Work Text:
“There’s a new worker starting today,” Seokjin tells Yoongi when he unlocks the doors of the cafe in the morning.
It’s a Tuesday, which is unfortunately one of the three days that Yoongi opens the store. He has to close the store his other two days of work so that Hoseok can maintain an appropriate work-life balance, which is something that Yoongi doesn’t quite understand himself. And since Namjoon is in his final year of graduate school, he pretty much works on-demand and doesn’t keep a set schedule. Seokjin has various college students employed, but no one besides Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon are even a little bit fit to close the cafe.
“He’ll be a barista,” Seokjin says, not bothering to check if Yoongi’s paying attention to him in the first place. “He didn’t give off any particular vibes during his interview that were bad, and he’s not a college student.”
Yoongi blinks, far too tired to process anything that Seokjin has just said in a timely manner. “What?” He asks. Then adds, “How did you know everything that I would ask about a new worker?”
Seokjin sighs, typing in the store’s alarm code into the panel near the bar. “You always ask about them in that way,” he explains. “You hate college students because they might take off during finals week. You hate anyone that has, and I quote, bad vibes during the interview, and you never seem to want anyone to be baking except for you.”
“Well, I’m the only one who knows how to do it right,” Yoongi grumbles, setting down his large water bottle and grabbing a clean apron. “The last three people that we hired as bakers quit within a week.”
Seokjin begins to start up the various machines. Machines that Yoongi, as a baker and not a barista, doesn’t know how to work and will never learn how to operate. He’s quite fine with knowing that the one directly beside the pickup counter is the one that Seokjin uses to make his morning lattes and knowing absolutely nothing else. Seokjin totally ignores Yoongi, not seeming too worried about Yoongi’s insistence that Seokjin has a knack for hiring bad employees.
“Well?”
Seokjin hums. “What?”
“Why can’t you admit that you sometimes hire bad workers? None of them lasted even four full shifts here!”
“Yoongi,” Seokjin says, grabbing the reusable cup that Yoongi has filled at least three times per shift with a hot latte. “Every last one of them submitted an exit interview and said that the reason that they couldn’t keep working here was because of you .”
“How dare you,” Yoongi says with absolutely no bite to his voice. “I’m a great baker, thank you very much.”
Seokjin sighs again, reaching under the bar and opening one of the various small refrigerators and pulling out almond milk to steam for Yoongi’s drink. “You are a great baker,” he agrees. “But you have a lot about you that seems…”
“What?” Yoongi asks when Seokjin doesn’t finish his sentence. “A lot about me that seems what?”
“Bitchy,” Seokjin says simply. “I say this as one of your closest friends - probably even your best friend-”
“Taehyung is my best friend,” Yoongi deadpans.
“-you have major resting bitch face.”
Yoongi gasps. “I do not!”
Seokjin shrugs, apparently not deeming Yoongi’s outburst to be worth an argument. “Either way,” he says. “This new kid is going to be a good full-timer. Be nice to him and don’t yell at him about bagels or whatever it is that you’re always yelling about.”
Yoongi glares at Seokjin, but Seokjin isn’t looking at him so he doesn’t even see his glare. “I won’t yell at him about the bagels if he properly toasts them,” Yoongi says when he doesn’t get the reaction out of Seokjin that he wants.
“Wait until his second week, please,” Seokjin says, sounding a little bit desperate. “He’s one of Jimin’s closest friends and he really needs this job - so, he’s not going to quit if you’re rude to him and I’d much rather run a business with employees who aren’t fighting than employees who are.”
“I bet you don’t give Hoseok this lecture,” Yoongi says since he has nothing else to fight back with. At the end of the day, Seokjin is his boss and Yoongi needs to be respectful of that, but he does tend to toe the line between respectful and bratty.
Seokjin hands Yoongi his finished latte. “No one’s ever complained about their onboarding experience with Hoseok.”
The new hire isn’t anything like Yoongi had imagined he would be.
Yoongi has met Seokjin’s boyfriend Jimin many, many times. He’s a dance instructor for kids at the dance studio located across the street from the cafe and sneaks over to see Seokjin as often as he can in between classes.
He’s a bit loud, gets along far too well with Yoongi’s own best friend Taehyung, and, though Yoongi would never admit it out loud, quite cute and small.
Yoongi doesn’t mean cute in a “I want to be his boyfriend” way, either. More means cute in the way that Seokjin and Hoseok tend to refer to him as. Small, non-threatening, a face that can get anything if used in the right way.
Yoongi’s heard both Taehyung and Seokjin fawn over how hot Jimin is, with a flexible body and plump lips, but Yoongi really only knows that those things are attractive because Seokjin and Taehyung talk about them being attractive. Yoongi hasn’t ever quite felt that way before.
So, Yoongi had anticipated that Jimin’s friend would be a lot like him - or at least a bit like Taehyung, since he’s clearly the epitome of the people who Jimin would like to be friends with. Someone small, cute, and polite looking. Maybe someone who wears butterfly clips in their hair since Seokjin always seems to be sending pictures of the hairstyles that Jimin gives him when they have sleepovers.
Jeon Jungkook is absolutely none of those things.
When he walks into the cafe, Yoongi actually walks toward the front counter to take his order, immediately assuming that someone who looks as tough as Jeon Jungkook does would like a small, plain black coffee and nothing else.
Yoongi’s surprised when a light, nervous voice says, “Um, is Seokjinie-hyung here?”
Yoongi blinks, not quite processing what the tall stranger just said.
“What?”
“Um, Seokjinie-hyung,” he repeats, looking nervously around the cafe, like he wants to immediately run out of it. “I’m supposed to start my first shift here in, like, five minutes and he didn’t really give me any instructions other than to show up here five minutes early.”
Yoongi blinks again. “Oh,” he says. “You must be Jungkook. Our new hire.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook nods, still looking around for Seokjin.
Yoongi takes the moment that Jungkook looks around the cafe to look at Jungkook. He’s a bit taller than Yoongi, though maybe not quite as tall as Seokjin. He’d come dressed in all black, loose fitting pants and an even looser short-sleeved shirt, showing off the sleeve of tattoos on his right arm.
Yoongi thinks that Jungkook is probably a player. He can already see why Seokjin was so eager to bring him on board. Someone with a handsome face like that, who has the ability to charm anyone who comes in into ordering the most expensive things on the menu? Seokjin’s dream barista right there.
Yoongi hates how much Jungkook reminds him of his last boyfriend.
Yoongi is easily able to admit that he thinks Jungkook is pretty. Which, to be honest, is kind of weird for Yoongi. It’s not like Yoongi can’t appreciate when someone is nice to look at. After all, Seokjin and Taehyung are both aesthetically pleasing. Yoongi knows that they’re pretty. He’s just not interested in anything beyond friendship with either of them.
But Yoongi thinks that Jungkook is pretty in an entirely different way. He feels his stomach twisting in that pleasant, nervous way that stomachs get when too many butterflies make a home there. Jungkook, with the tattoos and long hair and all black clothing might remind Yoongi of his ex-boyfriend, but Yoongi thinks Jungkook is so fucking pretty anyway.
Jungkook looks back to Yoongi, eyes wide. “So,” he says. “Um, Seokjinie-hyung?”
“Oh, right,” Yoongi says, a blush rising on his cheeks, a bit embarrassed about being caught staring at Jungkook. “I’ll get him. You can come behind the counter,” Yoongi says, walking toward the swinging door on the side of the counter area. “Um, I can just show you a few things while we walk back to get him if you want?”
Jungkook nods. Yoongi tries not to pay attention to Jungkook’s light pink cheeks, but they’re hard to miss. “Thank you,” he says. Then, “I’m sorry - I don’t think I got your name.”
“I’m Yoongi.”
Jungkook’s eyes light up with recognition. “Oh,” he says. “You’re Taehyungie-hyung’s best friend!”
Yoongi nods, not even surprised that Jungkook and Taehyung had met with how incredibly close Jimin and Taehyung have become with one another over the past year. “Unfortunately,” Yoongi jokes. “I was his TA in his first class in college and he’s latched onto me ever since.”
“He seems fond of you,” Jungkook notes. “He, um - he told me that I would really like you.”
Yoongi raises an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
It’s not that Yoongi is an unlikable person, but it’s really out of the norm for Taehyung to be actively talking him up to people. Or, at least, Yoongi assumes that it’s abnormal because usually Yoongi hears Taehyung saying something along the lines of, “I promise you he’s actually nice!”
Jungkook nods, blush on his cheeks now a bit fainter. “Yeah,” he says. “He, um, he said that we have a lot in common.”
“Oh, really?” Yoongi asks. “Are you a college music production-major dropout because you discovered a love for baking also?”
“Well, I was a vocal major before my parents disowned me and I had to drop out, and I’m definitely only here because Seokjinie-hyung pays above the minimum wage and I need to save up money,” Jungkook says, surprising Yoongi. “But, yeah, I guess we’re pretty similar.”
Yoongi nods. “Touche, Jeon Jungkook,” he says. “Touche.”
Jungkook smiles like he’s proud and Yoongi has to bite his lip to hide his own smile. He really thinks that Jungkook is cute. “So,” Yoongi says. “This is Seokjinie-hyung’s little office. He spends less of his day back here than he should.”
“I’ll spend more time back here once Jungkookie is fully onboarded,” Seokjin yells, voice only heard through the crack in the door. “It gets way too busy out there to be able to handle things on the administrative side.”
“There were zero customers up front,” Jungkook deadpans.
Yoongi shakes his head. “No, there were those two girls in the corner who were studying. But this is our slow time,” Yoongi explains. “We usually aren’t too busy during the off-time for the local college campus. It’ll be much busier here in, like, three weeks.”
Jungkook nods. “Understood. I think that Jiminie-hyung brought me in here once when we were still in college.”
“Makes sense,” Seokjin says. “Jiminie was eyeing me up for years before I finally agreed to go on a date with him.”
“Anyway,” Yoongi says to Seokjin. “I didn’t actually get to show him anything in here, so the tour is up to you. Hoseokie will be in in about ten minutes, so he can take care of the front.”
Seokjin nods. “Thanks, Yoongi-yah,” he says, exaggerating Yoongi’s name in a way that lets Yoongi know that Seokjin is up to no good. “Though, if I’m going to be doing administrative work , maybe you should be the one to give him the tour. Show him the ropes.”
“He’s not a baker-”
“No,” Seokjin agrees before Yoongi can continue. “But, you have worked here quite literally since the day I opened this place. And I’m sure you know all of the places to sneak off and slack on work better than anyone else.”
Yoongi makes an affronted noise. “I would never slack off.”
“Didn’t you fall asleep on a sack of flour once?”
Yoongi glares at him. He isn’t quite sure why, but he doesn’t want Jungkook to think poorly of him. He figures that it has something to do with the inherent need that society has forced him into - an inherent desire to make pretty people like him.
