've ever shared. it feels fragile and vulnerable and like one of those moments where not saying anything is actually saying a lot.

yoongi chases after him to kiss the tip of his nose. this makes jungkook crack a tired smile.

"i told them i've made up my mind about art school," he says, eyes cast down to where his fingers are playing with yoongi's again, "that i'm doing this on my own, that i don't need their money or support or approval. my dad told me i'm out of my mind." he looks at yoongi under his lashes, gives a quiet smile. "am i out of my mind, hyung?"

"you moved in with all of us, which was kind of a questionable choice on your part," yoongi says, "but other than that. you're fine." he leans a little closer because he wants jungkook to know he means every word. "you're not out of your mind. you're brave."

long-lashed eyes blink hard, unfallen stars stuck to the corners.

"i already knew i was never going back, but it feels... final, now." he pauses to breathe in through narrowly parted lips. "i guess i'm officially on my own."

"you're not on your own," yoongi says quietly. "not anymore. not ever again."

what he's saying is: you've got a family now. you've got unconditional love. he's really just saying that. but it feels like he's promising something grand here. something huge and meaningful he can't really even comprehend yet, that, for now, is too big for both of them to articulate. and maybe he is.

they sit for a while longer, talk some more. talk about art school. jungkook is thinking of the one in the city, twenty minutes by car, a little longer by bus. not just because it's close enough to travel the distance daily - it's a good college, jungkook tells him. you'll get in, yoongi tells him, because he firmly believes only a complete idiot wouldn't accept jungkook.

jimin comes down at some point; yoongi can hear the clank of his heavy boots in the stairs. it's only then that he considers how much time must've passed. the store is always quiet, but now there's an emphasized hush, and yoongi wonders if the place is even open anymore. the footsteps come closer, then stop somewhere nearby; then jimin calls behind the erotica shelves,

"you're not making out, right?"

"no, we're fucking," yoongi responds dryly.

"well excuse me for wanting to be decent and asking first." jimin steps into view. he leans against the bookshelf, and asks, softer, now, "you okay, kookie?"

"yeah," jungkook nods. "i'll tell you guys about it tonight."

"good. it's what we usually do, when one of us is upset. we sit down and talk about it." jimin smiles, then jerks his head in the general direction of the store. "it's almost closing time. you can just go home, i'll close up tonight."

"ah," jungkook says, bites down on his bottom lip, "sorry i wasn't of any help -"

"hey!" jimin stands up straight, and points a finger at jungkook. "no apologizing for things you have no reason to be sorry for on my watch." jungkook snorts. yoongi's fingers travel to his knee, and squeeze. jimin puts his hands on his hips. "also, this has given me a chance to catch up in this customer review race. i needed it, so thanks."

"you're still competing about that?" yoongi arches an eyebrow.

"obviously," they both answer in unsettling unison.

namjoon's apple juice is warm by the time they leave. yoongi tells him he was on his way to bring namjoon dinner, and jungkook gets a sheepish and vaguely guilty look on his face. yoongi is not having any of that. he pulls at their interlaced hands, stopping jungkook on the sidewalk.

"in the future, too," he tells him, "i want you to call me when you need me. namjoon wanted me to remind you that you can always call him, too, and same goes for the other guys."

"okay," jungkook says, breathing a cloud between them. yoongi pulls his hand up, presses his cold lips to the back of it.

"wanna come to the studio with me? or do you just want to go home? we can get chicken and share the food i got for namjoon. he'll be fine."

jungkook grins, sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. "wanna come to the studio."

they stop by the chicken place, and jungkook admits that he is hungry, so yoongi buys three servings, deciding they'll all eat together. they wait at a small table by the window as their order is being prepared. yoongi warms up his hands by breathing on them and rubbing them together; then he holds them apart over the table, an invitation for jungkook to place his hands between yoongi's, and warms up jungkook's hands in the same fashion.

"hey, hyung." yoongi looks up from the text he was typing to namjoon. jungkook is folding an origami out of a blue napkin. yoongi watches his fingers, the way they move with careful precision. "it's okay." his fingers pause, press down on the folds to keep them together. yoongi looks up to find jungkook looking at him. "i'm not just saying that. i mean that... i'm okay. maybe it's even good that this happened at this exact point... so i can sort of... move on." he pauses for a moment, gaze skimming across the tabletop, and yoongi says nothing, just waits for him to finish. he meets yoongi's eyes again, says, more quietly, "i'm okay. you know what i mean?"

yoongi knows what he means. he knocks their ankles together under the table, and it makes a smile pull at jungkook's lips.

jungkook drops the napkin swan into the paper bag of chicken before they clear out.

"it's for namjoon-hyung," he informs, "it's the sorry-your-dinner-was-delayed-because-of-me swan."

yoongi feels a rush of affection, suddenly; he bites on his bottom lip to damp down a dumb smile and reaches up to card his fingers through the hair on the back of jungkook's head. jungkook makes a small noise and staggers a little bit as yoongi pushes his head down lightly.

"he'll understand," yoongi promises. jungkook hums, and grapples yoongi's hand as they walk the darkening street.

"at the bookstore," jungkook starts, and pauses.

"mm?"

"i read this one scene in the erotica i was browsing and i'm not entirely sure if the position is physically possible. i really want your opinion on it."

yoongi's mouth curls into a grin, and he glances at jungkook from the corner of his eye.

"you want us to put it to test? is that what you're saying?"

"for science," jungkook says, ducking his face into his scarf and squeezing yoongi's hand more tightly.

/

"can i ask you guys a favor?"

it's taehyung's break at the coffee shop, or rather, there are no customers other than a dude who looks like the caricature of a self-absorbed male coffee shop writer typing on his laptop and sipping the same neverending cup of coffee in a corner table, which makes it a break.

jungkook slept in, for once. it's a specific sort of happiness yoongi feels watching him sleep, and it's not meant to sound creepy; it's just how peaceful he looks, his exhaustion all melted away. makes you want to keep him safe. and he was exhausted, lights out as soon as his body hit the mattress after going through the events of the day again, and the assembly of self-proclaimed Jungkook Protection Squad whose first mission was debated to a great extent. possibilities were offered ranging from a hit list to a ghibli movie marathon. they ended up going with the ghibli movie marathon.

he's okay, yoongi knows he is. he's the strongest person yoongi knows. he was laughing a lot by the end of the night, and everyone did a great job assuring him the same thing yoongi had: that they're there for him.

he barely stirred when yoongi leant down on the edge of the bed to gently press his lips to his cheekbone. jungkook didn't even open his eyes, but made a sleepy noise yoongi identified as a whine, tilted his face upwards, lips jutting out in a pout. biting back a smile, yoongi pecked his lips, too. jungkook made another content sound and went right back to sleep.

when namjoon found him lying facedown at the kitchen table, he didn't even ask.

much like taehyung is currently, for very different reasons. he detaches his head from the tabletop. it left a pink splotch on his forehead. next to him, jimin looks up from his phone.

"what are we getting out of it?" he asks.

"nothing. that's why it's called a favor," yoongi says, tapping his fingernails against the table. "come on. it's not even a big one."

"the real world is harsh, yoongi," jimin says calmly, leaning back in his chair. "can't afford to just give out favors for free like i'm some sort of a favor doing machine. we're all just trying to survive this cold, capitalist world."

"are you asking me for money?" yoongi raises his eyebrows.

"or we can discuss other options," jimin waves a hand.

"i can just ask the other guys," yoongi scoffs. jimin shrugs in a go ahead manner, and yoongi works his jaw, glares at him for a good moment while taehyung looks mildly detached from the exchange and sort of like he died sitting up. the truth is that yoongi can't ask the other guys; it would take namjoon approximately five seconds to panic and tell jungkook yoongi put him up to this, and seokjin and hoseok would also throw him under the bus, but that's just because they're assholes. tragically, jimin and taehyung are the best people for the job, so he sighs, shoulders deflating, and says: "fine. what do you want?"

taehyung perks up.

"can you kill me?"

"dude," yoongi frowns. "no, but i can get you fired if you want. which would obviously be for the best since this place is smothering your soul. what happened to your new year's resolution? weren't you going to quit your job to become seokjin's agent?"

"everyone else is keeping to their new year's resolutions," jimin agrees. yoongi leans his elbow on the table, counts with his fingers.

"i'm going to perform my own songs, starting next week. jungkook's looking into art programs. jimin hasn't gotten hit by a car yet." jimin makes 'o's with his index fingers and thumbs. "namjoon cancelled a dentist's appointment and said it was to make time for things that make him happy. we all know it's because he's scared of the dentist, but it still counts." he pauses. "we really should make him go to that appointment." the two nod in agreement. "seokjin's restaurant is doing well, and i also know for a fact that hobi hooked up with a guy because he woke me up at five a.m. to tell me about it in vivid detail. so why are you still working this shitty job?"

