Yoongi cleared his space after eating, ducked into the kitchen to wash his bowl and then back out to the dining room to wash the table, making sure that it was set for service just like the other tables.

He walked back into the kitchen and rolled up his sleeves. "Should I start with these?" he gestured toward the basket of pre-washed carrots.

"I don't carrot all." his hyung answered, failing to hold in his signature laugh.

"Ugh. How long have you been waiting to say that today?" Yoongi groaned, selected a carrot and began peeling.

After about ten minutes of preparation work, Jin eyed Yoongi suspiciously. "What is going on with you? You seem distracted."

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"First, you never work without your headphones on. Second, I've seen you open your mouth to speak at least four times and then shut it again. Third, you've peeled this poor carrot down to a nub." Jin took said carrot out of Yoongi's grip as if rescuing a baby bird and laid it on the cutting board next to the other previously peeled carrots.

"I ... I kind of met someone today. I was with him when you texted me." Yoongi admitted, immediately wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

Jin's eyes became round as circles. Yoongi saw him take a breath and knew he was about to go off. "WHAT? Why did you even come here? I would have understood. I tell you all the time that you never take time for yourself first - which while incredibly sweet, is really annoying. Now - tell me all about this boy and I swear to god if he was not worth ditching for vegetable prep, I'm going to lose my shit."

Yoongi explained how he met Hoseok in the coffee shop that he goes to every morning, their conversation and the dance they shared. He also described in detail the way that Hoseok lit up a room, the way his hair bounced when he walked, the little excited hops he did on the way to the studio and how his heart stopped and sped up simultaneously while watching the younger dance.

Jin narrowed his eyes, "So your stalker introduced himself..." the corners of his mouth lifted, "and danced his way into your heart. That's so CUTE. I ship it and I'm telling Joonie to do the same." the older whipped out his phone and began mumbling about possible ship names.

"Ship- There's nothing to get excited over, hyung! We're getting coffee tomorrow, but honestly, if I hadn't been called into work early I'd probably have made a fool out of myself anyway. So I guess, thanks for helping me postpone my agony." Yoongi finished peeling carrots and began to chop them after lining up containers portioned for various recipes.

To avoid more discussion, Yoongi popped his headphones over his ears and continued his work. Together, he and Jin washed, chopped and portioned enough vegetables for the night. As they began cleaning up the worktop counter, Jungkook arrived for his shift.

Jungkook was Yoongi's roommate of three and a half years.

-short flashback-

They met shortly after Yoongi dropped out of university. Yoongi's first roommate bailed, leaving him paying all of what should have been half of the living expenses. He was strapped for cash and selling his camera. Jungkook was looking to buy, so they had met outside Yoongi's building after the younger responded to the online listing.

"This is going to sound stupid, but could I use your bathroom? I'm not a murderer, I swear!"

Yoongi allowed the boy inside his apartment, where they continued discussing the camera, its features and how to clean or make minor repairs. The younger noticed how bare the living space was as well as an empty bedroom which was entirely visible through a door left ajar. He asked if Yoongi was looking for a roommate and the rest was history.

They both worked mind-numbing jobs for the first few months as roommates. Jungkook was mid-way through his first year at university, working random hours at a drugstore customer service counter. Yoongi rode his bike as a delivery boy for a restaurant where the manager was just aching to fire him.

When Yoongi met Jin on one of his deliveries, he told his roommate about his panic attack and the patient stranger. Jungkook had helped Yoongi through several of his panic attacks by this point and knew how stressed the older must have been about burdening this new person. "Don't worry about it. Send him a text to say 'thank you' for his understanding."

Yoongi took the advice which led to Jin inviting them to dinner. They met Jin's fiance, Namjoon, who was his perfect complement. The roommates continued to meet the couple for weekly "family" dinners, as Jin referred to them. Yoongi and Jungkook were invited to Jin and Namjoon's wedding and eventually began working in Jin's restaurant. While it wasn't what either had planned, working with their hyungs never felt like work because it allowed them to strengthen the bond of their chaotic patchwork of a family.

-end-

As Yoongi washed the cutting board, he felt the right cushion of his headphones being lifted off his ear followed by the voice of Jungkook. "Jin-hyung said that you have a boyfriend! What the hell, hyung - were you really going to keep this from me??"

Yoongi blinked slowly, wiped his hand dry on his apron, and brought it up to massage the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Did Jin-hyung mention that I only just met this person today? Also, he's not my boyfriend-"

"But you want him to be." Jungkook teased, his bunny-smile making an appearance.

"What I want is for the both of you idiots to stop building this up. It's annoying."

Yoongi hung up the apron and walked off through the kitchen door into the dining room. He occupied himself with tidying the already immaculate space before customers began arriving. They're so excited that I actually met someone. What happens when I fuck it all up tomorrow? What will they think of me then?