A silence washed over the boys as they walked to a nearby restaurant, Yoongi matching every step the long legged Jungkook took. By the time they got to the late night barbecue joint, he was out of breath.

"Why does it sound like you've just run a marathon?" Jungkook asked, opening the door for Yoongi.

"You walk so friggen fast," Yoongi panted as he found a table for them. He took the chair and let the boy take the booth.

Jungkook flagged down a server, ordering an abundance of food Yoongi was sure would go to waste. But he kept quiet. A deal was a deal.

"So," Jungkook started after finishing with the server, "your name is Yoongi, right?"

"Yup."

"And how old are you?" The boy asked, leaning back in his seat as he appraised his comrade.

Yoongi sighed. "Old enough to know better."

A smile formed on Jungkook's lips. "Eh, there's no age for that. So let me guess. Twenty three?"

"Twenty seven," Yoongi corrected with a frown. Yeah, he should definitely be smart enough to know better.

"Wow, my fake boyfriend is old," Jungkook teased, his smile widening to reveal sparkly white teeth. "You've got five years on me, man."

Yoongi balked at his young companion, redness warming his cheeks. How pathetic did he look to this kid right now?

"Are you even out of school yet?" Yoongi questioned, wanting to do anything to get the attention off of him for a moment.

Jungkook dipped his chin proudly. "I graduated a few months ago. I studied art, to the dismay of my family, and I'm interning at a gallery right now."

"Good for you, kid. That's pretty cool," the elder remarked, resting his hands on the table. He picked up his napkin and started fiddling with it.

"I'm no kid, baby."

A sigh escaped Yoongi's mouth. "You can drop the whole baby thing now, Jungkook. No one is around."

Jungkook leaned forward, his face uncomfortably close. "Well, what if I like calling you baby?"

"Well, too bad," the elder said through gritted teeth as he pushed back in his chair. "I don't like it."

"You'll grow to like it," Jungkook challenged with a cocky eyebrow raise. "Anyway, enough of debate club for now. Tell me about the guy. You know, the guy we were making jealous."

"I don't want to talk about Jimin," Yoongi snapped, his tone a warning to not push the subject.

Where others would have shrunk at the elder's intensity, Jungkook just gnawed on his bottom lip. "That bad, huh?"

"Can we please just leave it be?"

"What I don't get," the younger persisted, ignoring the angry glare Yoongi threw his way, "is why you two broke up. You clearly aren't over it. And that Jimin guy looked like he was ready to beg to get you back."

Yoongi's jaw slackened at that statement. "What makes you say that?"

A devious twinkle shone in Jungkook's eyes. "You don't want to talk about him, so I won't torture you."

"Jungkook."

"Baby."

Yoongi had enough of whatever this was. Exhaustion and annoyance were weighing heavily on his shoulders and his bed was calling his name. He retrieved his wallet from his pocket and started counting out money.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop. Stay and eat, Yoongi," Jungkook insisted, dropping his cocky demeanor. "I was just having some fun. I'm sorry."

The two regarded each other for a couple moments, quiet as Yoongi made up his mind. The elder slipped his wallet back into his pocket. He might as well eat if he was paying for it.

"If it's any consolation, he did look like he missed you," Jungkook revealed with a shrug of his shoulders. "I won't assume you even want to get back together -"

"I do," Yoongi answered fiercely. "Jimin broke up with me. I never wanted things to end."

The food came at that point, disrupting their conversation. Jungkook made to grab at the utensils in order to start cooking the meat, but Yoongi swatted his hands away. He placed the meat on the grill, keeping his eyes trained on the process.

"Have you told him you still love him?" Jungkook wondered as Yoongi cooked their food.

"I tried. But he ignored my calls and left my texts on read." Yoongi neglected to reveal how he went to Jimin's house a couple times. He didn't need to seem like a stalker on top of being pathetic.