"jin-hyung doesn't even want an agent," taehyung says, and it comes out a bit muffled because he's lying on the table again. "he doesn't want to be a model, he just wants to run his restaurant because apparently he 'loves his job ' and is 'making good money '. literally, what does either of those things even mean . i can't quit because i don't know what i'd do. i'm not talented like the rest of you. "

jimin shoves him right off the chair. it happens so fast taehyung doesn't even have time to scream. he just disappears, and half a second later there's the unmistakable thud of a body hitting the floor. yoongi just watches this happen with his eyebrows slightly raised.

"shut up," jimin says hotly, pointing intensely at the floor level. "don't talk about yourself like that. you are one of the most talented people i've ever met. you are kind and smart and resourceful. you put up with a job you hate every day yet you still make an effort to make your friends smile when you get home. you have a wonderful mind and you know more shit than any of us because you're endlessly curious about everything. don't ever say you're not talented. fuck you."

to yoongi, it's not that clear whether jimin is complimenting or threatening him, but apparently taehyung finds it touching.

"jimin," he says in an emotional voice. jimin spreads his arms, and taehyung gets up, falls straight into the embrace.

"okay," yoongi mumbles when taehyung throws a leg over jimin's lap. "just tell me when you're done."

"you can't rush these things, yoongi," jimin says, turning his face to look at yoongi through the mess of taehyung's hair. yoongi leans back in the chair, holds his hands up lazily.

"start by quitting," he advices taehyung, "then go step by step from there. you'll figure out what to do. follow your passions."

"i've always wondered what it would be like to be a sailor," taehyung says as he untangles himself from jimin, rubbing at his nose.

yoongi looks at him blankly for a moment.

"any other passions?" he asks finally.

"or a cage fighter," taehyung says. yoongi chews at his lips.

"you'll figure it out," he concludes, leans towards the table again. "but you should quit before you burn out at the age of twenty-four."

"so, the favor you're asking," jimin says, bringing them back to the initial topic, "what can you offer in return?"

yoongi sighs. he shoves his hand into the pocket of his peacoat, and empties its contents onto the table between them.

"i've got five thousand won, a coupon to a fishing gear outlet, a piece of fruit candy."

"what the hell is this coupon," jimin says in disbelief, the coupon pinched between his index and thumb, "why does it say it's valid until may 2998?"

"okay, look, i don't know what else to offer." yoongi spreads his hands. "it's not really even a favor, i just need you to -"

taehyung shushes him.

"excuse us, my partner and i need to negotiate," he says, grabbing jimin's shoulder. they turn in their chairs, hunch over with their heads together, and talk in hushed voices.

"oh my god," yoongi mumbles, regretting this more with every passing second. he props his jaw on his palm, stares out of the window, tapping a restless beat on the table while jimin and taehyung negotiate. it only takes a few more seconds.

"we'll do it, but in exchange you'll have to do a favor for us," taehyung concludes, interlacing his fingers on the table in front of him, "since, you know, you basically offered us garbage. eye for an eye."

"what kind of a favor," yoongi asks suspiciously.

"we'll give you the details afterwards. but you have to promise you'll do it."

"yeah, that's definitely a red flag," yoongi says.

"we'll also take the garbage," jimin pipes in. "you have to take what you can get in this economy. great, we've got a deal. what can we do for you today?"

yoongi licks his lips and stares at them for long enough for it to get slightly weird. how the hell was he going to word this without it sounding like the most embarrassing thing anyone's ever uttered in the history of the human race. he sucks in a breath.

"romance. you know?"

definitely not like that. jimin just gives him a completely blank look while taehyung nods deeply.

"i do know romance. they say i'm the very embodiment of it, actually."

"who's they," yoongi says, then shakes his head. "nevermind. i don't want to hear any more than i already did."

"my ex-lovers, jimin, my rumba instructor, the mailman, seokjin's mother," taehyung lists anyway.

"i can't tell if you were listing your ex-lovers or not but i really hope you weren't?"

jimin leans forward with his jaw propped on his knuckles, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"from the way you just blurted out romance and your general awkwardness right now, i'd take it you're having trouble with that aspect of your relationship?"

"i'm not having trouble," yoongi scowls, "i'm a perfectly romantic person. it's not that."

"what is it, then?"

yoongi flicks his tongue in his mouth, worries his lip.

"i want to take jungkook somewhere," he says, "with everything that's been going on... he's been overworked and stressed out and then the shit with his parents. i want to... do something nice for him. take his mind off of things for a while and help him relax."

"just boink him real good," taehyung suggests seriously. yoongi makes a vaguely disgusted face at him.

"how are you the embodiment of romance?"

"boink him in the rain."

"i want my money back," yoongi says, and reaches across the table, but jimin snatches the bill into his fist.

"hold on, now," he says, "i agree with you, one hundred percent. if you won't take him on a date, i will. we would've helped you for nothing in return, honestly, if you had told us it's about jungkookie right off the bat."

"then give me my stuff back," yoongi says, and watches jimin stuff everything on the table into his pocket. he sighs a little. "what i really need you to do is just... keep him busy tomorrow after his shift. i want to pick him up from work so that it'll surprise him. take him to, um, coffee or something but don't tell him i'm planning something."

"so you don't need help planning?" jimin narrows his eyes, skeptical. "why did you start with 'romance, you know'? "

yoongi heaves a frustrated sigh.

"i just really sort of want it to be a romantic night because, like... we've been on dates that weren't exactly romantic. before and after we started dating. we got drunk at karaoke and jungkook broke a mic so we don't go there anymore. we went to the escape room zombie thing and i punched a zombie so... we don't go there anymore."

"we're banned from so many places," taehyung whispers. yoongi nods.

"so i want to, for once... because i know how much jungkook likes romantic stuff. like the notebook, like kissing in the rain, like being apart and sending each other 365 letters -"

"i don't think he's expecting you to do the last one," jimin says.

"- and i want to give him all that. i just, i haven't... in my last relationship, we didn't really do a lot of that stuff. not because i didn't want to. it just... wasn't us, i guess. even if it was me, it wasn't us. and now... with jungkook... it's different again. and i think... i'm more like myself." yoongi absently scratches at the surface of the table with a fingernail. "after the thing with kihyun was over, i realized how wrong things had been, how it wasn't what i wanted at all, how i'd been settling for something that... didn't make me miserable, but didn't make me happy, either. and the point is... the point is. that i don't want it to be like that for jungkook. i don't want him to feel like he's settling for something."

he finally stops to take a breath. he didn't mean to ramble, but jimin and taehyung listened to all of that silently.

"you started spiralling hard," taehyung notes. yoongi shrugs to say, yeah.

"okay, regarding nagini," jimin starts, and from his tone yoongi deduces he's got a lot to say, "yes, i'm calling him the snake from harry potter. i can't believe i'm about to say something that doesn't paint him as an absolute garbage person -"

"you just called him the snake from harry potter," yoongi quirks an eyebrow, "i think that cancels it out."

"oh, good." jimin folds his arms on the table. "you guys just weren't compatible. there's nothing you could've done about that. people spend years in unhappy relationships sometimes, mistaking not being miserable for happiness. or maybe they were happy, and just - grew apart. and who's to say what's going to happen as time goes, but i can say right now that you and kook are the most disgustingly compatible pair of people i've ever seen. and i guarantee you," jimin inhales, "that he's not settling for anything. dude, he really, really... likes you a lot."

"that stuff you listed?" taehyung says. "it doesn't matter. grand gestures don't matter. they're nice, once in a while, sure, but not everyone loves like that. loud and brazen. and that's okay. jungkook doesn't want ryan gosling in the rain, he wants a small nocturnal piano gremlin."

yoongi just looks at him.

"that's you," taehyung clarifies.

"thanks," yoongi says.

"don't you feel like we've had this conversation with someone before?" jimin asks taehyung. taehyung cocks his head.

"why, i do feel like that."

"what," yoongi says. they turn to him. gentle but somehow vaguely aggravating smiles on their faces.

"all i'm saying is that you're both worrying about the exact same things," jimin says. "you're both worried that the other is going to wake up one morning and realize, this person is not good enough for me at all. well, i have news for you: you're both idiots."

"oh," yoongi says after a beat, "i really thought you were going to say something else there."

"something like, you both love each other on more levels and more deeply than you know and if you fuck up one date that's not going to change anything because his love doesn't depend on the restaurant you choose?" jimin shrugs. "yeah, i could've said that. but i summed it up to: you're both idiots."

yoongi snorts, can't help it. he smiles, really smiles, and shakes his head.

"yeah. thanks."