Yoongi knows that it’s bad. He knows that it’s what got him into the mess that he was in with Minsoo, but Yoongi doesn’t care at this minute.
He actually wants to talk to Jungkook, so he’s choosing to take him on the tour. It’s not because Seokjin told him to, though Yoongi will claim being a top-notch employee if Seokjin were to press him about it.
“I have about twenty minutes until I need to pull the bagels out,” Yoongi says. “I’ll show him what I can in that time.” To Jungkook, he adds, “I hope you’re ready for the fastest and least informative tour of your life.”
“The only tour I’ve ever been on was when I went to my orientation weekend at college… And I got lost on my first day,” Jungkook says.
Yoongi nods. “Good to know.”
✨
When Jungkook walks through the door into his shared apartment with Jimin, he expects Jimin to immediately jump on him about his first day of work.
Much to Jungkook’s surprise, though, Jimin is absolutely nowhere to be found.
“Hyung?” He calls out anyway, hoping that maybe he had just somehow missed Jimin in his initial walk through the apartment. “Hyung?”
Jungkook sighs. He shouldn’t be too surprised that Jimin is gone. After all, Seokjin had left the cafe about two hours prior (leaving Jungkook to learn from Hoseok, who had tried to teach Jungkook everything that there is to know in Jungkook’s first shift, and Jihyo, who, after finding out that Jungkook is the same age, immediately began to talk to Jungkook about her whole life, including outlining all of the problems that she is currently having with her boyfriend) and Jimin has been spending a lot of nights at Seokjin’s house recently.
Jungkook is a bit worried about their lease that’s ending in three months. He doesn’t think that Jimin will just abandon him completely - Jimin’s mentioned how well he thinks Taehyung and Jungkook would do as roommates enough times for Jungkook to think that he’s not going to have to pay rent on his own - but it still makes Jungkook feel… a bit left behind.
Though he knows that he shouldn’t be used to it, unfortunately Jungkook’s always felt just a bit behind everyone else around him.
It started when he was in middle school and all of his friends started talking about how hot girls were. Jungkook could appreciate when girls were pretty, but the desire to jerk off while thinking of one of them wasn’t something that Jungkook ever felt.
At first, he figured that maybe he was just a bit less mature than his friends. He was still shorter than most of them, so he thought that maybe puberty just hadn’t fully hit him yet. Jungkook thought that, maybe, after hitting puberty fully, he would start to want girls in the way that all of his friends did.
Still, Jungkook found that he could easily get hard and masturbate, and it was fine , but he still didn’t actively feel like doing anything with anyone else ever. He didn’t get the desire that all of his friends had for girls, but he didn’t want to bring it up and be ridiculed, so Jungkook stayed silent.
Then, Jungkook met Park Jimin.
Jungkook had gone to music camp over the summer, begging his parents to spend the small fortune it cost to go there for nearly a month, and they finally obliged during his second year of high school. Jungkook was well on his way to passing all of his entrance exams the next year, and his parents always knew how much music meant to him, so they let him go.
There, Jungkook met his now best friend, Jimin.
Jimin was in his final year of high school, one of the smartest and hardest working students in his grade, Jimin had told him. Jimin hadn’t even had to beg his parents to let him go, since his parents were not only very accepting of the fact that Jimin was going to become a dancer, but also very accepting of the fact that Jimin was gay.
It had been the first thing out of Jimin’s mouth when Jungkook entered the four person cabin.
Jungkook walked into the cabin and saw a boy putting clothes into a dresser. The boy turned around and Jungkook thought that he was pretty, but still didn’t feel the aggressive want that his friends were constantly describing.
“Hi, I’m Jimin and I’m letting you know right now that I am gay and I am not interested in having sex with you,” he said, reaching a hand out to shake like he was in some American film.
“Um,” Jungkook said, watching Jimin warily. “I’m Jungkook and I don’t think that I’ve ever wanted to have sex with anyone.”
“Delightful,” Jimin said, a twinkle in his eye. “I’ll be sticking close to you this summer, then. I can’t tell you how many of these boys here claim to be straight and then are asking me to hook up because I ‘look enough like a girl’.”
Jungkook blinked. “That’s fucked up.”
“It is, dear Jungkookie,” Park Jimin said, pulling more clothing out of his suitcase and stuffing it into his dresser beside the bunk. “It really is fucked up.”
Jungkook learned that summer that he was definitely some form of asexual. Jimin, bless his soul, had talked Jungkook through the umbrella terms for different sexualities and Jungkook found that, yeah, not wanting to have sex with anyone definitely fit his vibe way more than anything else that Jungkook felt, so he slapped a label on himself as asexual, even though he didn’t think that he would ever tell his friends back home about it.
Jungkook got Jimin’s number, especially after finding out that their dream college was the same one, and found himself quickly making a new best friend. They didn’t live too far from one another, about an hour and a half by train, so they met up about once a month until Jimin went to Seoul in March to start his schooling.
They still texted, of course. And when Jungkook found out that he got into the same school as well, Jimin immediately started looking for apartments for them to live in.
In college, Jungkook found out that he’s definitely not aromantic.
Jungkook hadn’t done a lot of research into his own preferences. In general, Jungkook knew that he hadn’t ever had romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. Jimin said that this could mean that he was aroace. Jungkook took the label because it was nice to have, but Jungkook wasn’t someone who staunchly stood beside the label.
He didn’t really care that much about labeling himself, actually. His friends had all grown past the point of prying into each other’s sex lives. All of them were actively speaking about their own, if they wanted, but Jungkook never had anything to contribute, and his friends didn’t seem to fault him for that.
In fact, Jungkook doesn’t think that they would fault him for anything regarding his sexuality. One of the close members of their friend group, one of Jungkook’s oldest friends named Kyeongseok, came out as gay to them during their last month of school together and no one had any negative reactions.
One of his friends said, “I hope that your type isn’t bigger than me, because I cannot protect you from them if I can’t protect myself.” and the conversation was over.
Still, Jungkook didn’t ever come out. He hadn’t ever had a crush on anyone, either, so it wasn’t like his friends were used to Jungkook talking about anything in regards to romantic or sexual relationships.
So. Aroace.
It’s fine enough for Jungkook. Jimin doesn’t care. And no one else is curious.
Except, then, Jungkook met Eunwoo in college.
They met in a shared music class where they sat beside each other. Jungkook got increasingly more excited to see Eunwoo each class and, at one point, found his heart racing when Eunwoo grabbed his hand and smiled at him.
Jungkook had run home after class, telling Eunwoo that he was sorry they couldn’t have lunch together, but he really wasn’t feeling well and needed to take some time to rest, and could they please reschedule.
Thanking the gods that Jimin was home that day, Jungkook ran into their shared apartment and said, “Hyung, what does a heart attack feel like?”
Jimin had, appropriately, freaked out. He grabbed Jungkook and immediately they got on a bus to the hospital, Jimin’s hand holding onto Jungkook’s the entire time.
The doctor asked for Jungkook’s symptoms, and he explained the fuzzy feeling in his head, the rapid heartbeat in his chest, and the nausea in his stomach.
The doctor ran some tests, but didn’t find anything wrong with Jungkook.
Jimin, not pleased by this, started demanding answers from Jungkook about when this started, how often it happens, and so many more questions that Jungkook couldn’t keep up with any of them.
Once Jungkook described it all, both the doctor and Jimin just stared at him for a moment. Then Jimin burst into laughter.
“I’m so sorry,” Jimin said to the doctor. “He’s quite literally never had a crush before.”
“A crush?” Jungkook asked.
The doctor nodded. “It sounds like you’re experiencing a lot of symptoms of nervousness. And based on when these symptoms keep happening-”
“-around a certain boy-”
“It’s likely that the nerves and anxiety are coming from feelings of affection for this boy.”
Jungkook cried the whole way home. Jimin assured him that it was okay, figuring out a label for himself could take time and could change to whatever Jungkook felt was best, but that’s not what worried Jungkook at all.
Jungkook never tried to date Eunwoo, even though it was clear as day to anyone around them that Eunwoo returned his affections.
Jungkook couldn’t bear the thought of falling for someone, couldn’t let himself love someone, with the chance that they would stop loving him for not wanting to have sex with them.
Jimin comforted him while he cried in their apartment, and never told him that his reasoning for not wanting to date Eunwoo were silly, or that he just shouldn’t worry about it, because Jimin had been hit on by enough men in his lifetime to know just how important sex is to a lot of people.
Now, alone in his apartment, Jungkook texts Jimin.
me > jiminie-hyung
9:36 pm
are you coming home tonight? or staying with jinie-hyung?
jiminie-hyung > me
9:38 pm
hey!!!
i’m not able to make it home tonight
seokjinie, taehyungie, and i already started drinking
did he treat you well today
me > jiminie-hyung
9:39 pm
he was nice
yoongi was really nice too
jiminie-hyung > me
9:39 pm
YOONGI?
YOONGI WAS NICE TO YOU?
me > jiminie-hyung
9:40 pm
um
yes
should he have been mean to me?
jiminie-hyung > me
9:40 pm
no no
no one should ever be mean to you
if they are, i’ll quite literally kill them
me > jiminie-hyung
9:40 pm
calm down ted bundy
jiminie-hyung > me
9:41 pm
but
he’s definitely a little prickly
normally
even taehyungie and seokjinie say that he usually
takes some time to warm up to people
me > jiminie-hyung
9:42 pm
maybe it’s because i’m a new coworker?
jiminie-hyung > me
9:42 pm
seokjin just snorted so hard that his nose is bleeding now
me > jiminie-hyung
9:44 pm
don’t tell your bf what i think about ppl he hired!!!!!
😡😡😡
jiminie-hyung > me
9:45 pm
sorry bb
i’ll be home tomorrow when you get off, ok?
i’ll make whatever you want for dinner
love you
me > jiminie-hyung
9:45 pm
love you too 🙄
So, yeah, Jungkook doesn’t dislike Seokjin. In fact, he spends a lot of his free time hanging around with Seokjin and Jimin and doesn’t ever feel like a third wheel. That’s probably because, more often than not, Taehyung is also with them, but still.
Seokjin really likes video games, and so does Jungkook, but Jimin doesn’t and Taehyung is always working on some art project when he’s at Seokjin’s place, claiming that Jimin and Seokjin are the best muses he could possibly ever find, so Seokjin and Jungkook play together often.
And Seokjin hired him at his cafe. Which means that Jungkook should probably love him.
But Jungkook’s already felt left behind before. And Jimin moving out is enough to make him feel left behind again. It hasn’t happened yet, but as Jungkook microwaves a frozen meal for one, he knows that the loneliness creeping back into his life is inevitable.
✨
“Hi, Yoongi-ssi,” Jungkook says when he enters Euphoria Cafe the next morning.
