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14 percent compatible.

Yoongi blinks at the screen where his and Taehyung’s names are written side by side in some awful golden calligraphy-like font that’s not anything like actual calligraphy. He’s not sure why he expected any better from a BuzzFeed test, but the font is grating on his nerves. Just like the number. And Jimin. The blinking doesn’t change the number though, nor the awful font. It doesn’t make Jimin shut up, either.

14 percent compatible.

“I knew you would have a low score!” Jimin’s triumphant voice sounds behind the phone screen that he is still busy waving around in front of Yoongi’s face. It’s like he’s rubbing the result in, but from a COVID safe distance. And it’s fucking annoying.

Yoongi huffs.

“Taehyung and I are way more compatible than that,” Yoongi says, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. He’s trying to keep the rising annoyance out of his voice, knowing that’ll only spur Jimin on. 

“Like, way, way, more.”

“No, you’re not,” Jimin sing-songs, finally pulling the cursed phone out of Yoongi’s face. Yoongi wants to heave out a sigh of relief. It’s been there for so long that the number fourteen feels like it’s etched into his retinas. 

“We are,” Yoongi says, feeling his stubbornness grow alongside his irritation. His hands clench by his sides.

“The test says otherwise,” Jimin says with a shit-eating grin, leaning back against the headboard of the bed he’s perched on. Oh, Jimin knows exactly what he is doing. And even though Yoongi knows that Jimin knows, it doesn’t make him any less annoyed. Quite the contrary.

Yoongi catches Hoseok rolling his eyes where he’s lying on the floor out of his peripheral vision as he looks away from Jimin, begging for strength.

“What?” Yoongi snaps, turning to Hoseok. 

Hoseok looks a little surprised at being caught, but heaves himself into a sitting position on the old, stained rug. Yoongi knows Seokjin has tried literally everything to get the stains out, but red wine and coffee on white carpet is a pain. Taehyung would call it cosy, like small memories. Yoongi just thinks it’s ugly, even though he still remembers exactly when each stain was created, and how.

“Well, I think this is a dumb discussion,” Hoseok starts, and Yoongi feels the stewing annoyance settle a little within him. Hoseok is a reasonable person, of course he would think so. Of course, he would agree with Yoongi. “But I think Jimin is onto something.” 

Yoongi’s impending inner peace shatters, and he feels himself physically recoil at the words. He lifts his eyebrows in disbelief and betrayal, staring at Hoseok.

“You guys aren’t really that compatible,” Hoseok responds with a shrug. “You barely agree on anything.”

Yoongi gives up on Hoseok, who looks way too secure in his opinion, and turns to look at Namjoon, who’s sitting in the old, thrifted chair in the corner of the room. Namjoon is his oldest friend, and also his last hope. Jeongguk looks like he has zoned out completely, and Taehyung and Seokjin are out picking up jjajangmyeon. Which is the only reason this awful compatibility test thing came into existence. It came straight out of the pits of hell and boredom and flew into Jimin’s small, devious brain.

Namjoon looks back at him, and grimaces upon realising Yoongi is waiting for him to say something.

“Well, hyung – the test did get Seokjin hyung and me right.”

Yoongi just stares at him. The annoyance that was simmering before is now about to reach its boiling point, the intensity of it rising with every word Namjoon speaks. He can feel it underneath his skin, trying to climb out of his throat. He kind of wants to scream but reckons that it might be too dramatic. Instead, he heaves out a big sigh. A big, very long, very annoyed sigh. Namjoon looks a little worried in its wake.

Of fucking course Namjoon’s reminding him of Seokjin and his 96% score. Namjoon and Seokjin who are very compatible. They’ve been dating for three years and are showing no signs of slowing down. Also, they’ve scarred their friends too many times for any of them to doubt their compatibility. Especially their sexual one. 

At this point, any normal person would leave Yoongi to seethe in his own anger, metaphorical thundercloud above his head striking small lightning bolts in every direction. But Jimin isn’t like any normal person—he likes to push Yoongi’s buttons. Just for the hell of it.

“Everyone got better compatibility scores. Even us, hyung,” Jimin says, after the silence has lingered a bit. Yoongi whips around to look at him, eyes squeezed into slits. 