"okay, damn, i'd love to stay, but yoongi went on for a while there and i have to go catch my shift," jimin sighs. yoongi rolls his eyes as jimin grabs his gloves off the table and gets up. "text me anytime if you do need help planning. my advice: champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries? a classic, can't go wrong with that one."

"eaten off his body," taehyung waggles his eyebrows.

"on top of a grand piano," jimin adds.

"just leave?" yoongi says. jimin brushes his fingers briefly against taehyung's shoulder in passing.

"i'll snapchat you but after i've reached the bookstore because i'm trying not to get clipped. i hope you get fired."

"i appreciate it," taehyung says.

"bye, babe. bye, tae," jimin calls as he strides out, and yoongi can hear the smirk even if he can't see jimin. he flips him off over his shoulder without looking, and jimin's cackle blends in with the sound of the bells as the door opens and closes.

"kook's gonna love whatever you choose," taehyung hums, "the most important factor will be present in any case."

"me?" yoongi says, and at the same time taehyung says: "free food."

"and you," taehyung says. yoongi just sighs sort of resignedly. "have you considered dancing, though? i know kook loves it, and it's like, the best way to unwind. if you don't count boinking."

"oh, i definitely count boinking as a way of unwinding. stop talking about it, though?" yoongi slouches forward against the table. "and... yeah, i have, actually."

"aww." taehyung grins, all teeth. "romantic."

"stop it." yoongi wishes he had something to throw at taehyung, but he just gave all of his belongings to jimin. he aims for his shin under the table, gets the leg of the chair instead.

"now, for your end of the deal," taehyung moves on, unbothered. yoongi braces himself.

"what do you want?" he asks tightly. taehyung gives him an indecipherable look.

"you like revenge, right?" he asks vaguely.

"sure," yoongi allows, "but if that's what this is about, you can count me out. i don't want to be dragged into your beef with hobi."

"just hear me out," taehyung holds up his hands. "i know namjoon technically told me not to take revenge -"

"he was actually very clear about that," yoongi says.

"- he implied -"

"he said, 'no revenge, tae'."

"- and i know where he stands on the issue. he may be able to let things slide for the sake of greater good or to guarantee that no one goes to the hospital, whatever. but you and i are not like that. we have this certain pride seated deeply within ourselves, this innate need to seek justice when we've been slighted, we have the streets of daegu in our veins -"

"i did volunteer street cleaning when i lived in daegu," yoongi interrupts, "what streets are you talking about?"

"just a tiny, harmless piece of revenge," taehyung implores.

"oh, god," yoongi makes a pained face. "what are you planning?"

"nothing much," taehyung says, sitting back in the chair and going from intense to nonchalant like someone flipped a switch, "i'm just going to inflict some psychological terror."

yoongi stares at him blankly. then he slaps his hands palms down onto the table.

"seriously," he groans, "why can't anyone here pull pranks like normal people? just put hair dye in his damn shampoo. put a fake cockroach on his pillow. jesus fucking christ. why do you have to turn it into psychological warfare?"

"it's fair? he had me convinced there was a murder clown after my sweet ass for months." taehyung shrugs. "so i'm going to make him believe our house is haunted. shouldn't be so hard. our house is the site of two brutal murders, after all."

"what are you -"

"bill the santa, whom you killed in cold blood on new year's," taehyung explains patiently, "and my trust in people which hoseok killed with his bare clown hands."

"that santa was cursed as fuck and deserved everything that came to him," yoongi snaps. "what would you even have me do? dress up in a sheet?"

"he'll know i'm fucking with him immediately," taehyung says, "but if you're in on this, telling him about the strange shit you've seen around the house, he'll never suspect it."

"look, i get your bloodlust, i do, but there's a hundred percent chance someone's going to wind up dead, hospitalized, or in prison. a sixty percent chance it will somehow be namjoon."

"god, fine," taehyung whines, "fine. i will reconsider. i will not, however, sink to the level of petty mischief such as fake cockroaches. my cockroaches will always be real and organic and well-spoken. you will help me, after i get back to you, won't you?"

"as obliged by our legally binding verbal contract that i didn't really even agree to," yoongi rolls his eyes, "fine, i'll help." this has definitely been a taxing conversation. he sighs a little, combs his fingers through his hair - terrible roots again, maybe he'd try something new, this time. he wonders if jungkook would like him in blue. or green, or teal. "i'll throw in something extra. i'll pay you to make me a coffee to go. if this experience has taught me anything, it's that i do not want to owe you, ever."

"i mean, you're supposed to pay me, this is a coffee shop," taehyung says as he gets up, smoothing out his apron.

yoongi leans against the counter while taehyung prepares his americano. it occurs to him, drumming his fingers to the beat of the mellow top forty hit on the speakers, that he might be thinking of ocean colors because of jungkook. no, he most certainly is.

"hey," he says as taehyung sets the drink in front of him, "if you're scared to quit because you're unsure of the future... you could talk to jungkook about it. he quit something, too, with no guarantee of how things would turn out. i bet he could tell you what it was like to come to that decision, if you asked him."

taehyung parts his lips, but the sound only follows a few seconds later.

"yeah," he says quietly, nudging the coffee towards yoongi, "yeah, i could ask."

he won't take yoongi's credit card.

"use that money to buy jungkookie flowers when you take him on a date," he says, smiling more with his eyes than any other part of him.

yoongi blinks at him; then a soft snort escapes him, followed by a softer smile.

/

late friday morning finds yoongi fumbling to recall the box step in the kitchen, half-awake and holding a bowl of cereal, a spoon clamped between his lips. who also finds him: namjoon, who is a lot less at work than yoongi thought. they both freeze and hold eye contact across the kitchen for a good five seconds.

"you look like a glitching video game character," namjoon says, "are you okay?"

"it's the box step," yoongi grunts, taking the spoon out of his mouth, "fuck you."

"it really is not," namjoon says skeptically, "that was my sims character yesterday when i left a plate in front of the doorway. this is the box step."

"that's not even a box," yoongi frowns at namjoon's feet, "that was, like - a messed up hexagon."

they go back and forth for a while, repeating their variations of the box step on their respective sides of the kitchen, and honestly, both of them really suck. it might be because yoongi is not fully awake yet and still fuzzy from when jungkook kissed him deep and long on the bed before leaving for work, and is therefore not thinking very rationally; but he suddenly feels like this whole date is fucked if he doesn't master the box step.

"come here, hyung," namjoon grabs his elbow and drags him into the living room, "we will figure this out."

they trample over each other's feet in various polygons in the middle of the floor and yoongi really wishes he had just asked jungkook to teach him how to dance. he'd thought it'd be like riding a bike. he's now questioning if he ever knew how to ride a bike in the first place.

"why don't you just ask him to teach you to dance," namjoon says.

"too late," yoongi says miserably, "i'm taking him out tonight. i'm taking him out tonight to a place with dance and he's going to leave me for someone who can actually dance at the dance place."

"you know that's not going to happen, right," namjoon says.

"i'm a terrible boyfriend," yoongi sighs.

"firstly, no, you're not, you literally care so much you're panicking over the box step," namjoon says, "secondly, i'm calling hobi. hobi knows how to dance."

i'm at work, but i've got some time, hoseok says on the phone, sure, i'll swoop in and save your relationship.

turns out, the job he was talking about this time was clowning. he busts in through the front door in full clown gear and makeup. namjoon screams.

"there's a birthday party down the block," hoseok explains. "now let me teach you the sensual art of waltz."

"i feel like i'm living out taehyung's nightmare," yoongi whispers soullessly.

he gains the box step and an experience that's going to either come back to haunt him for the rest of his life, or become a repressed memory his brain is going to completely block out for his own good.

he does get flowers, he gets forget-me-nots from the flower shop across from where jungkook used to draw in the summer. the one with jungkook's art hanging on the wall behind the counter. he was going to go for roses, but then he walked in, saw the delicate blue flowers tucked between shelves as if for safekeeping, and was drawn in some way. more so when the shopkeeper told him what they symbolize. well, it's literally asking, do not forget me - but it's also associated with true love and memories. they are reminders of memories you've shared with someone important, as well as a promise: i'll love you even when things get hard.

when she heard they are for jungkook, she tried to give them to yoongi for free. he's such a nice young man. he always helped me with the boxes when a delivery came through. so sweet and hard-working.

yeah, that's him, yoongi agreed, and insisted on paying, anyway. if jungkook asks, he'll probably say: they were blue so i thought of you.

"what are you so nervous for," hoseok snorts, de-clowned in the evening, leaning a shoulder against the bathroom door frame while yoongi stands in front of the mirror frowning intensely at the buttons of his black v-neck. "it's not like you're going out for the first time. you've been dating for over a month. you literally live together." suddenly he gasps. yoongi lifts his gaze and meets his eyes in the mirror, puzzled. "unless you're planning something special . are you going to finally propose? is that why you needed to learn to dance? for the wedding?"