Yoongi blinks up at him sleepily. Seokjin has Jungkook on the early morning shift today, and he has not yet made Yoongi’s morning latte. “Hey, Jungkook-ah,” he says, letting the casual name slip out. “How was the rest of your shift last night?”
Jungkook shrugs. “It was fine,” he says. “I learned so much stuff that I don’t think I have any room left in my brain for more.”
Yoongi laughs. “Don’t worry about trying to remember it all. It’ll take you a while and that’s fine,” he says. “There’s plenty of people around here to ask for help, so you’ll never have to worry about asking questions, okay?”
Jungkook blushes. “Even if they’re really stupid questions?”
“There are no stupid questions,” Yoongi says, smiling softly at Jungkook. He thinks it’s really really cute the way Jungkook has been so shyly talking to him throughout their entire conversation today. “Haven’t you ever heard that saying?”
“I guess,” Jungkook says, cheeks still tinged pink. “Sometimes I feel silly asking things, though.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about-”
Yoongi is cut off by a loud screech of Jungkook’s name.
Jungkook blinks. “Is Jiminie-hyung here?”
“If by Jimin, you mean the bane of my existence, then, yes, he’s here,” Yoongi says. “Taehyungie fortunately already left, but I think that’s because he didn’t want to deal with me scolding him.”
He doesn’t dislike Jimin, even though he sometimes teases Jimin as though he does, but Yoongi and Jimin do like to needle one another a bit. It’s mostly for fun. Yoongi’s fairly certain that he couldn’t tell if Jimin liked him for the first two months that they knew each other and vice versa.
“Sometimes when he spends the night at Seokjinie-hyung’s apartment, he comes into work with him in the morning,” Yoongi explains to Jungkook as Jimin rounds the corner from the kitchen.
He knows that his voice is coming out more annoyed than it should. After all, Jungkook is close with Seokjin and Jimin, but he still doesn’t like that Taehyung seems to be in love with them and that they’re dating one another and not him.
Taehyung had told him that it was none of his business once. But it’s hard to not make something your business when your best friend shows up at your apartment in the middle of the night because he slept with the two boys that he’s in love with.
“You’d think that he would have brought me home a coffee every once in a while,” Jungkook says, eyes focused on Jimin in a way that says he’s really talking to Jimin and not Yoongi.
Jimin rolls his eyes. “Like you would have ever been awake,” he says. “You were always just falling asleep when I got home since you worked overnights for your last job.”
Jungkook shrugs again. “Well, maybe I would have liked to reheat it before going to my horrible overnight job. Have you ever thought about that?”
Yoongi snorts at the bratty tone of Jungkook’s voice. Something like that from Jimin or Taehyung would send Yoongi into fight or flight mode, but with Jungkook, Yoongi just thinks it’s cute.
He kind of hates that he feels so fond already. Knows that he should try to bury that feeling, but it’s not much more than a platonic thoughtfulness for Jungkook, so he allows himself to enjoy it for just a moment.
Allows himself to pretend that he’s normal and can just enjoy having a crush on someone without worrying about the inevitable heartbreak at the end.
Yoongi, to rid himself of nasty thoughts about heartbreak and loneliness, leaves Jimin and Jungkook to catch up in the front area, and heads to the kitchen to begin his baking for the day.
Yoongi goes about his routine. He starts by grabbing out the doughs that he had made yesterday for bread and bagels. Euphoria Cafe may be best known as a place to study for college students, as somewhere with fairly priced coffee that still tastes really yummy, but Seokjin has always maintained that they keep fresh baked goods in the store.
Not only does that policy ensure that Yoongi has a job, but it’s also imperative for the various breakfast and lunch sandwiches that the cafe sells.
He’s putting the plain bagels into the oven when Seokjin enters the kitchen.
“Hey,” Seokjin says, a teasing glint in his eyes that Yoongi doesn’t like at all.
“Your boyfriend is here. He’s distracting Jungkook right now,” Yoongi says, tilting his head toward Seokjin. “He doesn’t even know how to run the cash registers.”
Seokjin rolls his eyes. “We’re starting Jungkook on making drinks. He’s worked a few jobs where he’s run a cash register before, so there’s no need to start him there, either.”
“Jimin doesn’t know how to make drinks, either.”
“Just say that you want to be the one distracting the pretty boy and go,” Seokjin laughs.
Yoongi’s hackles immediately raise. “What?” He asks.
Seokjin laughs. “C’mon, Yoongs. I’ve known you for years . I know what you look like when you’re crushing on someone.”
“I’m not crushing on anyone,” Yoongi mumbles. “I’ve known him for literally one day.”
Seokjin shrugs. “It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Jimin. And I liked him the first day that I met him.”
“Didn’t you make him come in here every day for months while he was on break and make him buy coffee before you said yes to dating him?” Yoongi asks, kind of laughing. He definitely wouldn’t have known that Seokjin liked Jimin from day one.
“Yeah,” Seokjin says, shrugging again. “But he flirted with other people around that time. He flirted with Hoseok and Jihyo, too, you know.” Yoongi notices the deliberate absence of Taehyung’s name, and he guesses that he’s thankful that Seokjin has enough tact to not mention Taehyung right now.
Yoongi tilts his head, trying to remember that. He should probably say something comforting to Seokjin, but instead he says, “And that bitch didn’t flirt with me?”
“You two and your mini rivalry will always blow my mind,” Seokjin says. Then, more gently, “It’s okay to like someone right away, you know.”
Yoongi halts his movements. “It’s scary,” he says, voice quiet. “Liking someone is scary for someone like me.”
Seokjin steps closer to Yoongi, arms raised to pull Yoongi into a hug.
“Someone like what?” He asks. “Someone who is smart and kind and passionate about what he does?”
Yoongi sighs. “Hyung, you don’t have to be nice-”
“I’m not just being nice,” Seokjin says, cutting Yoongi off. “I’m telling you that you’re all of those things because you are. I know you’re scared because Minsoo was a dick-”
“-Minsoo was such a dick-”
“- but it doesn’t mean that you have to be scared of every possible relationship that you could have. Jungkook is nice,” Seokjin assures. “He wouldn’t ever hurt you on purpose.”
Yoongi sniffles, feeling tears come to his eyes. The timer for his bagels goes off and he pulls out of Seokjin’s arms to turn them in the oven.
“Even though Minsoo was a dick when we broke up, it’s important to remember that he wasn’t a dick on purpose, either,” Yoongi says. “He really was okay with not having sex when we started dating.”
Seokjin tsks. “He was okay with it in the beginning, but he still cheated on you,” he says, a disdainful look on his face. “That makes him a dick no matter what. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with breaking up because your sexualities aren’t compatible, but he should have broken up with you instead of sleeping with another dude for a month and a half.”
Yoongi sighs. “I know you’re right, but I can’t help feeling like it’s my fault. If I were just a normal person-”
“You are a normal person,” Seokjin says, a sort of finality in his tone. “There’s nothing abnormal about you.”
Yoongi sighs. He knows that there’s realistically nothing wrong with him disliking sex. He also knows that it’s not an abnormal thing for him to be terrified of ever liking someone else for that reason.
“I just want to be friends with him,” Yoongi says, lying through his teeth.
“Okay,” Seokjin says, clearly knowing that Yoongi is lying, but not calling him out on it any longer. “If it’s any consolation, I think that you guys will get along really well.”
Yoongi shrugs. “It’ll be nice if we do. He’s…” Yoongi trails off, not sure how to describe Jungkook in a way that doesn’t make him sound entirely whipped already.
“I know,” Seokjin says, giving Yoongi a pat on that shoulder.
Then he leaves Yoongi alone with his thoughts, out to train the new, pretty barista.
“Jungkookie, great news,” he shouts. “Hoseokie is on vacation this week, so you’ll be trained by me, the owner and best barista in the entire city!”
Yoongi snorts at Seokjin’s remark and continues to do his baking, putting together the food that will go into the display case today for customers to see. He walks some of the sandwiches into the case and watches Jungkook learn from Seokjin for a moment.
Jungkook’s eyes are wide, but focused on Seokjin’s hands as Seokjin shows him how to steam milk to the proper temperature. The intense look on his face, like he’s trying to figure out how to remember everything that he’s being shown without writing everything down.
Cute , Yoongi thinks.
Jungkook and Yoongi happen to have their lunch break at the same time.
Actually, happen to might be a bit of a stretch. Yoongi one thousand percent wouldn’t put it past Seokjin to have lined their breaks up to be together. Especially after how much Seokjin had been advocating for Yoongi to have a crush on Jungkook earlier in the day.
“Hey,” Jungkook says, sitting down in the small office next to Yoongi. “Your lunch smells delicious.”
Yoongi smiles. Baking may be his full-time job, but Yoongi’s always loved all areas of cooking. Ever since he was young and cooking in his household kitchen with his mother, Yoongi’s been in love with cooking and baking.
“Thanks,” Yoongi says, sending another smile Jungkook’s way. “I made it last night and this is leftovers. I fucking love cooking soup, you know. It’s easily my comfort meal. Plus, I really love to make food, you know? There’s just something so… comforting about it, I guess.”
Jungkook hums. He pulls his phone out of his pocket. He doesn’t unlock it, though, seeming to only be checking the time. “That’s cool,” he says. “It’s probably really nice to know what you’re meant to be doing. I like to see how much you like cooking.”
Yoongi looks over to Jungkook, who is just sitting at the desk. “And where’s your lunch?”
Jungkook blushes. Yoongi thinks it’s cute.
“I didn’t pack any,” he says sheepishly. “I cooked ramen for dinner last night and didn’t really have anything to bring to work with me…”
He trails off and Yoongi is unsure what he had been about to say. Maybe nothing at all.
Yoongi stands up. “Well,” he says, trying to make his voice sound as stern as Seokjin’s does when he’s scolding Yoongi in a way that really means that he cares about him a lot. “Come with me, then.”
Jungkook’s head tilts to the side. “Um, where?”
“I bring all of my leftovers here, usually stick them in the refrigerator that Seokjin has in the kitchen for the employees,” Yoongi explains. “There’s not usually a lot of stuff in there because there are only, like, eight employees here.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says. “You don’t have to give me any of your food.”
Yoongi chuckles. “Jungkook-ah,” he says, grabbing a container of soup out of the refrigerator and sticking it in the microwave. “There’s nothing I like more than seeing other people eat things that I’ve cooked.”
“Thank you,” Jungkook says quietly. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem,” Yoongi amends. “Though, please be aware that you’re eating reheated food. Next time, I’ll actually cook for you so that you can have the food how it’s supposed to taste, okay?”
And Yoongi knows that he suggested that there’s going to be a next time for him cooking for Jungkook. Which implies that they’ll be together in one of their own houses to have that happen, which might be a bit forward, but Yoongi doesn’t really care at the moment. He really just wants to make sure that Jungkook is eating well.