“ We,” he seethes, “are not compatible.”

“More than you and Taehyung,” Jimin teases, and Yoongi realises that he’s right where Jimin wants him. He still takes the bait.

“Taehyung and I are compatible,” he half shouts. A door slams, somewhere in the building, but Yoongi is too busy staring Jimin down who is cackling by the bedpost.

“Who’s compatible?” an easily recognisable voice asks from behind them. It’s deep, timbre soft around the edges in just the way Yoongi likes. 

Not compatible, he snorts. They are plenty compatible. Yoongi then, after a few embarrassingly long seconds, realises that Seokjin and Taehyung are home, that the door that slammed was Seokjin and Namjoon’s . 

Yoongi turns to the door, and upon establishing eye contact with Taehyung, he says: 

“We are.”

It doesn’t take long to explain the whole thing – Yoongi finds that it can actually be summarised in a few sentences – and by the end of it Seokjin has joined team Jimin and Taehyung is just as indignant as Yoongi feels. At least they both agree. 

“We are compatible,” Taehyung says with conviction. “Hyung and I have been friends for so long, we work well together!” Yoongi nods along, agreeing. The others don’t seem convinced.

“We rarely get upset with each other and we communicate when we do,” Yoongi adds.

“Yeah, but that’s not romantically compatible though,” Jimin taunts. He’s now sitting on several pillows, like a small tyrant king. Yoongi doesn’t like it one bit.

“We could be!” Yoongi says, knowing very well he had never thought of that as part of the compatibility they were discussing. But he is too stubborn to back down now. He and Taehyung are compatible, they are.

“Yeah!” Taehyung agrees from beside him.

“Well, why don’t you prove it then?” Jimin asks, with a wicked smile. This makes Seokjin burst into laughter. It only further spurs on Yoongi’s need to prove that he’s right. A quick look at Taehyung reveals that his jaw is clenched in annoyance too. When he makes eye contact with Yoongi, he nods almost indiscernibly.

“How?” Yoongi asks.

“Hmmmm,” Jimin says, scratching his chin, a faux contemplating expression covering his features. Yoongi is on the brink of committing arson.

“I think date for three months. Then let’s reevaluate. See if the test was right,” Jimin says, challengingly, tilting his head. 

“Deal,” Yoongi says, before even turning to Taehyung. Once he does, he catches the tail end of surprise on Taehyung’s face. But then Taehyung utters a “deal,” too, and then that’s that. The bet is on.

//

It’s only upon returning home from Seokjin and Namjoon’s apartment that Taehyung really realises what he has agreed to. He’d been too busy convincing everyone else of their compatibility to really think this whole thing through. But now he has time, and the realisation makes his face turn beet red. 

Dating. And not just dating anyone, dating Yoongi. His hyung of six years. One of his best friends, very gay, and very pretty Yoongi.

It’s not like Taehyung has thought a lot about dating Yoongi. It may have crossed his mind once or twice, but not more often than dating any of his other friends have. Yoongi just seems to be a good person to date – that’s all. The way he has treated his past boyfriends is a great indicator of that. Taehyung is pretty sure he still talks to some of them from time to time, no animosity between them. That cannot be said about Taehyung and his own exes. They are long since cut off completely.

As Taehyung gets ready for bed, he can’t get the thought of dating Yoongi out of his head. He isn’t really sure if this is a good idea at all, and it takes a while for him to fall asleep; butterflies anxiously fluttering around in his stomach. 

What has he gotten himself into?

//

The absurdity of the whole situation dawns upon Yoongi a few days later. But he isn’t about to back down now. He refuses to give Jimin the satisfaction.

Speaking of Jimin, it’s a nice Sunday morning. The sun is out, warmth spreading on his back from its intensity in the nice May weather. The air is pleasant and just warm enough that he was able to leave his jacket at home. It would’ve been a perfect day to enjoy the fact that summer is slowly arriving, except he can’t catch a break. Jimin is ruthless, and Yoongi thoroughly regrets saying yes to getting breakfast with him.