"oh my god, what do you mean 'finally'?" yoongi makes a pained face. "we've been dating for a month, you literally said it yourself."

hoseok just shrugs.

"honestly, you guys could get hitched today and i wouldn't even question your judgement. it'd just feel like... everything's as it should be and the world is in order. nothing would even change since you already room together. naturally, i'm assuming that you will live here after getting married. raise your kids in this house. build successful careers in music and art and retire in this house. live happily ever after in this house until... one by one... death comes for us... oh, god. mortality salience. mortality salience."

"you're twenty-five, breathe," yoongi sighs, tugs at the collar of the shirt, trying to decide whether it dips too far below his collarbones. "and i'm not nervous."

"you literally had me come in just to teach you the box step."

"never speak of that again, by the way."

jimin texted him half an hour ago, saying they're taking jungkook to the new puppy café - a good call, also a lot more normal of them than yoongi was expecting - now his phone keeps buzzing on the sink with updates from jimin and taehyung, updates yoongi didn't ask for and is refusing to look at, because pictures of jungkook covered in puppies will only distract him further and also make him more anxious somehow.

yeah, okay. he's slightly nervous.

"okay, i'm slightly nervous. it's - just - that i want it to go well? because he deserves that much, and this feels... different... somehow, from the other times we've gone out... maybe because it's a date date? maybe because the place is, sort of, really romantic. and because of the dancing. because i'll be dancing with him and i'm sort of starting to think - i overestimated myself, and maybe i should've taken him to a bowling alley or something - less overwhelming -"

"let's face it, you'd be just as overwhelmed at a bowling alley because he'd be showing off his athleticism and hoisting heavy bowling balls with his jacked arms."

yoongi shoots a halfhearted glare his way.

"why are you even here? don't you have anywhere else to be? like one of your million weird jobs?"

"what's so weird about clowning," hoseok says.

"really?" yoongi gives him an incredulous look. "you really picked the weirdest one of them to make that argument? and not the IT support one?"

"you'd be surprised what goes on in that place," hoseok muses, "it's the weirdest one by far, trust me."

"huh," yoongi just says, and gives him a long look. sort of wants to ask but also feels like it's not a good idea.

"so nope, i'm done for today. i'm here to be your hype man. just relax," hoseok places a hand on yoongi's shoulder. "it's going to be fine. worst case scenario, it goes so badly he dumps you. you'll have to move out and live with that guy who gave you an extra churro until you find a new place. because you know we'll choose jungkookie over you."

"why the guy who gave me an extra churro," yoongi asks blankly.

"because he's the closest thing you have to a friend outside of this house," hoseok says solemnly. yoongi heaves a heavy sigh, tipping his head back.

"what if it goes so badly he dumps me."

"okay, i was just joking, but now you're being ridiculous." hoseok steps behind him, grabs both his shoulders. "look in the mirror. what do you see? i see a beautiful, talented, confident man. oh, that's jin-hyung. my bad."

"how are we looking up here," seokjin inquires as he comes up behind them. yoongi glares at hoseok with dead eyes.

"you're a really bad hype man."

"still like we rolled out of bed five seconds ago, i see," seokjin observes. "what the hell, yoongi? why aren't you ready? what have you been doing up here?"

"coming to terms with the fact that i'm gonna have to live with the churro guy," yoongi says tiredly, "and hoseok realized he'll die someday. is this shirt too slutty?"

"no," hoseok shakes his head.

"it's not slutty enough," seokjin seconds. "who's the churro guy?"

"yoongi's going to live with him after jungkook dumps him because apparently the future of their relationship is riding on this date," hoseok says.

"cool," seokjin says. yoongi groans quietly.

"sure, it sounds ridiculous when you put it like that." a brief silence follows. yoongi glances at the mirror and meets their pointed gazes. reluctantly, "fine. point taken." he grazes his teeth against his bottom lip. "what if he hates the hair, though."

"he's not going to hate it. i did a good job, fuck you," seokjin says more gently than one would expect, and steps forward, reaches up to card his fingers through yoongi's hair. "it looks good. really. blue suits you."

"when you go pick him up, make sure tae doesn't steal a dog from that café," hoseok says, "because you know he's going to try."

/

yoongi [7:32]
come out

jungkookie [7:34]
im gay

yoongi [7:34]
thats great news for me
since im dating you and all
come out of the café assholé

jungkookie [7:35]
ur here?
how and why

yoongi [7:35]
how: i stole your car
why: youll have to find out

jungkookie [7:36]
i mean the keys were right there on the nightstand its hardly grand thft auto

yoongi [7:36]
i could steal a car

jungkookie [7:36]
sure....

yoongi [7:37]
ok come out so we can debate my street cred face 2 face

jungkookie [7:37]
i jst dont think theres much point in debating myths?

yoongi [7:37]
wow
im driving away

jungkookie [7:38]
im coming hyung <3

yoongi [7:38]
insufferable, really
hey make sure tae leaves all the puppies inside

jungkookie [7:39]
he already tried to fit a corgi under his jacket
im not promising anything

yoongi hears the faint sound of a bell, murmur of familiar voices, and pockets his phone. folds his arms and waits, leaning against the side of jungkook's car. a couple of doors down the street, taehyung steps out, followed by jungkook, followed by jimin. taehyung and jimin are caught up in a minor squabble, but jungkook scans the street, eyes landing on yoongi almost immediately. yoongi watches him momentarily freeze, his eyes widening slightly, lips parting. the side of yoongi's mouth turns upwards.

jungkook bites his bottom lip; takes a step, walks the stretch of pavement between them, something intense in the way he holds yoongi's gaze. yoongi's heart beats just a little excitable, skittish... happy. jungkook looks good, that's hardly news, but still, in his padded fur-hooded coat and form-fitting black jeans, slightly tousled hair, probably from playing with the dogs, and eyes glinting in the shop window lights. he stops when he's directly in front of yoongi, their knees almost touching. they still haven't said a word. his eyes dart to yoongi's hair, linger there, wide and full of something like awe, maybe adoration, until they drop to meet yoongi's eyes. he licks his lips, eyes puffing up in a smile.

"hey."

"hey," yoongi echoes softly, and finally reaches out to touch, lightly brushing his fingers against his hips, dipping under the hem of his coat. jungkook touches, too, runs his fingers tenderly through the blue strands, fingernails scraping lightly against his scalp.

"your hair is blue," he whispers.

"it is," yoongi agrees, a hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth. aqua blue, sky blue, true blue. forget-me-not blue, almost exactly.

jungkook's hand slides down to his jaw, cradles it gently, thumb caressing along his cheekbone - closes the distance, kisses yoongi softly, but still so full, intense, and yoongi's eyelids fall shut. he holds his hips more firmly, just barely grazes his tongue against a soft bottom lip, tastes the remnants of a sweet french vanilla latte.

"i take it you don't hate it?" he murmurs, and jungkook's hum resonates on his lips.

"i like it," he whispers into his mouth, "like it a lot. wanna tell you just how much i like it."

"then tell me," yoongi says, laughs without really laughing.

"that would be inappropriate and violating at least, like, eight laws."

yoongi grins against jungkook's lips. "eight, huh?"

"i think they're really about to fuck on the street," comes jimin's not all that quiet voice, "let's leave them to it, tae."

"have a good time, guys," taehyung calls, and waves at them down the pavement when they pull apart. "don't do anything i wouldn't do."

"don't get in trouble, we only have the bail money for one of you," jimin adds. yoongi just raises a hand to salute them off.

jungkook turns back to yoongi. "we're going somewhere?"

"uh-huh," yoongi says, "i stole your car and now i'm kidnapping you." once behind the wheel, he bends over the passenger's seat, hooks his fingers over the handle and pushes the door open for jungkook. "don't sit on the flowers, please. i'm going to give them to someone very important."

jungkook stands there holding the door and blinking down at the bouquet of forget-me-nots. a slow closed-mouthed smile spreads on his face. he moves them carefully, carefully as he gets in, and the way he holds them in his lap, palm kissing the delicate five-petalled flowers like he wants to shelter the tiny things, looking down at them with a soft flush on his face, happy-surprised, so contradictory to his earlier cheeky confidence, is making yoongi feel some very intense things.

he grips the steering wheel and decides to focus on not crashing.

"what's all this for, hyung," jungkook asks quietly.

"what's it for?" yoongi shrugs, a pretence at nonchalance. "it's for you. and me. us. it's... a date. one that's not going to involve zombies in any shape or form. unless, like, the zombie apocalypse happens at a very inconvenient time."

a laugh rings out over the hum of the engine and the heater.