“Okay,” Jungkook says. “But, just to be clear, Jimin and I rely solely on food that can be cooked in less than ten minutes, so I have no doubt that, even reheated, this might be the best thing that I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
“Don’t say that until you try it, Jungkook-ah,” Yoongi says. “You might hate it.”
The microwave beeps before Jungkook can get another word out. Yoongi grabs one of the bowls that Seokjin’s stocked the kitchen with to pour the soup into before handing it to Jungkook. “Here,” he says. “Now let’s get back into the office and finish eating before Seokjinie-hyung tries to say that we’re committing time-clock theft. Because he absolutely will.”
✨
Jimin picks Jungkook up from work. Seokjin has already gone home for the day and Jungkook is thankful for that. As much as he likes his boss and friend, Jungkook is far too tired to stand around while Jimin and Seokjin take half an hour to say goodbye to one another, so he’s happy to just run out the door with nothing more than a goodbye to Jihyo, Namjoon, and Yoongi as soon as he sees Jimin approaching the front door.
He’s a bit red-cheeked from Yoongi wishing him a good night, but Jimin seems to be too busy to notice Jungkook’s slight flush.
“How was work?” Jimin asks when they get home.
They didn’t make a lot of small-talk on the walk home. Mostly because it’s barely an eight minute walk home, but also because Jimin had been on the phone with a parent of one of the toddlers in his dance class. Apparently, something had gone wrong with the check that the mother sent in, and Jimin really can’t stand to see a child who wants to dance unable to do so, so Jimin had been on the phone figuring out some way to make things work for her.
“It was fine,” Jungkook answers.
Truthfully, the day had been way more than fine. He thinks back on his lunch break fondly. His cheeks heat up slightly at the memory of Yoongi giving him food. And his face really feels warm when he remembers Yoongi telling him that he ate really well.
He’d also had the chance to meet Namjoon. Apparently the smartest person that works there, if you believe what Jihyo says.
Jungkook actually does choose to believe it. Namjoon walked into Euphoria Cafe with a backpack that looks like it weighs more than Jungkook can bench press and was reading various pages of several textbooks in between making drinks for customers.
Jungkook briefly wondered how he studies there when school is actually in session, but Yoongi said that Namjoon doesn’t pick up many shifts during the school year, since he’s in graduate school. But he still likes to study when he’s not enrolled in classes, and as long as all of their work is finished then Seokjin doesn’t mind if he’s studying, so his nose is in a book more often than not.
Jungkook also got a chance to talk more with Jihyo, who called herself the token female of the cafe and swears that Seokjin only hired her to avoid a lawsuit.
“That’s not even remotely true,” Seokjin said, annoyance in his voice like it wasn’t the first time that he was having that conversation with Jihyo. “I hired you because you kept putting in applications even though we weren’t hiring at the time and I liked your tenacity.”
Jihyo had shrugged, then whispered to Jungkook, “He also didn’t hire me until after he started dating the boy from the dance studio across the street, so I also think he was just trying to hire himself a boyfriend.”
Seokjin threw a towel at her and she erupted into giggles.
Jungkook had looked through the small, open window into the kitchen to see Yoongi’s reaction. Yoongi caught his gaze and grinned.
“Just fine?” Jimin asks, now.
Jungkook sighs. “I like him,” he whispers. “I think I could really like him.”
Jimin tentatively takes a seat next to where Jungkook is laying on the couch. “Yoongi-hyung?” He asks, voice delicate, like he’s scared that he might send Jungkook running if he’s any bit louder.
Jungkook nods. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m really fucking scared about it.”
Jimin nods. After Eunwoo, Jimin had never told Jungkook that his feelings were silly or invalid, and Jungkook had always appreciated it. Junkook knows that he’s a good person, that he’s a person worth loving, but he doesn’t know how to always feel that way when he knows that so many people won’t ever be interested in dating him because of his asexuality.
“It’s okay to be scared,” Jimin soothes, seemingly reading Jungkook’s thoughts. He probably can read them by this point. Jungkook’s never been shy in expressing this particular fear to his best friend. “But Yoongi’s a really nice guy, you know. There’s a chance that he won’t care at all.”
Jungkook stares at the ceiling and sighs, letting his right hand fall to the floor. There’s technically always a chance that whoever Jungkook might be crushing on won’t care that he’ll never have sex with them, but Jungkook’s not sure that it’s ever been worth it to try before.
He’s always pushed anyone that he could have feelings for away before he got to the point that he’d be able to figure out if it’s worth it to fall.
“It’s not about him being a nice guy, though, you know,” Jungkook says, feeling not exactly frustrated, but something close to it that he can’t entirely describe. “He could be the nicest guy in the world and really love me, but if he wants to have sex, then…”
Jimin nods. He’s not sure that Jimin entirely understands what it is that Jungkook is feeling, but he’s always been Jungkook’s biggest supporter, and Jungkook will forever be grateful for that. Still, sometimes it makes expressing these particular feelings a bit difficult for Jungkook.
“Hey,” Jimin says, his voice higher, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “I didn’t think that Seokjinie was ever going to be interested in me, you know. It took me a long time to get him to agree to go out with me,” he admits, something still scared in his voice like he’s not telling Jungkook everything that he’s feeling. But Jungkook doesn’t push for more. “But, I still let myself fall.”
“Really?”
Jimin grabs Jungkook’s hand, urging him to sit up. “Yes, really,” he says. “Something with all love is learning to let yourself fall, even though there’s the chance that the person you’re falling for might not be there to catch you.”
Jungkook thinks over his words while Jimin starts making dinner.
He supposes that it’s true that all love has risks. Sometimes, the best things in life come from taking a chance when you can’t possibly know the outcome. But, still. He’s not worried about Yoongi not being there to catch him.
He’s worried about Yoongi catching him, then changing his mind when he finds out that Jungkook’s not interested in sex and dropping him deliberately.
He keeps those thoughts in his brain however.
“Yoongi-hyung offered to cook for me,” Jungkook tells Jimin.
Jimin raises an eyebrow, his mouth opening to form an ‘o’ shape. “Wait, wait, wait. You’re calling him hyung and he offered to cook for you?”
Jungkook nods. “He kept calling me casually today and told me to call him hyung when he gave me his phone number,” he admits, blushing. “I haven’t texted him so that he has mine yet, but-”
“Jungkook!”
“What?” Jungkook asks, startled at Jimin’s sudden shriek.
Jimin laughs. “Text that poor hyung,” he says. “Yoongi-hyung is one of the absolute shyest people I have ever met. He wouldn’t give me his phone number until, like, the eighth time that we hung out together.”
“Has he ever cooked for you?” Jungkook asks.
Jimin hums. “I think Taehyungie has brought me leftover food from him before, but he’s never specifically cooked for me.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says, grabbing his phone out of his back pocket, a small smile on his face.
me > yoongi-hyung
4:20 pm
hey, hyung
it’s jungkook
It’s only a moment before his phone dings once again and Jungkook’s heart beats a little faster. He doesn’t want to believe that Yoongi had been waiting for him to text, but the thought that he might have been anticipating a message from Jungkook makes Jungkook’s heart soar.
yoongi-hyung > me
4:20 pm
hey, jungkook-ah!!
how are you
i know you only left work like
an hour ago
but
Jungkook smiles at the text messages. It almost seems like Yoongi is a bit nervous to be texting him. Jungkook’s confidence that Yoongi might like Jungkook in a similar way is growing with each text that comes through.
me > yoongi-hyung
4:21 pm
i’m ok
jimin is cooking us dinner now
yoongi-hyung > me
4:21 pm
i didn’t know that park jimin could cook
he’s a demon, you know
you’re roommate is a demon
me > yoongi-hyung
4:22 pm
only to people he really loves
he’s also a really kind person, you know
he helped me figure out my sexuality when i was younger
yoongi-hyung > me
4:25 pm
oh?
did you get a crush on him?
Jungkook laughs out loud, ignoring Jimin asking him why he’s laughing, knowing that Jimin would immediately get offended and pretend like Yoongi and Jungkook are ganging up on him.
me > yoongi-hyung
4:25 pm
no, nothing like that
he just helped me figure things out when i was confused
There. Jungkook figures that’s vague enough that he doesn’t exactly have to come out to Yoongi. He doesn’t know why (he definitely knows why), but he doesn’t want to have his chance with Yoongi shut down just yet. He wants to get to know Yoongi, wants to feel the tension build between them until Jungkook has no choice but to confess to Yoongi and have no worries except for wondering if Yoongi is going to be around to catch him.
yoongi-hyung > me
4:26 pm
ah i understand
i went through a lot with figuring myself out too
but i’m happy that you had someone as kind as jimin to help you through it
don’t ever tell him
but i think him and jinie-hyung are perfect for each other
i actually really like jimin
Jungkook smiles. He had already known that Yoongi and Jimin just like to mess with each other, but something about having Yoongi directly tell him that he likes his best friend warms Jungkook’s heart.
“Kook,” Jimin calls from the kitchen. “Dinner’s done. And since I actually cooked, we’re sitting down together without our phones, so quit being lovesick and tell Yoongi-hyung goodbye for now!”
“I’m not lovesick,” Jungkook mumbles, though he’s sure that the red on his cheeks betrays his words.
me > yoongi-hyung
4:27 pm
hyung, jiminie-hyung is saying no phones at dinner
since he cooked
so i have to go now, ok?
yoongi hyung > me
4:27 pm
no problem
i’m working in the evening tomorrow, so i don’t think that we’ll have too much time to see each other tomorrow
but next time we both work in the morning, why don’t you come over for dinner?
Jungkook’s heart sings.
me > yoongi-hyung
4:28 pm
that sounds nice
i’m on the mornings until hoseok-ssi comes back
and i don’t work on sunday at all
yoongi-hyung > me
4:29 pm
saturday for dinner, then?
i work saturday morning
me > yoongi-hyung
4:29 pm
see you then :]
“Fuck,” Jungkook says as he sits down at the table with Jimin. “I think I’m fucked.”
Jimin giggles into his hand as the other one ladles out some kimchi jjigae into Jungkook’s bowl. “Yeah,” he says. “You’re going to fall in love with him.”
✨
Saturday evening comes a lot faster than Yoongi had anticipated it would.
Even the Saturday morning shift, which seems like it will never end during the school breaks, felt strangely busy and rushed to Yoongi that day.
He and Jungkook were scheduled at the same time. Seokjin and Hoseok would be closing the cafe with their other coworker, Hajoon, a college student who only works the weekends, so it had just been Jungkook, Jihyo, and Yoongi during the morning.
Yoongi never realized how fond he is of everyone in the cafe until he was watching Jihyo and Jungkook tease one another, apparently very casual with one another after finding out that they’re the same age, and he felt such a strong comfort settle in his bones.