“You haven’t seen Taehyung since all of us were together, have you?” Jimin asks around a bite of his muffin, sounding curious. Yoongi would almost think the question is innocent if it weren’t for the mischevious smile on Jimin's face. 

“ No,” Yoongi repeats for the umpteenth time, sighing after grimacing at the fact that Jimin barely had chewed on the muffin before speaking.

“Aren’t you supposed to be, you know, dating?” Jimin says, failing to keep the laughter out of his voice. Jimin thinks of it as way too much fun for Yoongi’s liking.

“I’ll make sure to complete the bet, okay? Relax please,” Yoongi shoots back, rolling his eyes. “I swear.”

Jimin nods, looking like he doesn’t believe Yoongi one bit. Yoongi feels the irritation rise again, but pushes it down, determined not to let Jimin ruin his day. Yoongi will just have to prove to all of them how compatible he and Taehyung really are.

When he gets home from his breakfast with Jimin, the first thing he does is swallow down the awkwardness of asking his friend out on a date, and texts Taehyung to check when he’s free.

//

“You still haven’t been on a date with Yoongi hyung, have you?” Jeongguk asks from where he’s lying on Taehyung’s couch. He is upside down, head facing the floor as his legs are hooked over the backrest.

“No,” Taehyung admits, scooting his chair back a little so he can face Jeongguk. They were doing their homework until Jeongguk had given up, and it’s been hard to focus ever since.

“He texted me yesterday though, asking when I had time for the first one.”

Jeongguk nods sagely. It looks a bit trippy with him being upside down.

“You’re nervous,” he concludes as he looks at Taehyung, who immediately stops biting his lip at the words. “Why?”

“I don’t know? It’s just weird,” Taehyung says, now wringing his hands in his lap. “Like, it’s not that I don’t want to hang out with hyung, but the whole thing with it being a date? I’m scared it’ll get super awkward, I guess?”

Jeongguk looks at him, and tilts his head to the side.“It’s not because you’re scared of catching feelings?”

“What– No,” Taehyung splutters, looking back at Jeongguk with wide eyes. Jeongguk just shrugs.

“Okay,” Jeongguk answers. He doesn’t look completely convinced, but he doesn’t speak up on it.

The silence that settles afterwards is tense.

“It’s just Yoongi hyung,” Jeongguk adds, after the silence has dragged on for a few minutes. “It’ll be fine. Worst thing that can happen is that you call off the bet. You’ll be fine.”

Taehyung nods along to Jeongguk’s words. “I guess you’re right,” he agrees. Mostly because he doesn’t feel like talking more about it. 

“Want to play Overwatch and eat Ramyun?” Taehyung asks, changing the subject. Jeongguk’s wide smile, as he swings his legs down, is enough of an answer. 

//

Taehyung surprisingly finds that it’s not that awkward being on a date with Yoongi. They hadn’t wanted to go to the same place, but easily came to a compromise, which is how they ended up getting bubble tea and taking a walk by the Han River. And sure, at first, they had had to settle into this new dynamic, overcoming the fact that this was meant to be a date, but now that the conversation is rolling it’s really… pleasant.

Yoongi had paid for their drinks, insisting that he was the hyung and the one asking Taehyung out. Taehyung would’ve argued if the whole date ordeal didn’t have him on edge already. He didn’t want to make things awkward. So he shut up, and took the drink when offered.

The weather is on their side, the pale sunshine lighting up the budding trees, and the newly emerged leaves that are a fragile light green, full of life and promises. They’ve fallen into a comfortable silence now, Yoongi walking beside him, seemingly caught up in his own thoughts as well.

This is not unusual for them, and Taehyung finds that he’s glad that this isn’t the way he’d gotten to know Yoongi – that they have many years of friendship behind them. Because he would have been way too self-conscious about the silence if he hadn’t known that this is just the way Yoongi works.

“Look!” Yoongi says, breaking the silence between them. He points to a mother duck with a batch of tiny ducklings. They look like they’re no older than a few days, all fuzzy and tiny, and Taehyung can’t help the coo that leaves him at the sight. He could probably hold one of them in the palm of his hand easily. They stop and watch the duck family waddle over the path that they were walking on, small bodies wobbling from side to side. To Taehyung’s big disappointment, they disappear into a bush, probably going down to the water. 

