[a/n  don't let him fool you. cooking with his sweet bunny smile. we ALL saw the concerts. we know what you're capable of.

can you tell this story was supposed to be short and exclusively crack? and then pengu happened]

HOSEOK:
Hey, would you want to come by later?
Hang out with me and Yoongi?

Jungkook hadn't noticed the text until after he'd packed his gym bag, searched for the goddamn lid to his water bottle, found his fucking keys again and finally took his phone off the charger.

He was all over the place today. Scatter-brained.

That's usually how it was on days he worked shifts with Hoseok and Yoongi.

It was always so much work. Not making sandwiches. Just... being normal around them.

He'd known them for what seemed like years even though they'd only worked together at the shop for a good six months.

This year he'd decided he couldn't stand campus housing anymore. Found himself a fairly cheap apartment and he was pretty desperate for a part-time job.

Jungkook remembered the first day he started at the sandwich shop: he hated it - making sandwiches was not an appealing or thought-provoking activity. And the customers... Either high, impatient college students or irritable Karens who demanded to know where the kids' menu was (didn't exist). There was no in-between.

He was dead-set on quitting the same afternoon.

Until he met his coworkers.

Yoongi and Hoseok made even the most mundane tasks entertaining. And Jungkook wasn't ashamed to say that he was attracted to both of them.

Instantly, in fact.

Yoongi with his dead-pan sarcastic humor... and his pouts. Hoseok with his endless positivity. And the ability to create his own personalized sound-effects soundtrack for any given situation.

The rest of his shift flew by as the three eased into conversation, finding out that they shared common interests: they all had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with music. Yoongi and Hoseok composed their own rap tracks and Jungkook found that they all had a past phase in which they wore extremely oversized basketball jerseys and thick eyeliner.

Photos were swapped. They all, obviously, talked shit about each other's glaring dorkiness during their fetal years (but in a friendly way).

And Hoseok nonchalantly stated that it didn't matter how many three-dollar chains past incarnations of Yoongi draped around his neck: he'd love him just the same.

And Jungkook's dumbass didn't let that sink in because he was too busy filling orders, too busy cleaning his workspace. Busy trying to make a great first impression.

But despite that (possibly intentional) brain fog during that first conversation, you see, Jungkook still keenly observed that both he and Yoongi liked to stare at Hoseok. And similarly... he and Hoseok liked to stare at Yoongi.

Wait-

Yes, of course, that first day at the shop was also when he found out that the two were a couple.

Unavailable.

The day itself was a clusterfuck and that was the cherry on top.

He had to come to terms with the fact that he worked - closely, in a tiny kitchen - with two men that were strictly off-limits - and thought himself quite creepy when he really faced the idea of having simultaneous crushes on people who were together. He couldn't do this.

That didn't stop his heart - not even for a moment - as it continued on, as if no had just been a helpful suggestion and not a direct order from his brain.

The more he got to know Hoseok and Yoongi, see the way the couple behaved toward each other, he could see how much they loved each other. And the more time he spent with them, the more they included him in conversations and hanging out after work, the more he let himself think... let himself imagine how easily he could love them as well.

Months into his new job, Jungkook alternated between tolerating and hating the sandwich shop with an almost irrational fury. As was the norm in a part-time, food service job, he supposed.

But it was more than that.

The three of them hadn't been working the same shift for a while and it was honestly stressing him out. He'd fallen into almost some sort of pre-adolescent pining, looking forward to all of his shifts with both of his favorite boys.

Never happier to make fucking sandwiches because he was able to spend more time with them.

Today, however, his shift ended right in the middle of theirs and he cleaned a countertop six times.

Six.

Just to prolong... the proximity. Again, perhaps, maybe a little creepy.

It's just... when they worked the same shifts it was so easy to transition into hanging out together afterward. He'd even sometimes take the couple with him to the gym- he asked once, not expecting them to agree. But for some reason, now that he thought about it, Yoongi in particular  was incredibly eager.

It turned out Hoseok had a membership to the same gym and, though he wasn't a strength-training guy, he let Jungkook teach him about the basics, proper stance, and safety.

What Hoseok did enjoy there, though, were the dance classes offered on the second floor.

Yoongi simply joked that he used the free guest pass on Hoseok's account for "the atmosphere".

Jungkook assumed that the only reason Yoongi tagged along to the gym was to watch his boyfriend dance.

Which was completely understandable. When Hoseok danced, it was nothing less than captivating. His body became... liquid. His movements flowed until the lines between body and beat, rhythm and emotion were all blurred beyond comprehension. Jungkook often found himself at a loss for words.

Sometimes Yoongi also hung around Jungkook as he lifted weights - becoming that guy who sat on the adjacent equipment. Not using it, just chatting.

And that was fine with Jungkook. It was oddly comforting... Pleasant.

And then they'd take breaks between Jungkook's sets to watch Hoseok during his dance classes upstairs. There they'd sit, in the back, making faces only Hoseok could see in the reflection of the mirrored walls to keep him laughing.

Because though they never talked about it, they both understood that the sound of Hoseok's laughter was the sweetest in the world.

Jungkook's eyes refocused on the phone screen, on the same message. The same message that he still hadn't responded to.

HOSEOK:
Hey, would you want to come by later?
Hang out with me and Yoongi?

Now he had another opportunity to spend time with them. To hear Yoongi's dry humor. Hear Hoseok's laugh.

He'd been to the couple's apartment many times. They watched movies and sometimes cooked together. Often Jungkook would float around the kitchen in awe as the couple made things that weren't sandwiches - things that involved blanching or filleting or any number of other cooking terms he had no understanding of (he typically just ordered pizza when left to his own devices).

But mostly, they sat out on the fire escape, sometimes after a couple of drinks, sometimes completely sober, staring into the starry sky. Talking about their families. Their goals. About what they wanted from life. Sometimes... just not talking, simply enjoying each other's company.

And that honestly sounded perfect.

JUNGKOOK:
Of course I do|
Of c|
Yeah.
I'll be over after the gym.

He wanted to be careful. He was never sure what would sound too eager over text.

Didn't want to seem too into it.

[a/n]

how are you all?

how's your day/night?

what are your thoughts on this ridiculous story?

💜💜