"i think i'd be fine with you. you'd just knock them out."

"okay, i didn't knock him out," yoongi says weakly, "i just... grazed him. with my fist. i felt so bad about it, holy shit."

"it was so funny seeing you apologize to a zombie, though," jungkook snickers. yoongi tries to bite back a smile, shakes his head. when he glances to his right, jungkook is looking back at him with his head tipped back against the seat, an undefinable and a little bit faraway smile on his lips.

"so what is this date going to involve?" he's leaning closer, ghosting his fingers over the top of yoongi's thigh. his voice gets low, breathy, but yoongi can still hear a smile in it. "where are you taking me, hyung?"

yoongi narrows his eyes at the road, pokes his tongue into the inside of his cheek.

"i really don't want to crash this car, jungkook," he warns.

"why would you crash?" jungkook inquires like he doesn't know.

"ugh," yoongi says and swats at the hand curling over the slope of his thigh and touching to the inseam of his jeans. his fingers catch on jungkook's when he goes to draw them away. tangle and squeeze and keep his hand there on his thigh.

"thank you for the flowers, hyung," jungkook whispers, impossibly soft, again.

"they're blue." yoongi bites his lips. "thought of you."

my hair is blue, thought of you.

he's immediately a lot less nervous about this now that jungkook is here. remembers that they're just... people. yoongi wasn't supposed to punch a zombie that time but he did and it turned out to be okay, still. they didn't get sued and jungkook called him his hero, a teasing smirk on his face. everyone's right, it can't go wrong that badly.

/

"no gas," jungkook announces, leaning over yoongi's lap to peek at the dashboard. "yup, knew i forgot to do something this week."

"i took dance lessons from a clown for nothing," yoongi whispers, petrified.

"what?"

"nothing. i can't believe you put a sticker over the fuel symbol," yoongi says, "and all the other symbols. this car is a death trap?"

"adulting?" jungkook suggests, and grimaces. "i'm sorry."

he looks genuinely apologetic, and yoongi turns in his seat, brushes his fingers against his knuckles.

"no, i'm sorry. i should've checked we had enough gas. this night was supposed to go a lot differently." he pauses. "for real, though, this vehicle is very unsafe."

"i'll get rid of the stickers," jungkook promises a bit grudgingly.

they got about halfway there before the engine died. they are stranded at the side of a nondescript road, and everything else here seems to be dead as well; no cars have passed by, they are surrounded by barren trees growing from icy ground towards sky darkening like bleeding ink. it's a very apocalyptic feeling. for a fleeting second, yoongi's brain goes: of course the zombie apocalypse is happening right now. that's just my fucking luck. he combs a hand through his hair, thinks of ways to salvage this because herds of zombies aren't going to keep him from taking jungkook on a date.

"i'll call seokjin, tell him to bring gas, and maybe we can still make it -"

"wait, hyung," jungkook interrupts. his eyes are fixed out of the windshield like he just saw something. yoongi tries to follow his gaze, but doesn't see anything that might've attracted his attention; things are still dead, the street unlit, dusk setting in. he hears a click; jungkook is unbuckling his seatbelt.

"this is almost the exact same spot," jungkook says, bites his lip. yoongi blinks, has no idea what he's talking about, but jungkook doesn't elaborate, only gives a strange smile, and gets out of the car. yoongi is left with the forget-me-nots on the front seat; he unbuckles, follows after jungkook.

"kook," he calls as he climbs out of the car, "what spot? buried treasure? brutal murder? i'm gonna need some context."

he slams the door shut and meets eyes with jungkook over the roof. he's got his arms folded on top of it, and his eyes are shining their own light in the dark. "this is the road where we met for the second time. do you remember?"

"oh," yoongi breathes as realization dawns on him. he takes in their surroundings, pictures green, pictures summer, and from the figurative folder titled jungkook in his head , pulls out a memory. "you're right. we're not far off. it was like, past that curve."

jungkook is grinning, his teeth like pearls.

"you were returning from a wedding gig and you were wearing a tux. you threw skittles at me."

"will you ever forget about that," yoongi snorts.

"never." jungkook's smile melts into a soft puddle. "that was when i knew... that you're kind. not just... nice because common sense tells us we shouldn't be dicks. but - kind because that's who you are."

"you knew that because i threw skittles at you?" yoongi quirks his eyebrows. jungkook shakes his head.

"because you pulled over to ask me how i am." yoongi's lips part; before he can say anything, jungkook's smile widens, again, turns into something of a smirk. "that was also when i knew that i definitely had a thing for hot pianists in dress shirts and bowties."

yoongi breathes out harshly through his nose, smiles effortlessly. watches jungkook tip his face up, mouth falling open.

"the stars are coming out," he says, "hyung, we can see the stars here." he looks back down, blinks his doe eyes. "are we going to make it?"

"nope, that's a lost cause," yoongi admits.

"before you call jin-hyung... watch the stars with me, hyung? just for a while."

"however long you want," yoongi promises.

much like back then, they sit on the hood of jungkook's car, yoongi's heels lodged into the bumper. different from back then: it's a lot colder, and they're sitting a lot closer. so many things have changed. it's actually a bit jarring to be here again.

"it's so quiet," jungkook whispers, "wow."

it's true, yoongi is noticing it, too. the house is never this kind of quiet, and he's used to always having someone's voice in the background, something creaking, some worrying sound from the pipes in the bathroom that everyone pretends not to hear.

"so this is what silence sounds like," yoongi says. "huh. it's weird."

"but kinda nice."

"kinda nice."

jungkook tips back on the hood, long legs still dangling over the edge of it. he sighs a cloud into the air above him, and yoongi stares, for a moment, until jungkook casts a glance at him; fingers catch on the back of yoongi's jacket, tug lightly.

"gonna join me?"

yoongi lies back on the hood with him. the sky is scarcely sprinkled with stars. the moon is a waning crescent over the treeline and jungkook is humming softly under his breath and pointing out ursa major. yoongi points out that that's not ursa major and one of its stars is a plane. they playfully bicker about constellations the way they bickered about the colors of skittles back then. sure, things have changed. but some things stay the same. yoongi still likes making jungkook laugh like that, loud and candid.

"did you have fun at the puppy café?" he asks, because at least that part went according to plan.

"yeah," jungkook murmurs, his leg bent at the knee tipping over and knocking against yoongi's. "this one poodle and i really bonded. i wish we could get a dog."

"maybe -" yoongi starts to say, then catches himself; thinks about what the thing he was going to say insinuates and whether he should be saying it at this point. then says it anyway. "maybe someday."

"namjoon-hyung is allergic," jungkook says, "he's not going to stop being allergic anytime soon, so i doubt - oh."

he looks at yoongi, eyes wide, lips frozen in a deflated o-shape, and looks as young as the day they met. they are pressed so close that it doesn't even matter it's dark; yoongi can see every detail of his face, the faint scar on his cheek and the tiny freckles scattered much in the way of the stars in the sky. yoongi feels himself flushing, and steers his gaze back up. it's obviously not the time for this. it wouldn't be the time for this for years.

"yeah," he hurries to say, "maybe someday we'll kill namjoon just so we can get a dog."

relaxes a little when he hears a melodic hum from his side. feels jungkook curl against him; when he chances a glance, starry eyes are studying him.

"maybe someday." jungkook looks him straight in the eye when he says this as if to make sure yoongi gets what he's saying. maybe someday is vague and abstract at best but it's also a lot, simply because it exists, now. a tentative promise of a future.

"namjoon will be pumped to hear we talked about murdering him," yoongi mumbles. watches jungkook's expression flicker the way it does before giving way to a smile. then there's the smile, then there's yoongi wanting to kiss him so he does. he rolls over onto his side, rolls into jungkook, their cold noses brushing. jungkook smiles differently, the way where he's scrunching his mouth into a little line. yoongi presses his lips to jungkook's, and that's all it is, that's all it needs to be. tastes iced french vanilla latte.

"will you now tell me where we were going?" jungkook inquires. yoongi heaves a sigh.

"it was going to be great. take my word for it, okay, i have nothing to show for it. it's a place where i've played before. it's impossible to get a reservation around valentine's day, so i thought, you know, a head start? i was gonna get us champagne. maybe even strawberries. not eaten off your body, because that would've gotten us thrown out."

"would've been worth it, probably."

"i agree. i was going to ask you to dance... proper dance. slow dance. i even practiced for you."

"you did?" jungkook sounds a little bit caught off guard.

"yeah," yoongi says, "and that experience definitely didn't involve namjoon stepping on my toes for an hour and hoseok teaching me while dressed as a clown."

"from the way you said that, it sort of sounds like that's exactly what happened?"