“Don’t pout,” Yoongi says with a grin, nudging him in the side with his elbow. Taehyung looks at him, surprised.

“’m not pouting,” he mumbles under his breath.

“Yes you are,” Yoongi says with a teasing smile. It makes something in Taehyung’s chest dislodge, and a memory of the same smile, just on a younger Yoongi, pops up along with it. Taehyung immediately pushes the thought away.

His stomach growls. He’s almost thankful for the distraction, but his cheeks still colour. He looks away from Yoongi, who’s still looking at him with a smile that makes Taehyung’s insides feel a little like they’re tying themselves into knots.

Yoongi coos, teasingly, and this time it’s Taehyung who bumps his shoulder into Yoongi’s. 

“Are you hungry, little guy?” Yoongi asks. When Taehyung looks over at him, Yoongi looks so amused that Taehyung can think of no other response than sticking his tongue out at him. Yoongi just breaks out in a low chuckle. Taehyung looks out at the Han River to distract himself from the sound. 

“What if I am?” he asks.

“Then I’m going to treat you to dinner,” Yoongi says easily, like it’s nothing. And as Taehyung looks up at the sun behind them he realises that it’s close to setting. The time on his phone shows that it’s 6 pm.

“I- You don’t need to do that, hyung,” Taehyung says, and he knows he’s looking a little confused and a little flustered. Yoongi, thankfully, doesn’t point it out.

“I don’t need to, no,” Yoongi agrees easily, which has something akin to disappointment settling in Taehyung’s bones. “But I want to.”

When Taehyung looks back at Yoongi, he’s smiling, this time reassuringly, and Taehyung kind of wants to hide in that smile. He quickly shakes his head, willing the thought to disappear. Yoongi looks at him a little funny, then shrugs.

“Come on, I know a good pizza place around here,” Yoongi says with a soft tug to Taehyung’s sleeve. Taehyung does the only thing he knows, follows.

As Yoongi opens the door to the small pizza place for him, Taehyung finds time to marvel a little over the fact that he gets to see his hyung in full date mode. It’s quite fascinating – it’s a side of Yoongi that Taehyung has never seen before. 

The restaurant is small but cosy, serving what Yoongi claims to be the best pizza he’s had in Seoul. Taehyung wonders a little if he is used to coming here with dates, surprising himself with how easily he has accepted their outing as being that. A date. He writes it off as Yoongi being a natural, as he orders wine for both of them and turns toward Taehyung with attentive eyes. 

Yoongi’s a good listener, Taehyung knew that long before today. It’s one of his favourite qualities of Yoongi’s. But it’s more pronounced today than it’s ever been before. It’s almost unnerving having Yoongi’s full focus on him like that.

As the waiter returns with their drinks, Yoongi also makes sure Taehyung gets his things first, and Taehyung is a little stricken with the fact that Yoongi is such a gentleman . He feels a bit inadequate in response. Taehyung knows that he is a good date too, but compared to Yoongi’s silent and soft way of making sure that Taehyung knows that he is his priority, he feels a little childish and blunt.

It’s in the restaurant that they finally breach the topic of the whole situation that they’ve put themselves in – they both had skirted around it during their entire walk. It’s Yoongi who brings it up at a lull in their conversation about music.

“I’ve been thinking – you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he says, losing a bit of his relaxed air and stumbling over his words, as he gestures between them. 

“Do what?” Taehyung asks, wrinkles appearing in his forehead. Have this funny feeling in his chest around him? 

“The whole date thing,” Yoongi explains, and suddenly Taehyung understands. “You don’t have to if you find it too weird, this is mostly between me and Jimin. And technically the others, who agreed with him. But proving him wrong shouldn’t be at your expense.”

Taehyung feels relief flood through his system.

“Oh no, hyung. I’m fine, really,” he says with a smile, feeling a little touched. “I want to prove them wrong, too. So, if you’re okay with dating for three months, I’m also okay with it.”

