Jungkook's POV

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Y/N brushes at the collar of his pristine white dress shirt, fussing over Jungkook like a nervous mother. Her eyes are creased in stress, scanning over him time and again like she's waiting for a magic ketchup stain to appear out of thin air and ruin his outfit.

They're out in the hallway, hovering in the empty space between their apartment and Jimin's door down the hall.

Jungkook's been spiffed up in a pair of black slacks and a nice white dress shirt, his hair styled to perfection in the manner that he learned from Jimin. His ear glitter with their usual piercings, and his lips feel a little sticky with chapstick. Nerves stack his body at the thought of working today without Y/N or Jimin there to monitor him, but he's excited all the same.

Y/N's reluctance to let him go hangs heavy above his head. She's got on her backpack, dressed in jeans and his favorite cozy sweater.

He likes to cuddle her when she wears it, because the material is so soft against his hands and his face; almost as soft as her skin. He's a little tempted to think that she wore it on purpose today as part of a scheme to keep him from going to work.

Jungkook knows that she doesn't want him doing this.

He knows that she doesn't think he's ready. He knows that if he hadn't seduced her the other night, Y/N never would have let him get a job at the cafe.

But this is what Jungkook needs.

If he's going to stay here by her side, and be his own person, and love his Noona for the rest of his life, he needs to be doing this. Helping to support her, making sure that she isn't struggling alone to bear the burden of his sudden humanity.

'Bringing home the bacon', as Jimin hyung had told the ferrets.

Gently, Jungkook takes Y/N's face in between his hands and leans down the grant her a soft, gentle kiss. Her soft lips pillow his in a way that makes Jungkook momentarily forget why he kissed her; all he can feel are the shivers running through his skin, and the quickening of his heartbeat in response to her touch.

Y/N goes lax under his hands.

Oh yeah. That's what he was trying to do.

Satisfied that she's relaxed a little, Jungkook pulls back from the sweet kiss and gives his beloved Noona a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Noona. I promise."

Taking her hands in his, he interlaces their fingers and squeezes lightly.

Finally, a smile graces her face, and the stress lines sink back into the smoothness of her skin. "Okay. Okay. You can do this, I know you can. I believe in you."

At that, Jungkook lets a bright grin slide over his lips.

Her confidence is his confidence. Her belief is his belief. With her support, he feels like he can do anything and everything; he can sprout wings and fly like an angel if Y/N is behind him.

Y/N exhales roughly, like she's physically expelling all of the leftover stress from her body. "Jimin's going to take you guys to the coffee shop because I have class, okay? You're going to do great." Releasing his hands, she darts forward and buries herself in his chest.

He willingly enfolds his body around hers, making sure that she can feel all the warmth and love radiating from him as he surrounds her completely.

"I love you, Noona," he says.

Y/N's hands tighten in his shirt, then flatten as she tries to undo the small wrinkles she created. "I love you too, Jungkookie. Now go knock their socks off."

"Knock their...?"

Why on earth would he try to knock off their socks? Are people working at cafes supposed to do that?

At Jungkook's look of confusion, Y/N laughs loudly. "Never mind. Good luck."

She pushes him towards Jimin's door, and he goes eagerly. Glimpsing a flash of her backpack as she strides determinedly down the hall away from him, Jungkook shuts the door behind him.

"Hyungs!" he calls out. "I'm ready to go!"

At the sound of his voice, clattering footsteps approach from the hallway. Seconds later, Hoseok and Taehyung round the corner, grinning at Jungkook as they do.

Both of the ferrets are dressed in a similar fashion as him, according to the cafe's worker dress codes. It was a shop that Jimin knew the owner of well; that's how he was able to secure jobs for the three of them.

He can't wait.

Jungkook opens his arms as his hyungs scamper up to him, wrapping themselves up in a three-way ex-animal pretzel of fluffy cuddleness.

"Jungkookie," chirps Hoseok. "Are you excited? Are you scared? I can't decide which one I am!"

"Me neither," rumbles Taehyung. He pulls away from the group hug and sits on the couch, patting the empty spaces on either side of him. "Jiminie won't be out for a little while. He's still getting dressed."

Hoseok and Jungkook follows suit, plopping themselves down on the couch beside Taehyung. The adrenaline is almost tangible in the air, thrumming between the three of them like a pounding drum in their hearts.

"Are you happy?" asks Hoseok. "I'm so happy. We're getting jobs, and we're staying. I don't think I could ever be unhappy here."

In turn, Taehyung taps his fingers on his thigh, sending a soft pattering sound in Jungkook's direction with each hit of his finger. "Really? You don't think you could be unhappy?"

The question takes Hoseok aback. "What? Well...I don't think so. Are you unhappy, Tae? Do you think you could be?"

"I am happy," says the pale-headed man slowly. "But I don't think it's impossible to be unhappy as a human. There were some ways that being a ferret was...easier."

Jungkook can't help but mentally agree.

As a rabbit, there weren't all these crazy emotions rushing around his head and body, making him do things he never would've thought of before. Not that he has any regrets or problems with it; through the new discovery of the intensity of human emotion, he's able to love Y/N, and his hyungs too.

It's just that, when he was a rabbit, he never had to worry about it take responsibility for anything. There's a certain independence that comes with being human that Jungkook never would have expected.

"I'm happy," Jungkook says. "I could be unhappy, but I'm not."

Taehyung hums in agreement, flicking his fingers in a steady rhythm. Abruptly, he stops, and turns to the youngest who sits next to him. "But Kookie, what would happen if we weren't happy?"

Sitting back, they all quietly contemplate the question. What if, for some reason, some day, all of this crumbles apart? What if Jimin and Y/N can't keep them around anymore and they end up alone and afraid in a world where they don't know anyone, and they can't trust anyone.

What could they do?

"I mean, I guess..." Taehyung starts, trailing off in the middle as though hesitant to say it. "...if we were every so unhappy that we couldn't take it...the potion..."

"It's still in Y/N's apartment," Hoseok finishes quietly. "We could still drink it, and then go back to how we were."

Back to how they were. No broken hearts possible.

"Sure," says Jungkook. "That won't happen, but if we ever get unhappy enough-"

"We drink it." Taehyung holds out a hand to each of his companions. "Do we all think the same thing? If we're ever do unhappy that we can't take it, we can drink the potion."

Hoseok nods and shakes Taehyung's hand, but Jungkook hesitates. He stares down at the ridges and lines carved into the tan skin of his older friend's hand, and wonders.

Can he bear to lose this?

Even if Y/N stopped wanting him?

The mere thought of her love fading into nothing makes Jungkook's bottom lip tremble, thus answering his own question for him.

Being human may be great, but it would be nothing without Y/N.

If he's ever broken-hearted, going back to being a rabbit with no feelings seems like a much better option than spending the rest of his human life alone and miserable.

He shakes Taehyung's hand.

At that moment, Jimin enters the room, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He sees the three shaking hands and lifts an inquisitive brow. "Making a pact I see?"

But the three of them only share a somber glance between them, and get up to follow their human out the door.

[A/N]
Unedited
Sorry it's been ages. I really have been so busy that I don't even have time to think 😭 I love you guys and thank you for waiting ❤️