"nah, i specifically told you that wasn't it. but the best thing about that place," yoongi says, eyes tracing the constellation of moles on his face, "the best thing about that place is that it smells like candy apples. they have them on their dessert menu, and at least to the stage, it was all i could smell. which is the whole reason i thought of that place, really."

jungkook looks at him, and looks at him, his fingers curling against the metal between them; then he props himself up on elbow, hovers over yoongi. yoongi's now staring at his eyes against the starry sky as if for comparison, and thinking, yeah, it's not that different.

"thank you," jungkook says, so softly that it makes yoongi want to hold his breath, "for thinking of me. for planning all this. it sounds nice. i know i would've liked it."

"well," yoongi swallows, "good to know. that's basically A for effort. sorry that's all it -"

"the power still runs." yoongi closes his mouth and blinks. "that means the radio still works." jungkook breaks into a dashing grin before he even gets to the point. "we could dance right here."

yoongi's mouth hangs open for a moment.

"on the street?"

"there's no one here," jungkook says, "i know it won't be the same... it doesn't smell like candy apples here. but it'd be a shame if all your practice went to waste?"

it's a good point. a better one yet is the hopeful excited look on jungkook's face. it's not like yoongi can deny him anything. jungkook doesn't play fair.

jungkook fiddles with the radio until he happens upon a channel that plays classical music; the frequency a little bit bad, splintering from time to time like an old music box, but it's good enough. while he's on it, yoongi picks up a little blue flower that came off from the bundle on the passenger's seat.

strauss pours out of the car behind jungkook, and yoongi steps close, says, "wait." reaches up to tuck the flower into his hair behind his ear. "'s like prom," he murmurs. "now you match me."

jungkook is kissing him before he can properly react, mouth mashed a little hard against yoongi's, their teeth clashing, and yoongi staggers back a step from the force of it. he clings to jungkook's shoulders, releases a low hum from the back of his throat.

"slow down," he mumbles, "we're in no hurry to go back."

it does feel like the apocalypse, with the car abandoned at the roadside with its door ajar, everything dead silent save for the distorted broken waltz on the radio. he recites his insight to jungkook, who smiles like a knife.

"it's the end of the world, hyung," jungkook whispers, "dance with me."

yoongi dances with him.

dances in polygons and doesn't even care whether or not they resemble boxes; counts to three first in his head and then out loud, and jungkook laughs endearingly and looks so - happy that it doesn't even matter. this is more utterly, disgustingly romantic than anything yoongi could've planned. and it's amazing. it's a traffic hazard. but it's so completely amazing.

jungkook's hand sliding up between his shoulder blades, to his nape, fingers tangling in his hair, whispering, "your hair, hyung, looks like the summer sea, you're like my own piece of sea, hyung", yoongi pushing against his neck, shivering, maybe, feeling floaty, feeling like they are disconnected from the rest of the world here, in liminal space or at the end of the world.

sort of doesn't want this to end, at all - but then the waltz does end, is replaced by the loud, discordant newscast intro music, which quite effectively wrenches them out of the moment. they stop moving, look at each other - jungkook grins, laughs a nearly inaudible laugh.

"thank you," he says, almost timidly, squeezes yoongi's hand, dips down to brush his iced latte lips to the corner of yoongi's mouth, "thank you for the dance, hyung."

"thank you," yoongi says, "how was my box step?"

"i can tell you learned it from a clown." yoongi attempts to tackle him to the snowy ground. jungkook only stumbles backwards until his back hits the side of the car, laughing, pulling yoongi with him. "it was perfectly adequate. would dance with you again."

yoongi snorts. "me, too. next time, somewhere warmer, though." now that they aren't moving, the cold catches up and sinks its teeth in.

"oh!" jungkook says so suddenly yoongi jumps against his chest. he draws back, looks up at him, questioning. "i have a blanket in my trunk. from when i used to live in my car."

"oh my god," yoongi says, "i totally forgot you used to live in your car."

what follows is: they get the blanket - i'm not surprised, yoongi says when he sees the iron man pattern - turn off the power to save battery, crawl onto the backseat, kick their shoes off, huddle under the blanket. it feels like the time to call seokjin, yoongi thinks, but before he can act on that, there's a hand tugging at the zipper of his jacket. yoongi raises an eyebrow at the culprit.

"'s still cold," jungkook murmurs, "give me your body heat."

"all yours," yoongi hums, amused, as jungkook unzips the jacket. instead of simply burrowing close - jungkook swings a leg over his lap and straddles his thighs, shoving his hands into the jacket. oh, yoongi thinks, his pulse spiking momentarily, and then staying higher than the average resting heart rate as jungkook wiggles around a little bit, settles more comfortably into his lap.

"comfy?" he breathes, grabbing the blanket and adjusting it around them.

"still cold," jungkook whispers, pressing his icy nose against yoongi's neck as if for emphasis. yoongi shudders with his whole body.

"take off your jacket," he whispers, fingers climbing to the zipper between their chests. jungkook pulls away enough to give him a meaningful look. "body heat," yoongi reasons.

jungkook peels off the layer, and yoongi does the same with a little difficulty due to jungkook on his lap and his back against the backrest.

"oh, nice shirt," jungkook says, fingers tangling in the collar. he licks his lips, looks down at yoongi with heavy-lidded pretty eyes that crease faintly at the corners in a kindling of a smile. "you look nice. sorry we didn't make the restaurant."

"i'm fine with it if you are," yoongi hums, tracing the outer seams of his jeans feather-like, up up to his hips. "i don't care about the restaurant. i care about you."

"that's just cheesy," jungkook whispers, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. his fingers curling and smoothing out against yoongi's ribs.

"it is." yoongi's hands slip easily under jungkook's loose white button-up, make him gasp, arch, shift, closer. yoongi's breath stutters, he whispers, "sorry."

jungkook shakes his head vehemently.

"it's okay. just cold. keep..." there's a pink dust on his face, maybe from the cold, but - maybe not; clutching at yoongi's shoulders, he rolls his hips ever so slightly. yoongi's grip on his waist tightens. he finishes, breathlessly, "keep touching me."

this is escalating fast, and - they should talk about the fact that they're in a car, in a public space, technically, although there's been no traffic and they are well off the road and jungkook's shifting his hips continuously in tiny little circles, yoongi's hands around his narrow waist not exactly stopping him - no, yeah, they should talk -

"kook, car, in public," yoongi gasps, and thinks it went pretty well. that was a pretty efficient summary of the main points.

"i know, i, um," jungkook stutters. "do you - do you want to stop?"

yoongi makes a noise from the back of his throat as jungkook grinds down. his arm loops around jungkook's lower back, drawing him in, his forehead connecting with the nook of his neck.

"i mean, there's no one here - it's dark, we've got this blanket - ah - and we should prevent, uh, hypothermia -" yoongi's not entirely sure what he's saying.

"hypothermia," jungkook repeats, dazed, "yeah, i agree. we should fuck."

a laugh bursts out of yoongi. he's not sure why now of all times, but he has the very intense re-realization, like a moment of clarity: i love him. then he starts laughing again because of how that was his reaction to we should fuck; then he's just sort of laughing because he's happy and jungkook makes a pleased little sound, rocks a little bit in his lap.

"yoongi." fingers sink into his hair and tug lightly, and yoongi tilts his head up; jungkook surges down not unlike a waterfall, wild and powerful, captures his mouth with some fierce hunger. yoongi matches it, sucks the last of the vanilla latte from his tongue; underneath it a different sweetness, the one he associates with candy apples, with jungkook. their lips are a little bit stiff from the cold still but the ice is melting fast, and soon it's hot with the heat they create between their bodies, yoongi's hands dragging jungkook down, closer, again and again.

jungkook's button-up, half-opened at some point, is slipping off his shoulders, held together by the last two buttons and his cuffs; yoongi's hands try to be everywhere on him at once as jungkook moves on top of him. he hears a ripping sound, realizes it's one or more of his buttons giving out under jungkook's fingers.

"oh, whoops, shame," jungkook whispers, and doesn't sound all that remorseful, "it really was a nice shirt."

"i have literally never cared less about clothing in my entire life," yoongi breathes hurriedly, his jeans already feeling tight; he grabs jungkook's hips as he grinds down urgently, tipping his head back against the cushions and biting down on his lip to suppress a groan as jungkook mouths hotly at his neck, moans right into his ear.

"kook -" fingers circle to the front of jungkook's jeans, hook under the waistband. jungkook bucks into his touch, hums low in his throat in a way that goes straight down his spine, makes him arch in the seat and rock up.