The younger pursed his lips, his gaze completely focused on Yoongi. "It's his loss then. Clearly something is wrong with the guy to let someone like you go."

"You don't know me well enough to say that, Jungkook. It's nice, but you can't say that and mean it."

"Sure, I can," Jungkook pouted, looking impossibly more handsome than Yoongi thought was fair. "You have a fire inside you, Yoongi. Yeah, I don't know you, but that much is obvious to me."

A sudden shyness overcame Yoongi at Jungkook's strong assessment. "You don't have to do that. Fake boyfriend duty is over."

"Fake boyfriend duty is over once you pay for my food, my friend. So bat your eyelashes at me and say how thoughtful and generous of a boyfriend I am."

Yoongi shook his head, grabbing the younger's plate and filling it up with food. "What's your story anyway?"

Jungkook gladly accepted the overfilled plate of food, stuffing a combination of things in his mouth. "What do you want to know? I'm an open book, Yoongles."

"Oh, fuck no. I'd rather you call me anything else than -"

"Okay, baby," Jungkook mumbled around his food. "No to Yoongles."

Yoongi rolled his eyes but didn't correct the younger this time. Instead, he took a few minutes to eat as he considered his questions for the younger. Finally, something he earnestly wanted to know came to mind.

"What's with the boots?"

Jungkook shoved more food in his mouth. "My boots?"

"Yeah," Yoongi said as he peeked under the table. "They're so . . . chunky."

"Are you calling my boots fat?" The younger quipped, swallowing his mouthful. "They're just full bodied, that's all."

"I bet it feels good to know you'll never feel anything sharp while wearing those things," Yoongi chuckled to himself. "Hell, you'd crush a small animal and be none the wiser."

"Alright, alright. I get it. No need to hurt the boots' feelings," Jungkook griped, a small scowl pulling down his lips.

Yoongi smiled at his sullen expression. "Okay, Jungkook. I have a real question for you. What were you doing at Taehyung's party tonight?"

For the first time during their evening together, a blush rose to Jungkook's cheeks. "Uh, my boss invited me."

"Your boss . . . at the art gallery?"

The younger sheepishly nodded his head, pushing his food around on his plate.

"You like your boss," Yoongi determined. "And my guess is that your boss is Kim Taehyung."

Jungkook glanced up at him before focusing back on his food. "Yeah. But I know that wouldn't go anywhere. It'd be unprofessional and Tae - Taehyung - likes to be really professional."

"Sure, but Taehyung invited you to his party, right?"

That seemed to make Jungkook scowl even more. "He invited everyone at work to his party."

As he watched the younger become lost to his thoughts, an idea began to form in Yoongi's head. It was really, really stupid. He should keep his mouth shut and not suggest the ridiculous scheme that was piecing itself together like it had a mind of its own.

"Do you want to hang out with Taehyung outside of work and get to know him?" He kicked himself mentally for voicing the question, but pushed that aside for the time being.

Jungkook scrunched his eyebrows together. "Well, yeah, but I'm not friends with him. And I can't just ask my boss to chill, you know?"

"Tae's my friend, Jungkook," the elder said simply, waiting for understanding to dawn upon the other boy.

And it did. "You want to keep pretending, don't you?"

"Think about it. You hang out with me for a little while and you'll get to see Taehyung outside of work."

"And let me guess," Jungkook added. "Jimin will be there and you'll continue to make him jealous. You'll get to see if he still cares."

Yoongi smiled, knowing this plan would probably make everything go up in flames. But maybe, just maybe, if he was the one to set it all on fire, then he could more easily control the outcome.

"What do you say, Jungkook? Want to be my fake boyfriend for a bit longer?"

Jungkook took the last piece of meat and chewed on it while thinking. "Do I get more money?"

"No."

"Ah, well, it was worth a shot. But fuck it. I'm in."

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》 V A L E N W R I T I N G 《

Writing Yoonkook dialogue is something I never knew I needed haha.