When Yoongi is done updating Seokjin and Hoseok on everything that they need to know, including when to put his several types of dough into the walk-in cooler, he meets Jungkook at the front of the store.
Jungkook holds a cup out to Yoongi in greeting.
Yoongi raises an eyebrow.
“According to Jihyo, this is your favorite drink, so I made it for you,” Jungkook says, looking particularly proud of himself.
Yoongi smiles, unable to stop the grin from taking over his face. “Thank you,” he says, taking a sip of the warm latte. “It tastes delicious.”
“Good,” Jungkook says. “This way, we both will make something yummy for each other today.”
Yoongi wants to tell Jungkook that he definitely didn’t have to make Yoongi’s favorite latte for him, especially if it was just to even out Yoongi cooking for him. But Jungkook looks genuinely happy that he was able to make something that Yoongi likes, and he doesn’t think that Jungkook would just want to do that out of obligation to Yoongi, so he stays quiet.
“Do you have a bus pass?” Yoongi asks. “It’s not a really far walk to my house, but I’m kind of lazy.”
Jungkook laughs. “I have a bus pass in my wallet,” he says. “Jiminie-hyung and I live within walking distance, so I usually walk here, but I’m really glad that I keep it in my wallet.”
Yoongi hums. “Cool,” he says. “The bus stop isn’t too far from here, so let’s go.”
Jungkook asks Yoongi a lot of questions about himself and Yoongi answers every last one of them, even as they get more and more personal as the bus ride goes on. Yoongi’s not sure if he’s thankful that the bus ride is only about twelve minutes.
“How did you choose baking over music production?” Jungkook asks, surprising Yoongi. Yoongi hadn’t realized that Jungkook remembered that particular conversation from his first day. After all, Jungkook had said that he learned so much stuff that hardly any information was staying in his brain.
It makes Yoongi’s heart feel tingly that that particular piece of information stuck.
“It was a really hard decision, actually,” Yoongi admits. “I always really loved music, you know? When I was growing up, I actually fought with my parents about going to school for music. I don’t think that they even know that I’m working as a baker now.”
“Really?” Jungkook asks.
Yoongi nods. “Yeah, they weren’t really fond of me going to school for music.”
“Same,” Jungkook whispers, voice so quiet that Yoongi barely hears him say it over the loud chatter on the bus. “I mean, I told you that my parents disowned me and that’s when I dropped out of college, right?”
Yoongi nods, encouraging Jungkook to continue.
“That’s when they found out that I was in school as a vocal major,” he explains. “They always knew that I loved music and encouraged it growing up. I mean, hell, I met Jiminie-hyung at a music camp. But they encouraged it as a hobby. Something that could look good for me on applications. Apparently, they didn’t want it to be my entire life, though, you know?”
“Hmm,” Yoongi says, pulling the cord to indicate the next stop as theirs. Jungkook immediately stands up. “Is that something that you’ll want? To go back to school and be a vocal major?”
Jungkook shrugs. “I’m twenty-six already,” he says. “Most people my age are already in grad school, if they’re in school at all. Most of them have full-time jobs.”
“You have a full-time job,” Yoongi points out.
The bus stops and Yoongi and Jungkook get off. Thankfully, his apartment is on the same corner as the bus stop, so they don’t have much farther to go at all.
“Yeah,” Jungkook says. “And I’m happy for it. I just don’t think that it would be enough for me to successfully pay for rent and groceries and all of that while also saving enough to go back to school.”
“That makes sense,” Yoongi agrees. “But, if it’s something that you want to do, go ahead and try to do it. Even if you take some community college courses online while you’re saving up to do the courses you have to do at school, that could help you.”
Yoongi walks Jungkook up to his apartment. It’s on the second floor and the elevator always takes way longer than just walking up the single flight of stairs would take him. He also doesn't talk again, letting Jungkook think about what he’s said.
“I’ve never thought about community college before,” Jungkook says when they’re inside Yoongi’s apartment. “That’s a good idea, Yoongi-hyung.”
Yoongi smiles. “I got my degree in business online while working full-time at the cafe. Just so that I could help Seokjinie-hyung with some of the business needs.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says as Yoongi pulls on an apron and washes his hands. “You never told me how you chose baking instead.”
Yoongi shrugs, pulling out the beef that he had marinated the prior night. “Once Seokjinie-hyung told me that he was interested in opening Euphoria with the ungodly amount of inheritance money he had and asked me to work there, I fell in love with being in the kitchen. I’d always been good at cooking and baking - my mom had me help her in the kitchen a lot when I was younger-”
“Do you miss her?” Jungkook asks.
Yoongi doesn’t answer for a moment. Jungkook seems like he’s asking more for himself than about Yoongi. Like he wants confirmation that it’s okay to miss someone who abandoned you. Like it’s okay that he misses his own parents.
Yoongi answers truthfully. “Most days,” he says. “But it’s been a really long time since I last saw them. I’m not sure that they’d even recognize the person I am anymore, you know?”
Jungkook nods. And Yoongi’s sure that Jungkook does understand, seeming like he’s a much different person than he had been when his parents left him to fend for himself however many years ago.
Instead of answering any further, though, Jungkook asks, a bright smile on his face, “What are you making me tonight, Yoongi-hyung?”
“Japchae,” Yoongi answers easily, getting to work on dinner.
Yoongi knows during dinner that his traitorous heart is one-million percent going to fall in love with Jungkook.
At first, Yoongi is genuinely concerned that Jungkook doesn’t like his food because of the angry look on Jungkook’s face, but Jungkook assures him that he’s always been told that he looks sort of angry while eating something really yummy. And, thinking back on it, Yoongi does remember thinking that Jungkook looked a little like he hated the soup that Yoongi had given him earlier in the week.
But then, Jungkook finishes his entire plate and grabs seconds, and Yoongi’s heart feels warm, warm, warm with thoughts of Jungkook.
“Are you from Busan as well?” Yoongi asks.
They’ve both finished dinner and are sipping on some way-too-sweet wine that Yoongi happened to have in his house. He thinks that it’s a dessert wine that Hoseok had gifted him a few weeks ago, the day after Yoongi brought him some of his favorite jjigae.
The first time that Hoseok ever brought something into the cafe for him, Yoongi blinked confusedly, and then said, “I didn’t bring you anything.” Because it was a Wednesday afternoon, so of course he hadn’t brought a gift for Hoseok to his job.
“It’s my love language,” Hoseok said simply. “I like to gift people things. But I hate getting gifts, so don’t ever bring me anything unless it’s food, okay?”
Yoongi nodded dumbly. But now he brings Hoseok his favorite foods and Hoseok brings him things like flower pots and wine, so he’s happy with the way things have turned out.
Now, back in Yoongi’s dining room, Jungkook tilts his head curiously at Yoongi.
“Ah,” Yoongi says, understanding Jungkook’s confusion. “You told me earlier that you met Jiminie at a music camp in high school. I assumed that meant you grew up a little near one another.”
Jungkook nods. “Yeah, we met up a few times a month. We were a fairly long bus ride from one another. I think it took two or three buses to get to him?”
Yoongi hums. “It’s nice that you made a best friend at music camp. It’s easy to see that it meant a lot to you.”
“Do you wanna hear?” Jungkook asks suddenly, eyes wide and nervous like he isn’t sure if he should have asked that.
It makes Yoongi’s heart flip.
“I- I mean, I have some things that I did when I was in college on my phone if you would be interested-”
“I’d love to hear you sing,” Yoongi says, trying to keep his voice calm, to not let the overeagerness at hearing something so personal to Jungkook take over his voice. He’s not sure that he’s able to contain the excitement, though, because Jungkook looks much more placated than he would if Yoongi had seemed disinterested.
Jungkook grabs his phone out of his pocket and asks Yoongi if he has a specific pair of headphones that he likes or if he’s okay with Jungkook’s wireless ones.
“Yours are fine, Jungkook-ah,” Yoongi says, holding a hand out for Jungkook’s headphones.
Jungkook drops the case in Yoongi’s open palm and makes quick work of opening up a file that he apparently just has saved in his voice notes.
The sound that comes through the headphones is a little grainy. A little like you can tell that Jungkook was probably recording this into a pair of those headphones that used to come with the iPhone while sitting in the closet in his bedroom.
Yoongi likes imagining a younger Jungkook doing that. Someone so young and scared and brave trying to make his dreams come true, even if it’s not what his parents wanted from him. He can see a twenty-one year old Jungkook, a little alone and trying to figure out how to make it in such a big and scary world.
Yoongi wonders if he had already dropped out of college when Jungkook was recording this song. He wonders if, in a different life, he was producing music in college and Jungkook was singing in college and they came together through music, instead.
It’s a nice thought.
He likes how he met Jungkook, anyway.
“Your voice is lovely,” Yoongi says, instead of saying how he had just imagined a hundred different lifetimes that they’ve possibly shared together. “You should definitely consider going back to school if you want to do something with your voice.”
“Thanks, Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook whispers, a small smile on his lips.
me > junkookie
10:20 pm
hey
you make it home yet?
you should have let me take you there
jungkookie > me
10:20 pm
and then
you
would have had to travel back home alone
i’m much bigger than you
so i’ll be safer than you would have been
me > jungkookie
10:21 pm
yeah, you have more muscles
but i give off a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe that scares strangers off
also
you didn’t answer
are you home yet
jungkookie > me
10:23 pm
i’m still on the bus
next stop is mine
me > jungkookie
10:24pm
let me know when you get home, okay?
i won’t go to sleep until then
jungkookie > me
10:32 pm
hyung i am safe in my apartment
go to sleep
me > jungkookie
10:32 pm
goodnight, kook-ah
jungkookie > me
3:43 am
i applied for an online school
✨
“Hey, Jungkookie,” Hoseok says brightly when Jungkook enters the Euphoria Cafe on Tuesday afternoon. “Glad to see you came back! Means that grumpy ol’ Yoongi-hyung wasn’t enough to scare you off last week.”
Jungkook tilts his head. It’s the second time now that someone has suggested that Yoongi would have been anything other than entirely welcoming to him the prior week. Jimin had mentioned that Taehyung described Yoongi as someone that takes a while to get used to people, but Taehyung had explicitly told Jungkook that he and Yoongi would get along really well.
Jungkook thinks that he had actually liked Yoongi the most out of anyone at the cafe.
That’s because you think he’s cute, a voice inside his brain whispers. You like him.
Shut up, Jungkook thinks back. He needs to push all thoughts of Yoongi being cute to the back of his brain. Jungkook’s managed to avoid all potential crushes in the years since he crushed on Eunwoo, but he’s never thought about someone he worked with as a potential romantic interest.
Liking Yoongi simply couldn’t happen. As much as Jungkook’s already let the feelings start to bloom in his chest, he knows that he should stop them. Knows that he needs to take a pair of gardening shears and clip the pretty flowers right off.