"please, please -"

he stifles a noise into jungkook's neck, fingers pulling at the button of his jeans a bit desperately; works them open, cups him through his briefs, and jungkook's body tenses beautifully before relaxing, arching, his moan filling the car and yoongi's head. he presses open-mouthed kisses across the expanse of his bare chest, nips at his clavicle, before sitting back to admire him whilst palming him, his other hand grounding and firm on his waist.

and jungkook demands admiration; in the blueish light filtering in through frosty windows, he looks like something that belongs in the sky, something celestial people worship and make myths out of; beautiful, is what yoongi's getting at, so fucking beautiful, and entirely human as reminded by the warm flush on his chest and yoongi's name in his mouth like a plea. yoongi's heart beats hectic and he reaches into jungkook's briefs, takes him out and wraps his hand around him; his other hand sneaks up into jungkook's hair, pulls maybe a bit hard; but jungkook only moans, red swollen mouth open, long-lashed eyes closed, beautiful beautiful.

yoongi tugs him into a kiss that turns hot and messy fast, turns into teeth and tongue and drowned noises. jungkook is heavy and leaking in his hand, rocking forward, fucking into his fist slicked up by precum, caging yoongi with his forearms propped against the seat; yoongi is painfully hard but wants to give jungkook whatever he wants first. jungkook's hips are growing erratic, his arms slipping on the backrest.

"yoongi, yoongi," he pants, "i want -"

"what do you want," yoongi encourages, thumbing at the head of his cock, drinking his moans from his lips.

"want you inside me," jungkook breathes, "really, really want you to fuck me like this."

yoongi knocks his head back against the seat, lets out a strangled groan. forces his eyes open, looks up at jungkook, his heaving chest, flushed skin, bottom lip clamped between his teeth, eyes dark with mystical intense things and fixed on yoongi's.

"i don't have anything with me, baby," yoongi manages, his hand in a tight ring around jungkook, the other one smoothing up and down a muscular thigh.

"i have free samples in the car," jungkook blurts. yoongi's mouth falls open. then he gives a throaty laugh.

"from when you used to live here?"

"technically," jungkook rolls his eyes. then he's leaning back in yoongi's lap, twisting his upper body to reach between the front seats into the storage box there. yoongi holds his hips to help him not to fall, although jungkook's core strength is doing a good job of that on its own. "i've never, ah... never done this here before."

he comes back up, holding - a condom and two sample packets of lube. yoongi's mouth curls into a grin.

"nice."

jungkook brings the foil packets close to his face, brow furrowing in concentration as he checks the expiration dates.

"yup, we're good," he says, discarding them onto the seat.

"responsible sexual behavior," yoongi sighs, "fuck, you're so hot." when jungkook looks at him, he adds, "and that wasn't sarcasm. this is really turning me on."

jungkook grins, bright and absolutely pretty, and yoongi cups the back of his neck, brings him down for a kiss.

"okay, get your dick out," jungkook slaps his shoulder and climbs off his lap.

"less hot," yoongi assesses like his dick isn't drilling a hole to the front of his jeans. jungkook gets out of his jeans and briefs surprisingly and impressively fast in the limited space while yoongi shimmies his down to mid-thigh; a cool shiver runs through him, and he bites down on his lip. then there's a hand on his jaw, jungkook angling his face, bringing their mouths together in a long, insistent kiss. he swings a leg over yoongi's thighs again, more impatient in his movements than before.

they gasp as their erections brush together; yoongi's hands run up the gorgeous thighs on either side of him, knead at the warm flesh, skirt to the v of his hips underneath the shirt he's still wearing. he looks so sinfully good like this, the button-up clinging to one shoulder and pooling at his hips, hair fucked up and lips candy apple red and bitten. yoongi would tell him that but then jungkook wraps his fingers around him, strokes him slow and deliberate, and all that comes out is a breathy aah. jungkook hums, presses kisses all over, his cheekbone, ear, jaw, the most sensitive spot below his ear, murmuring sweet things in between: you look so good, so pretty, sound so good; while yoongi breathes unevenly and fumbles for the lube packet.

finds the bunched up blanket first and remembers its existence, reaches around jungkook to wrap it around them poorly but adequately enough even though he still doesn't think anyone will pass by, at least not close enough to see what's happening. he goes to tear open the lube packet - stops, looks at the print on the foil closer.

"this is flavored. strawberry kiwi."

"it was a free sample, i told you - no, don't eat it, what the fuck," jungkook stops him from licking the gel off his finger.

"it's flavored," yoongi argues, "that's implying it's expected to go in the mouth."

"it -" jungkook just looks at him, at a loss for words. yoongi just grins, settles for emptying the thing on his fingers and rubbing them together to warm it up. "goddammit, min yoongi," jungkook mutters, low and dark, fingers tangled in yoongi's hair, and yoongi is not entirely sure what it means; gets the feeling like it's a good thing, somehow.

"you ready?" he murmurs, reaching between jungkook's legs, his other hand on his hip like an anchor.

"yes," jungkook whispers, and spreads his thighs wider in a way that has yoongi cursing under his breath. he carefully and gradually slips the first finger in, makes sure he has time to adjust before moving. jungkook makes small appreciative noises, soon rocking down to meet yoongi's thrusts, supporting himself with his forearm propped beside yoongi's head.

"so since this is technically illegal," yoongi says, mostly because jungkook likes it when he talks to him during sex, "i just want you to know. that if we get caught, i'm going to completely pin this on you and say that you seduced me."

"oh, i know - ah - that you are." yoongi curls two fingers inside him and draws a gratifying moan out of him. heat coils tightly in his stomach, a fire that needs putting out, but he tries not to rush as he adds the third finger, reads jungkook's body and watches his face closely.

"yes, yes," jungkook mumbles, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks, a light sheen of sweat on his skin, and circles his hips on yoongi's fingers. yoongi slides a hand into his hair, drags him down, mouths colliding sloppily.

"you look so good, baby," he mumbles against his lips. jungkook moans breathily.

"i'm ready. let me ride you."

"fuck, yeah, yes." yoongi withdraws his fingers, looks for something to wipe them on for a moment; just use the blanket, we're already sort of defiling iron man, jungkook says, and yoongi breathes out a laugh.

he stares at the print on the condom very much like he did with the lube.

"it's ribbed," he remarks, "and dotted. damn."

"oh, my god," jungkook says weakly, "there was an std awareness rally at college - shut up, it's all we have. it might feel good."

"i didn't say anything," yoongi says, but the grin plastered across his face is telling a different story. he rips the foil open, begins to roll it on. "yeah, it might."

"lemme," jungkook whispers, opening up the second packet of lube, also strawberry kiwi flavored, lathering it onto his fingers, warming it up like yoongi had; reaches down to slick yoongi up, and yoongi hums, strangled, as jungkook pumps him slowly.

"oh. huh, wow," jungkook frowns at his dick, and in any other context yoongi would be self-conscious and possibly offended, but in this case jungkook is considering the weird-looking condom, the raised dots on the head, the lateral ribs that run down the shaft. yoongi gives a soft hoarse laugh, rubs his hands up and down jungkook's thighs.

"don't be intimidated," he says, "you'll probably barely feel it. that's my experience with ribbed condoms."

"'m not intimidated," jungkook huffs, full of bravado that's somehow extremely adorable. yoongi doesn't realize he's smiling until jungkook lifts his face and locks eyes with him. jungkook blinks at him, something unreadable in his eyes for a moment; then he dips down, kisses him more slowly, deliberately now. he's shifting in yoongi's lap, positioning himself, lining himself up. yoongi's hands grasp his hips as he starts to lower himself, easing down onto his cock little by little, using the backrest as leverage.

"oh," yoongi breathes, raking his nails up jungkook's backside under his shirt. jungkook makes a sound that's somewhere between a whimper and a moan, and once fully seated in yoongi's lap, rests his face into the nook of his neck. "are you okay?" yoongi asks, sounds absolutely wrecked to his own ears.

"i'm okay." jungkook moves experimentally, circles his hips just slightly. yoongi tries to keep down a moan, and it becomes a choked sound trapped in his throat.

"kook, ah - jungkookie -"

"do you think the windows will fog over enough so i can do the thing from titanic?" jungkook asks breathlessly.

"is that why you wanted to do this?" yoongi wouldn't actually be surprised if it was.

"it was the main reason, yeah."

yoongi, holding onto jungkook's hips, rocks up just a little bit - jungkook gasps, his abdomen tensing, and grabs yoongi's shoulders; "sorry," yoongi breathes, attempts to knead his muscles in a soothing manner.

