"Do you have a date or something?"

Jungkook starts at the blunt question, staring at the purple haired girl standing in front of her apartment door as he shuts his door. "Um... No. Just going out to eat with a friend."

Jihyun smirks. "Really? You look awfully nervous to be going out with a friend."

Jungkook avoids eye contact. "Well, it's none of your business," he mumbles, cheeks gaining a soft pink tint. "I'm leaving."

"Have fun on your date!" Jihyun calls teasingly as he heads out. Jungkook turns and frowns at her, and she laughs before going into her apartment.

He's not too fond of Jihyun.

。。。

"Jeez, I'm stuffed," Jungkook groans as he exits the restaurant with Seokjin. "I think I ate too much."

"Understandable," the elder laughs. "It was good food."

Jungkook hums in agreement, eyes lighting up in excitement as he spots something in the distance. "Hyung, we should get ice cream!" he exclaims, maybe a little too loudly, since a few heads turn their way.

Seokjin's brows knit together. "Jungkook, it's almost 8:30. It's going to be cold out soon."

"It's never too late to have ice cream," Jungkook argues. "I'm buying some; come if you want." He marches off in the direction of the ice cream cart, a satisfied grin creeping over his lips as he hears Seokjin's footsteps following him.

"God, you're such a child," the elder huffs.

"I'm almost nineteen, actually," Jungkook calmly protests. "I hardly think that's the age of a child."

Seokjin looks puzzled. "Wait, really? When's your birthday?"

"September first."

"That's not too far away," Seokjin gasps. "We should throw you a birthday party!"

Jungkook shakes his head, slightly embarrassed at Seokjin's excitement. "No, it's fine."

"But you're going to be nineteen! That's a pretty big deal, right?"

Jungkook waves the elder off impatiently as he steps up to the cart and asks for a small cone of vanilla ice cream. He fixates his attention on his treat as the two meander down the sidewalk, a comfortable silence settling between them. "You should've gotten some ice cream, too, hyung."

Seokjin shakes his head. "No thanks."

A half hour speeds by, and Jungkook is regretting his decision to buy ice cream; the temperature has significantly dropped, and his cold treat isn't doing anything to keep him warm. He ends up throwing out the last half of it, unable to finish it in this cold weather, and at 9:05, the two boys begin walking home.

"I told you it would get cold out."

Jungkook groans, folding his arms in front of his chest angrily. "Okay, fine, you were right."

Seokjin gently nudges Jungkook with his shoulder, attempting to keep his grin off his face. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Jungkook sends his harshest glare at the elder before stubbornly— childishly— refusing to look at him. His heart jumps a little when he suddenly becomes aware of Seokjin's arm pressing against his.

"Oh, hey," Seokjin says suddenly, as if suddenly remembering something, "remember that cooking show that I left for a week to be on that I told you about?"

Jungkook blinks, confusion marring his features as he looks away from his apartment building that is getting closer with every step. "Did... What— Slow down, I barely understood what you said."

Seokjin sighs with impatience. "That cooking show I told you about, remember? I left for a week to be a guest judge on it?"

"Ohh," Jungkook realizes, "yeah. I remember. And you left for two weeks, actually."

"One week was spent at my parents' house," Seokjin argues, rolling his eyes. "But anyway, do you want to watch it?"

"Now?"

"Yeah. We can watch it on my phone."

"Uh... Sure," Jungkook complies with a slight nod, noticing Seokjin pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "We can sit on the steps in front of the apartment building."

"Okay." As Seokjin pulls up the video, the two make their way to the apartment building, sitting down on the cold cement stairs.

"Hello, and welcome to another episode of South Korea's Next Best Chef! Last week, Park Songhee and Jang Jaemin were neck-and-neck..."

Jungkook isn't even paying attention to what is on the screen as he sits on the steps, more focused on how Seokjin's arm his brushing against his, or how Seokjin's knee is touching his, or how he can smell Seokjin's scent since he's sitting so close to him—

"There I am!"

"...Kim Seokjin from Hanjeonsik in Busan!"

"They did your makeup?" Jungkook asks, eyes widening as he leans in closer to the screen.

"Yeah," Seokjin admits, voice tinged with embarrassment. "I mean, it's not much—"

"Wow, you look—" Jungkook pauses, stopping himself from saying amazing. "—cool."

"Thanks."

About halfway through the episode, Jungkook reaches over and loosely laces his fingers with Seokjin's. When the elder gives him a questioning glance, he timidly responds, "My hands are cold."

Seokjin doesn't say anything for several seconds, an unreadable look on his face. When he finally does, however, it's a soft okay as he tightens his grip on Jungkook's hand, and the boy's heart soars.

Normally, when Seokjin would hold his hand, he would be casually running his fingertips over Jungkook's knuckles, but today he's gripping Jungkook's hand tightly, like the only reason he's holding the boy's hand is for warmth... Which is true, since that's the reason Jungkook gave for locking their fingers together. But Jungkook wants Seokjin to hold his hand simply for physical contact.

Which won't ever happen, at least not romantically, since Seokjin still looks at him as if he's a child.

Jungkook inches a little closer to Seokjin, praying that his palms won't start to get clammy, and rests his head on the other male's shoulder.

Seokjin looks at him, pausing the video. "Are you tired?"

"No, I'm cold."

"Oh. Uh—"

Jungkook lifts his head off Seokjin's shoulder. "Hyung?"

"Hm?"

"Sorry about, um... tryingtokissyou." Jungkook doesn't dare even look at Seokjin, even pulling his hand away when he thinks it might be getting clammy. His teeth gnaw at the inside of his cheek for several long moments as he awaits Seokjin's response.

"It's... fine," Seokjin sighs. He glances at Jungkook awkwardly and tries to crack a smile. "You won't do it again, will you?" he asks, forcing a laugh.

"No," Jungkook hastily assures. "Definitely not, don't worry."

Seokjin clears his throat. "Sorry."

"About what?"

"I didn't know you liked me."

"Oh." Jungkook swallows. "I guess it's fine."

"Cool."

Silence.

"Oh, uh, I still have that sweater you gave me."

"Don't worry about it; keep it."

Jungkook tries to hide his delight. "Really?"

"Yeah," Seokjin chuckles. "I have tons of sweaters. Plus, you looked cute wearing it."

"I'll wear it next time we meet up, then," Jungkook says shyly, cheeks getting warm.

And then Seokjin says something that makes Jungkook giddily happy:

"You're so cute."

。。。

A/N: shit, we're already on chapter thirty... also boost my ego and tell me this chapter was good pls lmao I'm not too proud of how it's written (also it's unedited so sorry for any mistakes)

as usual, vote and comment, I love reading your guys' comments! thank you!