Yoongi awoke to a dark room, his mouth parched and his head hurting. He scanned his surroundings silently, readjusting his head on the pillow to get a better look.

"Stop moving your head around on my lap, man," Jungkook said from above him. "You're going to unintentionally do something I'm sure you don't want to do."

It took another moment for Yoongi's vision to adjust to the dark, and when it did, he saw Jungkook looking down at him. His hair hung over his forehead, making him appear younger than he was.

"Why am I laying down like this? And where are we?" The elder questioned, trying to get up but failing.

Jungkook chuckled at his predicament. "We never made it out of the gallery. Taehyung let us come into his office so you could sober up, but you passed out before we even got here."

That stirred a vague memory in Yoongi's mind. "Were you carrying me?"

"Yeah," the younger responded with his signature tilted grin, "and you made a point of saying to both me and Tae that you weren't riding me."

Everything came rushing back and he found himself mortified. He remembered saying those things to the younger in his drunken state, mentally kicking himself at his actions.

"You going to tell me why you decided to get so drunk?" Jungkook poked his forehead and move to do the same to his nose, but Yoongi swatted his hand away.

He really didn't want to talk about it, but he had a feeling Jungkook wouldn't relent. And in his current state, Yoongi did not feel like arguing anymore.

"I ran into Jimin and we had a bit of an argument," he revealed, looking away from Jungkook's big eyes. "I told him that I still loved him and he walked away."

Jungkook brought one of his hands up to Yoongi's hair, fingers carding through the long strands. "Did he give any indication that he still had feelings?"

"He said he was hurting, too. That he didn't appreciate seeing you and me make out. But he wouldn't tell me why he broke up with me."

"Wait. You don't know why he broke up with you?" His fake boyfriend asked, surprise evident in his voice.

Yoongi looked up at him again. "The reasons he gave me before were weak. They didn't make any sense."

"What were his reasons?"

The sadness of that day started to seep throughout his limbs, weighing Yoongi down. Never before had he felt so dejected, so worthless, than the day Jimin broke his heart. It surprised him how vibrant the memories of that day were. Maybe he'd never be able to move on from those feelings.

"He said he was bored. That he cared for me a lot but we never did anything exciting anymore. That was the first time I heard any of that, so I told him we could try new things. But he said he didn't think it'd be worth it in the end. He just . . . he just gave up on me."

Jungkook's fingers stilled in his hair for a moment. "I'm sorry, Yoongi. I can't imagine how that must have felt."

"I just wanted a chance to prove him wrong. But he didn't care enough to give it a shot," Yoongi stated blandly. He still didn't understand why Jimin wasn't willing to work through their issues.

"I've never had a real relationship," Jungkook revealed softly, his fingers combing through the elder's hair again. "I've tried to date people and open myself up to them, but they never wanted to stick around and learn more. They just saw me as a hookup and not relationship material."

Yoongi kept quiet, letting the boy gather his thoughts.

"It's going to sound so stupid," the younger continued, "but that's why I agreed to help you. Yeah I wanted a chance to hang with Tae, though that wasn't my main reason. It was because I wanted to know what it felt like to have someone. Even if it was fake, it seemed better than nothing."

At that, Yoongi did sit up so he could face him. "Jungkook . . ."

Jungkook smiled sadly at him. "It's pitiful right?"

"If anything, I'm the pitiful one here. I paid you to pretend to be my boyfriend, then coerced you into continuing this hoax. I feel so pathetic," Yoongi hesitantly set his hand on top of Jungkook's, trying to convey the twisted things he felt.

"Then it's agreed. We're both silly and pathetic," Jungkook said shyly, his typical cockiness no where to be found.

Yoongi smiled sheepishly to himself, looking down at their hands. "I'm sorry you had to get stuck with me. I haven't even been a good fake boyfriend to you."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not," the elder insisted. "You've helped me out a lot already. You saved me at that party and you've helped me get a reaction out of Jimin. But I've barely helped you with Taehyung."

Jungkook bit his lip, adjusting his hand so it was directly holding Yoongi's. "You know, this whole thing is kind of fucked up."

"Yeah, very," the elder agreed, wishing his mental state was a little stronger so he wouldn't have suggested this scheme in the first place.

"But -"

"You have a but to this, really?" Yoongi interrupted, taking comfort in the way Jungkook rubbed circles on the back of his hand.

"But, I'd like it if we could be friends. It seems that's what the two of us really need right now. Fucked up pretending aside, I think it'd be nice to call you a friend." The younger looked at him with those big, hopeful eyes, allowing Yoongi to read his every thought.

Jungkook was not at all what Yoongi had expected. The elder initially thought the boy would be dense and immature, but he proved to be more intelligent than he gave Jungkook credit for. If anything, this taught Yoongi he needed to be less judgemental and to get to know others before assuming he knew their story.

The pause seemed to weigh on Jungkook. "Or we don't have to be friends. I'll be okay."

"I want to be friends, Jungkook," Yoongi said as he squeezed his hand. "You're a pretty cool guy and I think I could learn a lot from you."

"Me?" Jungkook asked with a wide smile, and Yoongi could see the smugness once more setting into his features.

"Yeah, well, don't let it go to that thick head of yours," Yoongi berated him, but his tone had a friendly tint to it.

The younger laughed, a high pitched sound that made Yoongi chuckle in return.

"So does that mean we'll hang out outside of fake boyfriend duty?" Jungkook pouted his lips and raised his eyebrows, attempting to make a cute expression.

"Sure, that'd be fun."

The younger raised his eyebrows even more. "Can we seal this newfound friendship with a hug or something?"

Yoongi let go of Jungkook's hand and signaled the boy to lean in. They tentatively wrapped their arms around each other, taking small comfort in the other's presence before Jungkook started slapping his back enthusiastically.

"Okay, okay. Enough hugging," Yoongi grumbled, pushing him away. He got up and stretched his arms over his head.

A knock sounded at the door and Yoongi opened to reveal a tired looking Taehyung.

"Hey, Tae. You all done for the night?" He asked, watching as Taehyung walked to the couch and collapsed on it. Jungkook looked startled and straightened his back, slightly moving over to give his boss some room.

Yoongi didn't miss how Jungkook's eyes traced each and every one of Taehyung's features.

"The people are gone but the mess is still there," Taehyung mumbled into the couch. "I have to clean it all up now."

An idea occured to Yoongi. "Jungkook and I will help you."

Taehyung lifted his head. "Really? You guys would do that?"

Jungkook eagerly nodded his head, not taking his eyes off Taehyung for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll go get started. Kid," Yoongi said to Jungkook, "why don't you help Tae with whatever he needs?"

The younger nodded his head, smiling gratefully up at him. "Sure."

So Yoongi left the office, thinking he'd accomplished one good thing today.

He made a new friend.

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》 V A L E N W R I T I N G 《

Friendship is the cornerstone of everything important, y'all!