"Jungkookie!"

Said boy nearly drops his bags in surprise when an arm slings itself around his shoulder. Turning to look at the owner of the voice, his face splits into a wide grin. "Hi, hyung!"

"Last minute Christmas shopping?" The elder asks, eyeing the handfuls of bags in Jungkook's arms.

"More like all of my Christmas shopping," Jungkook replies, snickering at Seokjin's surprised expression. "I'm a procrastinator, don't hate."

"Christmas Eve is in," Seokjin pauses to check his watch, "four hours! I knew teenagers were bad, but this is just ridiculous."

"You are actually my mother."

Ignoring that snide comment, Seokjin adds, "We should eat something soon. You haven't had dinner yet, have you?" When Jungkook shakes his head, the elder smiles brightly. "Great!"

The two eat at a restaurant of Seokjin's choosing, the teenager paling at the high prices of the food. He accepts gratefully— and a little guiltily— when Seokjin offers to pay.

"I'll buy you a meal some other time," Jungkook assures the elder as they eat. "Somewhere less expensive."

Seokjin laughs. "Sorry for having such expensive tastes."

"It's not your fault, I guess," Jungkook mumbles through a mouthful of food, grinning broadly at his friend's slightly disgusted expression. "You're head chef of a fancy restaurant. Of course you like fancy food."

A while later, as Seokjin adjusts Jungkook's hat as the pair exits the restaurant, he asks, "On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for that Big Bang concert? Which is in, what, two weeks?"

"Sixteen days," the teenager says happily, giggling at the elder's disbelieving snort. "I'm excited, okay? Don't judge me."

Seokjin shakes his head. "I'm not judging you. And let me fix your scarf, you didn't tie it properly."

Scoffing, Jungkook argues, "There's no proper way to tie a— oh, no."

"What?" Seokjin asks, turning his head in the direction the younger boy is looking. "Oh."

Seojun is walking down the sidewalk with a few bags of her own and a couple of friends by her side.

Jungkook swallows, praying that she doesn't notice him or Seokjin. "Hide me."

"Why?" Seokjin asks, pulling Jungkook from behind him with a surprising amount of force. "You didn't do anything wrong, did you?"

"No, but—" A forced, falsely cheery smile interrupts Jungkook's words as he waves at Seojun, who has by now noticed them and is waving at them brightly.

"Hey, Jungkook! Seokjin," she adds politely, slightly bowing her head at the elder male.

"Hi, noona," Jungkook breathes, stomach flipping as their arms brush past each other's.

"See you later," she says, and Jungkook hears one of her friends curiously question, who were they? as he mutters a hasty see you. "Just my neighbor and his friend," he manages to catch before Seojun's answer is blocked from his ears by a screeching toddler.

Jungkook's heart sinks.

"I'm just her neighbor now," he says sadly. "I'm not even her ex."

"Maybe she just didn't want to explain it to her friends," Seokjin says consolingly, linking his arm through Jungkook's. "Don't worry about it."

Not comforted in the least, Jungkook looks back at the three girls, heart jumping when he sees Seojun staring back at them. She looks away first, seeming embarrassed, and Jungkook slowly turns back around.

Before Jungkook can think about it, however, Seokjin is asking, "Hey, do you have any plans for the twenty-sixth?"

The teenager slowly shakes his head. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"I thought it would be fun to invite a few friends over," Seokjin explains. "Maybe for dinner and a movie, or something."

"Sounds like a plan."

。。。

Jungkook is trying to finish an assignment when his phone buzzes.

Taehyung: okaY SO

Taehyung: JIMINNIE AND I DID IT

Jungkook: Uh, I don't need to know about you guys' sex life, thank you very much.

Taehyung: no u fuckin idiot

Taehyung: liek

Taehyung: we told his parents about us

Taehyung: not we, actually, more like just him. i was just kinda there for moral support, ya knoe??

Jungkook: Ohhhhh

Jungkook: So I'm guessing it went well?

Taehyung: yea, sorta. his parwnts yelled at him for a bit, and i started yelling back at one point wen jiminnie looked like he was about to cry

Taehyung: and i told them about us and how we rlly like each otjer and yadayadayada

Taehyung: theyre not too thrilled but at least they didnt disown him, yeah?

Taehyung: theyll probbaly come around

Jungkook: That's true.

Jungkook: Anyway, Seojun noona dumped me yesterday.

Taehyung

[ ACCEPT ] DECLINE

Jungkook answers the phone to a loud screech of, "Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?"

"I'm sorry," apologizes Jungkook, carefully closing his laptop. "I forgot to tell you."

"How do you just forget to tell me something like that?"

"Because," Jungkook sighs, "Seokjin hyung came over."

"Just because he came over doesn't mean you don't need to tell me these things," Taehyung protests. "Now tell me, why did she dump you?"

Gnawing on the inside of his cheek, Jungkook answers, "She was convinced that I didn't actually like her."

"Oh, really?" There's a lilt to Taehyung's voice that makes him sound amused.

"Are you laughing?" Jungkook asks irritably. "Why the fuck are you laughing? She dumped me!"

"I'm not!" Taehyung cries defensively, a burst of laughter breaking— and contradicting—his words. "I just—"

Jungkook abruptly ends the call.

。。。

A/N: yikes boring chapter, sorry
y'all should check out my other jinkook fic, called thin walls (shameless self promo) and spam me w comments

as usual, pls excuse any typos, vote and/or comment, thank you all and see you guys next chapter!