"it was good." jungkook bites his bottom lip, looks down at yoongi with hooded eyes. "it's good. feels good."

he sets a pace, a slow grind that has yoongi deep within him at all times. small breathy noises keep falling from his lips, and yoongi keeps mumbling nonsensical things to him, into his sweat-salty neck, his hand fisted in the back of his shirt, the other one on his thigh and his hip and his waist. they've never gone this slow before, he doesn't think, and it's overwhelming in a good way.

jungkook lifts himself almost completely off and sinks back down fast, has both of them moaning, then repeats the movement, again and again. yoongi lets him control the pace, take what he wants; it feels good for him, too, of course, but: watching jungkook all blissed out and making him feel good is, like, eighty percent of his own pleasure.

"how does it feel?" he murmurs, lips already sore from biting and kissing. jungkook looks at him, feverish and panting, and his voice sounds like it's been through a wreckage.

"your dick? great. ten out of ten. the condom? it's not that different."

"thank you. it feels like you just rated my dick on yelp. and yeah, thought so."

despite yoongi's dick very much inside him currently and sweat trailing down his temple, he grins beautiful and genuine, closed-eyed, and yoongi's chest swells, fills with different sort of heat, maybe unfitting considering the situation, maybe not.

he pulls him in by the back of his neck, kisses him hard; plants his feet firmly on the floor and thrusts up into him. jungkook moans brokenly.

"keep - keep doing that."

"you said something about wanting to tell me how much you like my hair?" yoongi still attempts to tease him even though he sounds just as ruined himself.

"am i - hah - am i not being, ah, clear enough?" jungkook emphasizes by sinking his teeth into yoongi's neck, sending a jolt of pain mixed with pleasure pleasure pleasure through him, causing him to drive harshly into jungkook - fuck, yes, yes, jungkook gasps, so yoongi keeps it up.

the pace builds up, yoongi fucking up into him and jungkook meeting his thrusts, the car filled with strangled gasps and half-moans and the wet slick sounds that make it all real. jungkook is getting close, his hips losing their finesse, sagging against yoongi's chest, barely holding himself up on his forearm, other hand clutching yoongi's ruined shirt on his shoulder, a high-pitched "ah, ah, ah" leaving his throat on every thrust.

"kook," yoongi fists his shirt, stalls his hips, "lie on your back, yeah?"

once he has jungkook laid out across the backseat, he crawls on top of him, caresses the backs of his thighs, folds them towards his chest. the compact space is not ideal but it's enough. jungkook watches him with clouded dark eyes, and yoongi bends down, kisses his mouth, all kinds of unadulterated want and need in it, kisses his jaw, kisses the column of his neck, and whispers, "let me make you feel good."

jungkook shudders all over, scrapes his fingernails across yoongi's shoulders. yoongi pushes in again, starts with languid, deep thrusts, hands roaming up his sides, his chest glowing with sweat and moonlight. thumbs at his nipples, drags a shaky moan out of him, his body curving under yoongi's hands, sensitive sensitive.

"yoongi, yoongi, yoongi," he mumbles like a prayer, hands grasping for him, and yoongi immediately sinks down, fits his mouth over jungkook's without much finesse or coordination, in a kiss that's just them panting into each other's mouths, yoongi's teeth pressing into jungkook's bottom lip.

yoongi gradually picks up the pace, fucks him hard, groans into his neck when jungkook throws his head back. the sounds he's making; it's about to tip yoongi over the edge, too, the heat in his lower stomach building and accelerating. he reaches between their bodies, grabs jungkook where he is hard and wet, sinks his teeth into the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

jungkook comes with just a few fast strokes and the most beautiful broken chord; comes almost violently, like a natural disaster, his body arching, jerking with aftershocks, thighs shaking and clenching tightly around yoongi's waist, head tossed back and rolling on the seat. yoongi follows before he even realizes, buried deep inside jungkook and his gasping moans buried into his neck. his hips work disjointedly a few more times before halting, and then he just lies there draped over jungkook's chest in the loud silence of their heavy panting and entangled heartbeats.

"oh," jungkook says weakly an indefinite amount of time later, "oh, my god."

"yeah," yoongi agrees. he props himself up on his elbows with great effort, and caringly brushes sweaty bangs off jungkook's face. "you okay?"

"mm." jungkook cracks his eyes open. yoongi's heart skips at least five beats in a row. he looks wrecked, more so than usually, fucked out and glowing, lips red and bitten, the tiniest satisfied curl to them, neck and collarbones adorned with bruises. the fact that yoongi did this, put that look on his face, it's... definitely something. "i'm very - oh."

jungkook scrunches up his face. yoongi blinks, alarmed. "what?"

"the... ribs. i can feel them now."

"oh." yoongi grimaces, strokes his thigh soothingly. "i'll pull out."

he sees the handprint on the window after he's disposed of the condom and they're putting their clothes back on the best they can. already fading but the evidence of a hand dragged down the glass is there.

"you really did it," he laughs, "how was it?"

"not that great, actually. hurt my wrist," jungkook grins. "but i'm still glad i got to do it."

a little bit later, they're lying on the backseat again, yoongi snugly in the space between the backrest and jungkook, their legs tangled underneath the blanket. yoongi called seokjin, and it's going to take him a while, but that's more than okay; he doesn't mind spending a while longer here. this place, this side road... feels like something they'll come to call theirs. he thinks hazily that they'll need more places like that. this road isn't all that interesting. good for slow dancing on the street and having semi-public sex, though.

the heat is wearing off, but yoongi's still warm, still basking in the remnants of the post-sex glow, lax and pleasantly sleepy. jungkook's fingers are drawing patterns on his ribs under his shirt, and yoongi is tracing his bruises; ghosts his fingertip over the imprint of his teeth at the base of his neck, turning blueish-purple like the rest of the marks. he bit him harder than he meant to.

"sorry," he whispers, "i didn't mean to hurt you."

jungkook gives his head a small shake.

"you didn't." he burrows closer, noses at his jawline. "i liked it. and. i'm pretty sure i bit you, too."

"you certainly did." yoongi closes his eyes, a smile on his lips. "and you're welcome to do it again." jungkook breathes out a laugh, a puff of hot air hitting his throat. yoongi toys idly with the fabric of the shirt on the back of his shoulders. "i'm so scared that i'm gonna develop a pavlovian reaction to iron man and pop a boner every time i see him because i'll be thinking about this."

"i already do that whenever i see him."

"hey," yoongi laughs, shaking against jungkook, who joins him, giggling into his chest. it's all kinds of warm good things and yoongi thinks, distantly: huh. i got really lucky, didn't i. his fingers travel up, card through jungkook's messy hair. "hey. again. i'm sorry the date was sort of ruined."

"that's not the word i would use." jungkook looks up, smiles, and his eyes shine. "there was stargazing. slow dancing. great sex. i got to do the window thing from titanic."

"so... perfectly adequate?"

"perfectly adequate," jungkook laughs quietly. he reaches up to just barely touch his fingertip to yoongi's chin; ghosts it along his jawline and follows the movement with his eyes like it's something fascinating. "hey, hyung... do you remember the night i moved in?" yoongi hums affirmatively. "i told you that it felt like a dream. sometimes i still feel like that."

yoongi's fingers shift tenderly in his hair. "why do you feel like you're dreaming?"

"i... know i'm not. it's just... hard to believe sometimes. that after... so many bad things, there's suddenly... this. sometimes, i think... i'm sort of expecting for someone to pull the rug from under my feet?"

"jungkook," yoongi murmurs. jungkook places two fingers against yoongi's lips, eyes still determinedly fixed on them.

"but here's the thing. here's the thing, hyung. when my parents called me to essentially disown me again, i realized... i'm fine. they can throw that at me and i'll be fine. because of what i have now. because it's not a dream that i'm going to suddenly wake up from." he pauses, only their chests rising and falling together for a moment. "i'm okay... you know what i mean?"

yoongi knows what he means. he kisses the two fingers on his lips. jungkook's big eyes flit up to meet yoongi's. remind him of a pair of sparrows, the way they jump on yoongi's face looking for one thing or the other. the way his lashes flutter as if taking flight when yoongi kisses each of his fingers, the hollow of his palm, the inside of his wrist.

there are forget-me-nots scattered in the snow around them like they bloomed there, like they really made flowers grow, as if to say, do not forget we were here.

/

"so you never made it to the restaurant? why did it take you so long to call me?" seokjin asks as he hoists canisters of gasoline out of his trunk. neither of them replies. they stare at seokjin in increasingly uncomfortable silence for about eight seconds, at which point seokjin's facial expression goes from realization to brief disgust to the most unimpressed look yoongi's ever seen. "seriously? out here?"

"we had to stay warm," yoongi insists, "it was survival."

"i mean, you could've called me?" seokjin raises his eyebrows.

"nah, i love surviving," yoongi says.

"i made him survive twice," jungkook adds.

"i don't want to hear either of you say the word 'survive' ever again," seokjin says. "you're so lucky i love you."