“I liked Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook says to Hoseok now.
Jihyo snorts beside him. “Yeah, your eyes got all starry when he talked to you,” she laughs. Jungkook’s cheeks redden. “You were looking at him yesterday like you’ve literally never seen someone covered in flour before.”
“I haven’t ever seen someone covered in flour before,” Jungkook retorts.
Jihyo sticks her tongue out. “Well,” she says. “You thought he was pretty either way.”
Jungkook shrugs. He figures that there’s no fighting that one. He knows better than anyone else that it’s possible to objectively appreciate someone’s beauty in a totally platonic, bro manner.
“That doesn’t mean anything, though,” Jungkook argues, discreetly attempting to look toward the small kitchen area to see if Yoongi is in there.
“He’s gone for the day,” Jihyo says, walking toward the cash register, where a customer is ready to place her order. “Go put an apron on and get clocked in. You’re learning how to work the cash register tonight.”
Jungkook walks to the backroom where all of the aprons and hats are kept. Besides wearing those things, Seokijn is fairly lax about the rest of the dress code. Jungkook is thankful for that. He’s not ever going to show up dressed unprofessionally, but he likes that he doesn’t have to suddenly start buying red shirts to wear to work.
Hoseok follows behind him.
“Oh, Hoseokie-hyung, I remember where everything is,” Jungkook says, a bit confused because he’s been working here for a whole week already. But Hoseok was off for most of that week, so maybe it feels like it’s Jungkook’s second day to him .
Hoseok averts his eyes. “That’s, um, not actually what I came back here for.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says. “Is everything okay?”
Hoseok nods. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s just that- the thing about Yoongi-hyung…”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Jungkook says quickly. “I’m- I don’t really do the dating thing.”
Hoseok nods. “Yeah. Yoongi-hyung doesn’t really do the sleeping around thing, though. You’ll hear him talk about it often, so I feel like it’s okay that I’m telling you now, but he’s, like, super asexual. Actually one time, he told Jiminie and Seokjinie-hyung how much they gross his asexual self-”
Hope flutters in Jungkook’s chest.
“What?” He asks, sure that he’s misheard.
“Oh,” Hoseok says. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t just assume that you know what that means. But, yeah, Yoongi-hyung is not interested in having sex with anyone. He’s been in relationships before where the person says that they’re okay with it, but then they aren’t actually okay with it-”
“No,” Jungkook cuts him off. “I- me, too.”
“‘You too’ what?”
“I’m, um, I’m asexual, too,” Jungkook says.
Jungkook feels some sort of weight lifting off of his shoulders. What are the odds that the cute boy he’s already been thinking of for an entire week is also asexual? The boy who cooked him dinner on Saturday and texts him to make sure he’s getting home safely and has been taking up every corner of Jungkook’s brain for an entire week is also asexual?
Plus, this is really the first time he’s ever labeled himself out loud to someone. Jimin had been the one to tell Jungkook about asexuality, but Jungkook’s never come out to anyone before.
Jungkook laughs a bit. “I’m also asexual,” he says again. “That’s so fucking crazy.”
Hoseok tilts his head. “I’m a bit lost.”
“I was in the middle of convincing myself that it would never work out between me and him, you know. I just always have avoided getting crushes on anyone because I don’t want to hurt myself like that,” Jungkook explains.
Hoseok tilts his head.
“I mean,” Jungkoook starts, backing down immediately. He doesn’t know how close Yoongi and Hoseok are, and he doesn’t want Hoseok to tell Yoongi about the possible crush or the asexuality thing. Jungkook wants to do those things himself. “I don’t even actually like him yet or know if he could ever even like me, but-”
Jungkook cuts himself off. “For the first time in a really long time,” Jungkook says. “It feels like there’s hope.”
Jungkook spends the remainder of his shift trying to figure out what to do about telling Yoongi.
He could just text Yoongi, let him know that he’s asexual. But he doesn’t really know how to go about that. Jungkook knows that he’s going into the conversation with the sole intent of letting Yoongi know that he’s asexual and really interested in getting to know Yoongi as a romantic partner, rather than as a coworker.
But what would he say? Just send a text that says ‘haha hey bestie i’m asexual and do u know what that means’? Absolutely not. Jungkook could just text a ‘hey’ and let the conversation naturally flow that way, but something tells him that this needs to be a face-to-face conversation.
A surprise visit from Kim Taehyung solidifies this decision for Jungkook.
“Taehyungie-oppa,” Jihyo shouts when he walks into Euphoria Cafe. “It’s been way too long since you’ve been in here!”
Taehyung doesn’t return her greeting. Instead, he glares in Jungkook’s direction, thoroughly confusing Jungkook.
“Oppa, that’s Jungkookie. He started here last week,” Jihyo explains. “I like working with him because he’s a really good listener. And I don’t just mean about instructions for how to make coffees. He listens to everything that I have to say about Dahyunie-”
“He also has a crush on my best friend, I hear,” Taehyung says, eyes never leaving Jungkook’s own.
Jihyo squeals. “Oh, he does ,” she says, sounding absolutely delighted. “How did you find that out? Did Yoongi-oppa tell you how Jungkookie looks at him with stars in his eyes?”
“Jimin,” Jungkook groans, knowing that his best friend definitely revealed that information to his soulmate. “I’m disowning him, for real,” Jungkook swears.
“I just came here to size up this boy. Make sure that he’s good enough for my Yoongi-hyung,” Taehyung says, sauntering over to the counter where Jungkook’s standing.
There are definitely other customers in the cafe, but none of them seem to care about Taehyung’s dramatics at the moment. Taehyung holds up his hand, aiming a finger gun at Jungkook.
“Tell me your intentions, boy,” Taehyung says in perfect English, apparently imitating something that he’s seen in a movie before.
“Hyung,” Jungkook whines. “We’ve literally met before! You’re the one who told me that Yoongi-hyung and I would get along really well!”
Taehyung drops the finger gun. “Well,” Taehyung says, taking a brief pause. “I wasn’t expecting you two to fall for each other in less than a week,” he says, a whine to his voice. “I had a bet with Jiminie on how long it would take for you two to fall in love and I thought that you were both too shy and sad to do it in a week!”
At Taehyung’s lowkey admission that Yoongi is interested in him as well, Jungkook begins to feel a bit floaty.
For the first time in his life, Jungkook imagines dating someone.
He imagines himself and Yoongi going on picnics, hanging out at each other’s apartments. He thinks that Yoongi would fit right in at Jungkook and Jimin’s apartment. He imagines that Yoongi would play the piano and Jungkook would sing for him, but they wouldn’t ever try to record anything because it’s just for them .
Jungkook imagines Yoongi cooking his favorite meals after Jungkook’s had a hard day. Imagines himself learning to bake from Yoongi and surprising Yoongi with whatever his favorite dessert is someday.
He imagines cuddling in bed, if that’s something that Yoongi’s comfortable with.
Jungkook isn’t sure if he would like kissing. He’s never tried it, but he’s not against the idea. He wonders what Yoongi’s stance on kissing is. Imagines long, tender kisses and shorter pecks out of habit.
Someone clears their throat.
Jihyo and Taehyung are both staring at him. Well, Jihyo is ringing out a customer, but her energy is staring at Jungkook.
“What?” He asks, defensive despite knowing that he looks absolutely dazed.
“Ugh,” Taehyung groans. “Are you thinking about him being in love with you right now?”
“It’s disgusting,” Jihyo nods. “He’s a lovesick bunny, that’s for sure.”
Jungkook grimaces. “Stop making fun of me,” he pouts. “Jiminie-hyung would yell at you both if he knew you were teasing me for having a crush, just by the way .”
“You disowned oppa two minutes ago,” Jihyo deadpans.
Taehyung walks around the counter. Jungkook isn’t sure that it’s totally allowed, since Taehyung doesn’t work there, but Seokjin seems highly susceptible to the charms of both Jimin and Taehyung, because they kind of do whatever they want in the store.
“So, Jungkookie,” Taehyung says more seriously. “Care to tell me about your intentions with Yoongi-hyung?”
And, this time, instead of looking like he’s trying to be threatening to Jungkook, Taehyung looks like he’s genuinely concerned for Yoongi’s safety and well-being. And, well, after learning that Yoongi is also asexual, Jungkook gets it. He knows that if Yoongi is interested in Jungkook like Taehyung says he is, then Jimin has likely already harassed Yoongi by giving him the ‘what’s your intention with my son’ speech.
“I like him,” Jungkook says simply. “And you don’t have to worry, hyung. Because I’m super fucking ace.”
Taehyung’s eyes widen a bit. Jungkook’s thankful that, despite his thoughts that Jimin and Taehyung share everything but a brain, Jimin had not told Taehyung about his sexuality. Not that Jungkook would really care, if he’s truly thinking about it, but a small reminder that Jimin’s still his best friend is always nice.
“Really?”
Jungkook nods. “Yep,” he says. “Jiminie-hyung and I became friends because he introduced himself as gay and not wanting to sleep with me and I admitted that I hadn’t ever wanted to sleep with anyone.”
Jungkook starts to make the drink order that Jihyo put in, wondering where Hoseok is. Jungkook is okay enough at making drinks to do a simple french vanilla latte on his own (though, his mind had been absolutely blown when he found out that french vanilla was just a mix of vanilla and hazelnut syrups), but he still hasn’t seen Hoseok since they were in the backroom together.
“That sounds exactly like how Jiminie would introduce himself,” Taehyung laughs. Then, more seriously, says, “But you really like Yoongi-hyung? Like, really, really like him?”
“Really, really,” Jungkook confirms. “He cooked me dinner on Saturday. But I knew the first time that I texted him that I was fucked. I think that anyone who was here on my first day could tell that I thought a lot of him. He- Taehyungie-hyung, he was so funny and nice to me and he didn’t look like he was judging me for wearing all black and he made me laugh and-”
“Okay, cowboy casanova,” Taehyung says in English and Jungkook doesn’t know what it means but stops talking anyway. “You really do sound like you like him.”
“I do,” Jungkook agrees.
“Does he know yet?” Taehyung asks. “Because I can tell that he likes you and Seokjinie-hyung can tell that he likes you, but I think he’s nervous about it because of the whole asexual thing-”
“I haven’t told him yet,” Jungkook interrupts. “I just found out about him being ace today. I want to tell him, but I don’t know how. Like, would a text suffice?”
Taehyung glares at him. “Listen,” he says, not unkindly, but still sort of sternly. “Yoongi hasn’t dated anyone in a while. And it’s not my business to tell you what happened before, but know that Yoongi is the kindest soul I have literally ever met. He deserves the world. And the world is not a text message.”
“You’re right,” Jungkook says, a plan already formulating in his head. “I’m going to give him the world.”
