—

"Jimin, you slut. Why've you got another drummer's sticks in your pocket?"

At Namjoon's house, Jimin found himself squealing as his friend pulled the drumsticks Jungkook had given him out of his back pocket, analyzing them with a raised eyebrow.

Namjoon, the drummer for the little trio that Taehyung and him formed, smoothed his thumb over two engraved initials on the bottom of each drumstick. "Who's 'JK'? You know what I've told you and Taehyung about sleeping with rival band members?"

Jimin's eyebrows shot up, and he blushed a deep shade of red before he was reaching forwards and snatching the drumsticks out of Namjoon's hands. Taehyung, on the other hand, was giggling at the whole ordeal from where he was on the couch adjacent to them.

"None of your buisness, and I didn't sleep with him." Jimin scoffed, before looking down at the drumsticks in his hands, he ran his thumb against the engraved initials that Namjoon had pointed out, having not noticed them beforehand.

Jungkook had given him his most used, personal set of drumsticks. For some reason, Jimin found his heart thudding at the thought.

"Was it that drummer you were swooning over at your work earlier?" Taehyung called, standing up off of the couch and stretching his shoulders. Jimin sputtered, not aware until then that his attraction to the blue haired male was that obvious. He liked to think that he was subtle, but the truth seemed to say otherwise.

"Yes, but I wasn't swooning over him." Jimin rolled his eyes, trying to push down the embarrassment that he felt bubbling in his chest. He knew his friends, and if they could tell he was embarrassed they were probably just going to try and rile him up more.

He took a few steps forwards, watching as Taehyung opened up the mini fridge that Namjoon had in his basement. He pulled out a bottle of Soju, before grabbing a second and tossing it to Jimin. "I went to talk to him after their set was over, just wanted to tell him that I thought they played a really good set."

Jimin wrapped the cap of the soju bottle in the fabric of his shirt, protecting his fingers as he twisted the cap off with a satisfying pop.

"And you just talked?" Taehyung asked slyly, setting his bottle on the table before flipping back onto the couch.

"For fuck's sake, yes." Jimin answered, exasperated. It was true, they did just talk, and he was definitely telling the truth to his friends.

What he wasn't mentioning, was the tension.

Sure, all they did was exchange a few words, but the tension that had built up between them during the conversation was so much more. It was tension that told Jimin that he could have more if he wanted to, and that if he asked, Jungkook would have come home with him.

Maybe he should have.

"I'm only asking, because he was definitely someone to look at, so I wouldn't have blamed you if you did." Taehyung shrugged, picking up the bass guitar that had been resting on the couch next to him and plucking a few of the strings aimlessly.

Taehyung's personal bass guitar was glossy white, and adorned with doodles and writings done in black permanent marker. It was his prized possession, and the only people that were allowed to write on it were himself or those closest to him. Jimin himself had written on it, as had Namjoon. Taehyung's ex-girlfriend had also written on it, but her love message was now covered up with a thick
black "X". (Taehyung was a bit melodramatic).

"He is really cute." Jimin confessed. He looked down at the drumsticks that he was still holding, before tossing them to Namjoon who was now sat at his own drum set. "But I just know he's bad news." He watched as Namjoon just barely caught the drumsticks, before twirling them between his fingers.

"Oh, but that just means he's fun then," Namjoon laughed, using his free hand to brush a few brunette strands of hair out of his eyes. He played a quick drumroll with Jungkook's drumsticks, before tossing them back to Jimin and grabbing his own.

Jimin raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his soju.

He couldn't help but remember when Jungkook had said something similar, about smoking.

And he found himself considering, that everyone may be right.

-

"What the hell do you mean you lost your drumsticks?"

Jeon Jungkook lay on the floor of his best friend and band mate Min Yoongi's basement, with his arms behind his head and an unlit cigarette between his teeth. Yoongi wouldn't let him smoke inside, but having it between his lips appeased his cravings just a little bit.

"I mean exactly what I said." Jungkook shrugged, his words partially muffled by the cigarette in his mouth. "I lost 'em."

Silently, Jungkook was mourning the loss of his set of drumsticks.

They weren't actually lost though, just currently in the pocket of a pretty black haired boy. It wasn't uncommon for patrons of a venue they played at to approach Jungkook after a show and shower him in compliments in hopes of taking him home. It wasn't common for Jungkook to give away his personal possessions just because he couldn't think of any other way to flirt.