✨
A knock on the door startles Yoongi from his place on the sofa. He must have passed out accidentally at some point while watching some drama on Netflix that Seokjin insisted that he would absolutely love. Seokjin clearly had been wrong because Yoongi not only fell asleep during the first ten minutes of the first episode, but he can’t even remember the title of it right now.
The knock comes again, a bit more frantic than the first one.
Yoongi slowly stands up, looking at the time on his watch. 10:07 p.m.
No one has visited his home after seven p.m. in years. Not since he and Taehyung still shared an apartment and their friends regularly met up there, since it was easily the biggest one. And, even then, pretty much only Namjoon ever came after seven and that was only when he had a late class.
Yoongi figures it must be Taehyung. Despite having the only copy of his key, Taehyung often shows up at Yoongi’s apartment and needs to knock since he is constantly forgetting the key at his own home, where he alarmingly never locks the door.
Still, nerves start to creep up, manifesting in a physical form as a tightness in Yoongi’s throat that he can’t explain. Taehyung’s never shown up this late before, save for once when he had sex with Seokjin and Jimin and left as soon as they fell asleep.
Yoongi opens the door and - oh. That’s not Taehyung.
“Jungkook?” He asks, rubbing his eyes because he surely must be mistaking what he’s seeing. There’s no way that Jungkook is standing outside his apartment door right now.
Jungkook doesn’t respond. Yoongi opens his eyes a bit wider, staring in disbelief at Jungkook outside his door with a bag of takeout and a bouquet of purple and white flowers.
“Jungkook?” He asks again.
Still no response.
“This is the most realistic dream I’ve had in a long time,” Yoongi mumbles, letting the door fall close.
“Wait,” Jungkook yells.
Yoongi turns around, grabs the door and opens it back up.
“What?”
“Wait,” Jungkook says.
Yoongi raises an eyebrow, still not entirely convinced that he’s not a hallucination.
“I’m sorry. I’m asexual,” Jungkook says. Then, “Two separate thoughts.”
“What?”
Jungkook takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I was genuinely maybe in shock over how fucking cute you look when you’ve just woken up? Like, it probably should be illegal and I actually don’t think I’ve ever had an emotional reaction to someone being cute before? And I’m also sorry for coming here after the coffee shop closed but I found out that you’re asexual today and my brain was just telling me that I had to come over here-”
“Wait,” Yoongi says, cutting Jungkook off. “You found out that I’m asexual today and that made you want to come to my apartment this late in the night?”
Jungkook blushes. “Yoongi-hyung, can I come inside, please?”
Yoongi nods, moving aside to let Jungkook in, who politely takes off his shoes on the mat by the door.
“So,” Yoongi says, trying to sort his thoughts out. “You found out I’m asexual and ran over here with flowers and chicken to tell me that you’re asexual?”
Jungkook nods.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want me to know that?”
Jungkook takes another deep breath. Yoongi wonders if it’s steadying for him in the same way that it is for Yoongi.
“I like you,” Jungkook says simply. “I’ve liked you since the first day that I knew you and I was afraid to let that happen because I’ve never let myself actually like someone before. Like, I’ve only ever actively run away at the first sign of a crush,” he explains.
“I get that,” Yoongi admits, thinking of all the people he could have crushed on since him and Minsoo broke up. “I’ve done that before.”
“Because, um-” Jungkook says, clearly nervous to get the words out. “Because you’re like me, right?”
Yoongi hums. “You mean not interested in sex?”
Jungkook nods.
“Yeah,” Yoongi says. “I’m closer to sex-repulsed than not. I had it once, felt like throwing up the second he touched my dick, and have actively disliked thinking about it since.”
Jungkook nods, clearly interested in hearing about him. Yoongi wonders how Jimin helped Jungkook through his asexuality, since Jungkook had mentioned that Jimin helped him figure things out when they first became friends.
“I’ve, um- like, by myself is fine, you know?” Jungkook asks. Yoongi nods, but he doesn’t really know. He’s not interested in masturbation at all. But he’s read enough subreddits about asexuals and their various experiences to know that it’s completely normal for some asexuals to masturbate. “But I’ve never been attracted to someone. I’ve never looked at someone and thought, ‘damn, I’d really like to have sex with them’.”
“So, you like me, but you were trying to convince yourself not to because of your sexuality?” Yoongi asks, just trying to confirm information. He realizes that he hasn’t exactly told Jungkook that he’s been crushing on him back, but Yoongi mostly thinks that it’s because he hasn’t fully let himself process the thought of having feelings for someone.
Jungkook nods. “Yeah,” he says. “And everyone thinks that you might like me back and then I found out that you don’t like to have sex either and I realized that it’s the first time since college that I’ve felt butterflies in my stomach. And it’s the first time ever that I’ve felt like I wanted to kiss someone or cuddle someone but only if you’re comfortable with that because I don’t know what you like, but I want to find out what you like-”
“Some kisses are fine. I love cuddling,” Yoongi supplies.
Jungkook whines. “Please address the other part,” he says, thrusting the bouquet of flowers in Yoongi’s direction, his eyes screwed tightly shut. “The part where I said that everyone thinks that you like me back please.”
Yoongi waits a moment for Jungkook to open his eyes before answering. When he does, it’s the cutest sight that Yoongi has ever seen. Jungkook opens one eye, like he’s trying to peek at Yoongi without him knowing.
“I think this is an eyes open conversation, Kook,” Yoongi says, chuckling fondly.
Jungkook sighs but he opens both of his eyes, so Yoongi takes it as a win.
“We’ve only known each other for a week,” Yoongi says weakly. As though it’s a reason to not reciprocate Jungkook’s feelings. Though he’s sure that Jungkook notices that he doesn’t outright reject him.
Jungkook nods. “Yeah,” he agrees. “But I still like you. I like you and I’ve seen a million futures for us.”
Yoongi laughs, a short, shocked noise that he can’t control.
“What?” Jungkook asks, eyes looking worried. “Was that weird? It was weird, right?”
Yoongi shakes his head. “Not at all,” he soothes. “It’s just, well, I’ve imagined a hundred other lifetimes with you,” Yoongi admits.
“That’s a lot less than a million,” Jungkook says, face oddly serious for a moment before he breaks out into a smile. “You’ve really imagined other lives with me?”
Yoongi nods. “You’ve really imagined futures with me?”
Jungkook nods.
“We’ve only known each other for a week,” Yoongi says again. “You don’t think it’s too soon to be thinking about futures and lifetimes together?”
Jungkook sighs. “Maybe,” he admits. “But I’ve never felt the hope of having a future with someone before. I’ve never liked someone that I thought that I could have a hundred lifetimes with before, you know?”
“I know,” Yoongi whispers, thinking that he’s never felt a future so quickly with someone before either. Thinking that he wants to take the leap with Jungkook. Thinking that he wants to have love and happiness and he’s thirty so he deserves to settle down if that’s what he wants to do.
Jungkook smiles at him. It’s a small, tentative thing. “So, would you like to try this thing? Get to know each other as romantic partners?”
“Sure,” Yoongi laughs. “Why should lesbians get all the fun of moving at a fast pace?”
“Don’t say that to Jihyo, hyung,” Jungkook says seriously. “Her and Dahyunie moved in together after a month of dating.”
Their first date is the next day after work.
Jungkook didn’t stay over, said that even if they’re jumping into a potential relationship, he thinks that he should probably go home for the night. If for nothing more than for Taehyung and Jimin to not talk about him behind his back.
Yoongi thinks that he should talk to Taehyung about how he’s breaking his own heart by continuing to hang around Seokjin and Jimin, but he’s too excited to go on his first date with Jungkook to think about Taehyung and Jimin and Seokjin today.
They go to a cafe.
Not their cafe. Yoongi absolutely doesn’t need for Seokjin and Jihyo to be shouting weird things at them throughout their date. Plus, they’d both worked in the morning, and staying at your job for a date is even weirder than just going to your workplace for a date.
Instead, they go to a cafe on the other side of town, about a twenty-five minute bus ride from their cafe. One that Yoongi used to go to when he was in college, before Seokjin opened up Euphoria Cafe and before Yoongi dropped out.
It’s a bit bigger than Euphoria is. It has matching tables and chairs where Euphoria has a wide array of mix and match chairs and tables that Seokjin bought from some guy in an alley.
“How are you?” Yoongi asks when they sit down. Yoongi had paid for their coffees and desserts, two muffins and a slice of cake that they decided to share.
Jungkook hums. “I’m excited,” he admits, looking a bit shy. “I’ve never been on a date before.”
“No?” Yoongi asks, probably looking as surprised as he feels.
“Nope,” Jungkook agrees, taking a sip from the mug in front of him. Yoongi is fairly certain that he ordered a cappuccino, if the foam on the top of his mug is anything to go on. “I was serious last night, you know,” he says. “I- I really haven’t felt like this about a person before.”
“Me either,” Yoongi admits. “I know I didn’t really say it last night-”
Jungkook stops him. “I felt it, though.”
“I like you, too,” Yoongi says now. Jungkook may be able to feel it, but Yoongi wants to say it. “I really like you and I tried to stop it, or pretend that it wasn’t what I was feeling, but I still was falling even though I thought that you might want to have sex and I shouldn’t have judged, but normal people -”
“We’re normal people, hyung,” Jungkook interrupts. “I know that sometimes it doesn’t feel like it because we’re raised in a society that not only tells us that we should be attracted to someone, but specifically attracted to someone of the opposite gender. And here we are, two men who aren’t sexually attracted to anyone, but are romantically attracted to men,” Jungkook says, words coming out so fast and passionate that Yoongi feels his heart widen to accommodate more space for Jungkook inside of it.
“And so of course we think that we’re abnormal because that’s what society is telling us, but we’re normal because there is no such thing as normal and if no one is normal then everyone is normal, you know, hyung?”
Yoongi lets out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding the entire time that Jungkook had been speaking.
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “You’re so right, Jungkookie.”
Jungkook smiles. “So, we can be normal or weird, hyung. But, I think that no matter which way we do it, as long as we’re together, it’s going to be okay.”
“I think you might be comfort personified, Jeon Jungkook,” Yoongi says, truly feeling that way. “You’ve just settled so many of my fears, you know?”
Jungkook smiles. “Good,” he says. “All I’ve wanted since we met last week was to make you feel nice. Even before I fully accepted my crush on you.”
Yoongi smiles even wider. “Well, you definitely have.”
✨
Jungkook and Yoongi move quickly after their first date.
After the cafe date, Jungkook goes back to Yoongi’s house. Somehow, Jungkook assumes through the match-making powers of Kim Seokjin, Jungkook and Yoongi both happen to have largely the same schedule, aside from Monday when Yoongi opens and Jungkook closes. Besides that, they both have Thursday and every other weekend off.
“You want to stay over now?” Yoongi asks him, clearly teasing his basic marriage proposal followed by the admission that he should go home the night before.