Jimin was just different. Jungkook couldn't explain why, but the male he met just an hour prior just wouldn't leave his mind as hard as he tried to think about something else.

Jimin had come out of the blue, catching Jungkook off guard as he tried to sneak in a smoke break before his band mates were going to start heading off away from the venue. Immediately, Jungkook had known that he wasn't going to forget the encounter.

It was the reason he had given Jimin his drumsticks after all; he hoped that his gesture would help his chances of staying in the other male's thoughts.

The loss of his drumsticks in exchange for residence in Jimin's mind, it was a pretty fair price to pay, he thought.

"You had them at the venue we were at just over an hour ago." Yoongi countered, looking into the mirror on his wall and using a facial wipe to clean off any makeup he still had on from the gig.

"And now I don't. That's how losing things works." Jungkook laughed, sitting up from his lying down position. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, placing it back into the carton that he kept in his front pants pocket. "Drumsticks are cheap anyway, I'll buy a new set tomorrow."

"Smart ass." Yoongi laughed, walking up behind Jungkook and lighting kicking him in the back. He grabbed a hair tie from off of his wrist, using it to tie his blonde hair up into a haphazard ponytail. "But, I do have to say, awesome job tonight. You played really well."

Jungkook smiled, looking up to Yoongi and watching as the older male unzipped the case for his bass guitar and revealed it.

"I tried." He answered bashfully, pulling his knees up to his chest. A few pieces of hair fell into his eyes, and he brushed them away with a tattooed hand. "I get in my head sometimes, because I know that if I fuck up it'll affect you guys immediately."

"I know." Yoongi, answered, smiling softly as he ran his thumb against one of the strings of his baby blue bass guitar. "But we all mess up, we can't expect you to be perfect just because you're keeping the rhythm on beat." His fingers slowly plucked out a smooth baseline as he spoke. It wasn't plugged into his amp, and so the notes were soft and twangy. "You're a lot more talented than you think you are, give yourself some credit."

"You're a sap." Jungkook chuckled, standing up so that he could join Yoongi where the older male was sat on his couch. His bleach blonde hair was frizzy and unruly, the result of sweating from their performance and then cooling down once more.

"Am not." Yoongi scoffed, elbowing Jungkook lightly and smiling when the younger male yelped in surprise.

Jungkook had been one of Yoongi's closest friends since his second last year of high school. At first, he only viewed the younger boy as an immature kid who had somehow snaked his way into an older friend group. As time went on though, he got to learn of all of Jungkook's interests, talents, and mannerisms. Without even realizing, they slowly become each other's shoulder to lean on.

"I met someone tonight." Jungkook confessed, filling the silence that had begun to spread once their last conversation died down. He had been going back in forth in his mind on whether or not to tell any of his friends about Jimin. Getting his hopes up wasn't something he was fond of, and if nothing came of this then it would only be more embarrassing to share that news.

"You meet someone every night." Yoongi laughed softly, looking over to Jungkook with a playful smirk. "Sometimes I wonder if you're actually taking your shirt off because you're hot, or if it's to find something to do after the show."

"You mean someone." The voice of Jung Hoseok interrupted Yoongi's words, and the two of them looked to find their lead guitarist making his grand entrance into the room with two cases of soju in his arms. "What'd I miss?"

"Kook's got the hots for someone he met at our gig." Yoongi explained, ignoring Jungkook when the blue haired male sputtered and shoved him in an attempt to get him to shut up. "Where's Jin?"

"Upstairs, waiting for the pizza to get here." Hoseok explained, setting the alcohol on the table in front of his friends before meeting Jungkook's gaze. "Who've you got your eye on?"

"No one." Jungkook answered, embarrassed by the fact that he was being put on the spot. He reached out when Hoseok offered a bottle of soju to him, taking it and twisting the cap open.

"So you were going to tell Yoongi, but you won't tell me?" Hoseok pouted, leaning forwards and flicking the side of Jungkook's head. "C'mon, just spill. We'll find out eventually."

Jungkook couldn't help but smile, shaking his head and rubbing the spot on his temple that Hoseok had flicked.

"I just don't like being presumptuous." He answered, looking down at his hands and spinning one of the rings on his fingers absentmindedly. "Who knows, you'll meet him."

—
a/n:

fun fact: it is 45 degrees celsius (~104 degrees fahrenheit) where I live today

we love canada <3333

- Charlie :)