Jungkook smiles. “I would like to if that’s okay with you,” he says.
“I would love it if you stayed.”
They spend a few hours doing kind of boring things. They watch another episode of the drama that Yoongi had apparently fallen asleep during the night before, but Jungkook insists that they should watch it because it’s one of his favorite love stories. And even though he’s never fallen in love, Jungkook has always loved watching love stories unfold on the television.
Then they spend way too much time talking about absolutely everything that Jungkook can think of. He knows that they both have work in the morning, knows that Yoongi likes to get a full eight hours of sleep, but he keeps answering all of Jungkook’s questions, and returning them and other questions as well.
Jungkook learns that he loves to cook noodle dishes the most, but that Yoongi thinks that it’s because noodle dishes are his favorites to eat. Yoongi likes to cook noodle dishes more but makes stews more often because he’s kind of lazy, especially on days that he works in the morning. But on days when he works in the evening, Yoongi really likes to make food that he can take and reheat in the oven at work.
He learns that Yoongi loves the color purple, that he still makes some beats in his free time, though he doesn’t go beyond that often, and that he started playing the piano when he was three years old.
Jungkook learns that Yoongi’s last boyfriend cheated on him when he got bored of not having sex. It lights a fire under Jungkook’s skin, and he rants about how Yoongi is worth so much more than his body, and that Jungkook himself has had the same fears, but he really wishes that Yoongi hadn’t had to live through them because Yoongi is kind and lovely and only deserves good things in his life-
Yoongi cuts that rant off with Jungkook’s first kiss.
It’s not a heavy makeout, not like the ones that Jungkook always sees in dramas, but Jungkook is happy with it. He likes that Yoongi kisses him lightly, like it’s not meant to lead to something because it’s not meant to lead to something . Likes that Yoongi is giving this part of himself to Jungkook. Likes that Yoongi is taking this part of Jungkook for himself.
“Sorry,” Yoongi says when they pull apart. “I should have asked if that was okay. I know that you said you’re not sure how you feel about kissing so I definitely should have talked to you about it before-”
“I like kissing,” Jungkook decides. “Or, I like kissing you. When it’s like that.”
“It was nice?”
Jungkook answers him with another kiss.
They go to bed after that, cuddling in Yoongi’s bed. Jungkook’s never cuddled with a romantic partner before, but he knows that he likes skinship and he knows that Yoongi likes cuddling as well, so Jungkook wraps himself around Yoongi, despite the fact that Yoongi is, like, four inches shorter than Jungkook.
They keep talking after that. This time about boundaries that they have.
Yoongi has a lot of hard boundaries. He’s sex-repulsed, after all. Jungkook doesn’t mind. He’s not interested in sex at all.
“What if you’re demisexual?” Yoongi asks, the fear in his voice still there. “You thought you were aromantic before. What if there’s a day where you wake up and you decide that you want to try having sex?”
Jungkook hums. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t wake up like that someday,” he admits. “But, I can tell you that it wouldn’t change wanting to be with you, you know? I know that even if I woke up one day thinking about sex, it would be because I’m figuring out that I’m demisexual and that I want it with you-”
“I’m scared of that,” Yoongi admits.
“But Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook says, laughing. “Yoongi-hyung, it would be because of you . I couldn’t ever leave you because of that. If I woke up feeling like that, I would tell you about it if you decide before then that we want that. But I would never leave you because it’s not like I would be going out to have sex with someone else.”
“Okay,” Yoongi whispers. Jungkook isn’t sure if he believes him entirely, but Yoongi cuddles closer so Jungkook thinks that Yoongi is satisfied with his answer. “I’m scared a little, but I think that you’re going to take my heart and that you’re going to keep it safe.”
“Good,” Jungkook whispers. “I trust you to do the same.”
Jungkook is kind of displeased to have the second thing that he sees on Wednesday morning be the shit-eating grins of Jimin, Taehyung, and Seokjin.
“Two of you don’t even work here,” Yoongi says, something strange on his face at seeing the three of them together. Jungkook thinks that he should ask about it later because, honestly, the only time that Jungkook has ever even seen Taehyung aside from the prior day at Euphoria Cafe, was with Jimin and Seokjin.
Taehyung pouts. “Jiminie and I slept over at Seokjinie-hyung’s house. And he doesn’t trust either of us enough to stay there.”
“I trust you both individually to stay there, but not together,” Seokjin says, unlocking the front door to the cafe.
Then Jimin pouts. “Hyung, what if I want Taehyungie to come have sleepovers when I move in with you? You should get used to us both being there.”
“Then maybe I won’t let you move in,” Seokjin teases. At Jimin’s pushed out lips, Seokjin relents. “I’m just kidding, baby. You know that Taehyung can stay over any time.”
Jungkook scoffs. “Oh, so you try to pair me up with Taehyungie as a roommate and you’re already going to steal him? You’re the worst best friend in the world and I’m disowning you again.”
“When did you disown me before?” Jimin asks. Then, “Wait. More importantly: Why did you two just get off the same bus? Jungkookie, that’s not the bus we would take to get here.”
Jungkook flushes. “Um,” he says, looking over to Yoongi for guidance.
“We’re dating now,” Yoongi says, grabbing hold of Jungkook’s hand. “We’re both little ace babies who don’t know how to or want to take this slow, so we’re dating now. Jungkook stayed at my house last night and we cuddled and it was the best sleep I’ve gotten in years.”
“We also kissed,” Jungkook adds, feeling proud. “I didn’t know if I would like it, but I did.”
“Cool,” Seokjin says as Taehyung hands a wad of bills to Jimin. “Told you there was nothing to be worried about, Yoongi.”
Yoongi tsks, heading to the kitchen to start his morning bakery things that Jungkook doesn’t quite understand. “There was,” he says. “But I’m glad that Jungkook was brave enough to not be afraid of it and show up at my house at ten o’clock at night.”
“Do you all share a bed at Seokjinie-hyung’s house?” Jungkook asks, feeling like there’s only one bed and a very small couch in Seokjin’s apartment.
Taehyung’s face turns bright red and Jungkook realizes that they’re definitely all sleeping together.
Jimin does move in with Seokjin when their lease is up nearly four months later, but Taehyung doesn't take over his part of the lease.
Instead, Jungkook moves into Yoongi’s one-bedroom apartment with him.
“Is four months too fast?” Jungkook asks, sitting on the living room floor in his and Jimin’s apartment for the last time. “I don’t know what’s too fast and what’s not too fast. We literally started dating a week after knowing each other.”
Jimin sits next to Jungkook. “There’s no right timeline for anything. If you and Yoongi-hyung are both comfortable with it, then it’s not too fast.”
“I’m excited,” Jungkook whispers. “Four months ago, I was terrified of you leaving here, you know? I wondered how I was going to make it on my own, but now, I’m really excited to live with Yoongi. I love him.”
Jimin’s eyes widen. “Have you told him that yet?”
Jungkook shakes his head. “I didn’t even mean to say it right there. Like, I guess I kind of knew that this feeling in my chest is love, but I haven’t said it yet.”
“He deserves to hear it,” Jimin says.
“So does Taehyungie-hyung,” Jungkook shoots back. “Yoongi-hyung told me everything. And it feels obvious that you and Seokjinie-hyung love him back, so why don’t you tell him and make him happy?”
Jimin sighs. “We did,” he admits. “He’s not quite ready to be in a relationship with us, but we’re working on it. Trying to make him feel comfortable and like he belongs with us because he does, Kook, he really belongs right there with us-”
“Why doesn’t he just be with you, then?”
“He’s the only one of us who has been in a poly relationship before,” Jimin says. “I think he has a lot of fears that Seokjinie and I see him as a plaything and that we’ll get bored because of the way his past partners treated him. I want to keep proving to him every day that I love him. Even if he’s never ready to love me and Seokjinie back in the same way.”
“I’m proud of you,” Jungkook says, leaning in to wrap his arms around Jimin’s waist, his head pressing into Jimin’s chest.
“But I’m so much more proud of you, Jungkookie,” Jimin whispers into his hair. “I love you.”
“Are you happy?” Yoongi asks, looking around their newly decorated living room.
It’s largely the same as Yoongi’s living room had looked before, but now Jungkook’s favorite books sit next to his on the bookshelf. The old record player that Jungkook doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to get rid of is in the corner. Yoongi caved and bought a new coffee table when Jungkook insisted that if the entertainment center, and the lamps, and the bookshelf were all square or rectangular, then the coffee table should not be circular.
Jungkook, of course, had intended to buy the rectangle coffee table, but Yoongi had purchased it instead, saying that it was Jungkook’s ‘welcome home’ present and would be a nice spot for Jungkook to do his homework at when he starts back to school in two months.
It’s perfectly timed, the question, because Jungkook quite literally just finished folding the throw blanket over the arm of the couch when Yoongi walked into the living room.
“Great timing,” Jungkook says, nodding. “I just finished decorating.”
Yoongi smiles. “Must be fate because I just put the food into the oven.”
“It smells delicious,” Jungkook admits, starting to feel hungry. Yoongi’s cooking has become the epitome of feeling like home to Jungkook over the last four months. Jungkook likes to try to cook for Yoongi sometimes, too, just as a surprise or a thank you because Yoongi cooks most of their meals, but he knows that feeding Jungkook is Yoongi’s love language, and feeling loved feels like home.
“I’m happy,” Jungkook answers, turning to face Yoongi. “I know it might seem fast-”
“There’s no normal timeline for when to move in together,” Yoongi says, playfully bumping his shoulder into Jungkook’s bicep. “Normal is made up, remember?”
“It is made up,” Jungkook huffs. “But, I’m happy we did it. Even if it’s part of us being abnormal together.”
Yoongi hums, a small sound of agreeance. “I’m happy, too. This place has always felt warmer when there are traces of you here.”
“Really?” Jungkook asks, that warm feeling of love bubbling up in his stomach once again.
Yoongi nods. “Yeah,” he says. “I felt the warmth when you left your jacket here in October and I felt the warmth when you put a toothbrush here in November and I felt the warmth when you hung up the picture of us in December and I feel the warmth of you all around here-”
“I love you,” Jungkook interrupts. “I didn’t even know that it was possible for me to love someone romantically, but I love you. I feel it every day and I can’t not tell you every day for the rest of our lives just how much I love you.”
Yoongi grins. It’s not small and shy, like the first few he had ever given Jungkook the pleasure of seeing, but a wide gum-filled grin that takes over his face. He doesn’t look like he could stop the smile from taking over his face if he tried.
“I love you, too, Jungkook,” Yoongi says, all warmth and love and home-cooked meals and rectangular coffee tables and all of the things that make Yoongi Yoongi .
And Jungkook feels the sincerity of his words.
He feels the love in Yoongi’s voice.
And he’s not afraid anymore.
✨