Yoongi looks like something heavy has been lifted from his shoulders at that, which makes Taehyung smile softly. His hyung is always so caring.

“I’ll tell you if I’m uncomfortable with something, hyung, I promise. I’m a big boy, I can manage it. Also, it’s just like hanging out, right? Just… dating?” Taehyung hopes he makes sense, and with the way Yoongi easily agrees, he thinks he might.

The rest of the night passes by smoothly, Taehyung’s heart only stuttering in his chest once or twice. As they leave the restaurant, Yoongi paying the bill, he feels warm and cared for. Wined and dined, really. He looks at Yoongi with a smile. Yoongi doesn’t see, too busy looking up bus plans on his phone, his face lit up by the blue light, black hair moving a little as gentle breeze passes by them. They’d both dressed up a little, seeing this was a date, and he looks a little ethereal Taehyung thinks, underneath the lampposts.

“Ready to go?” Yoongi asks, looking up.

“Yeah, hyung. I’m ready to go.”

Yoongi ends up walking Taehyung to the nearest bus station and then hugs him tightly. Taehyung is surprised, but soon enough finds himself melting into Yoongi’s embrace. Yoongi smells like pizza and wine and that particular cologne that Taehyung would be able to identify as Yoongi’s anywhere. It’s comforting, he thinks with a small smile. 

“I had a really good time, hyung. Thank you for today,” Taehyung says upon drawing away from the hug. “If it’s going to be this natural, three months of dating will be nothing,” 

Yoongi nods, silent. The silence that lingers puzzles Taehyung, who tilts his head in question. The movement seems to draw Yoongi out of his own head, and Taehyung swears he sees him colour slightly. But, maybe that’s just his mind playing tricks on him.

“I think so, too,” Yoongi mumbles, and it’s almost like he’s shy. Taehyung coos inside his head. 

“I’ll figure something out for our next date?” Taehyung offers, and Yoongi nods his head in agreement.

After he leaves, Taehyung is left to wonder why his heart is still beating so hard in his chest.

//

“So how did it go?” Jeongguk asks the next day as they make their way to their classes.

“Good,” Taehyung says with a smile. “You were right, there was nothing to worry about.”

Jeongguk nods with a pleased look on his face.

//

Taehyung doesn’t know why he feels so anxious about being the one taking Yoongi out on a date, but it’s been the only thing he could think about all week. Maybe it’s because the date they had gone on the week before – the one that Yoongi had planned – had gone so smoothly. Or maybe it’s because Yoongi seemed so at ease, slipping into the role of the date planner. Or maybe – and Taehyung, knowing himself, knows that this is the likeliest reason – he just wants to impress Yoongi too, the way Yoongi impressed him last week.

The thing is, Taehyung has always kind of felt childish beside Yoongi. In literally anything. It could be dating, working, school. His hyung always had more knowledge and experiences that he’d happily share.

And with them having to date for the next three months, Taehyung wants to show him that he can be more than just a cute younger friend that’s creating havoc with Jeongguk and Jimin. He wants to show Yoongi that he also can be mature, elegant, gentleman-like, the way Yoongi was last week. That he also is capable of creating a date that’ll sweep Yoongi off of his feet. That he is worth dating.

So, saying that Taehyung worked his ass off on this date, would be an understatement. Jeongguk had been the one he’d turned to with ideas, and he’d almost gotten tired of Taehyung bringing it up constantly. 

The date Taehyung’s planned isn't overly complicated, but a lot of thought has gone into it, and he really hopes that Yoongi can see that. He feels like he did last year on Yoongi’s birthday, wishing his gift would be exactly what Yoongi had been wanting. 

They meet up on campus after Yoongi’s last class. Taehyung is jittery, he can feel his whole body tensing with nerves. He has a coffee in his right hand for Yoongi, and a hot chocolate in his left for himself, and he absentmindedly sips it as he watches students file out of the classrooms and into the pale May sunshine. 

Yoongi is one of the last students to get out of the building. When he spots Taehyung, he immediately breaks out into a fond smile, coming towards Taehyung.

And because it’s Yoongi, he immediately realises how anxious Taehyung is. Taehyung can see it in the way he looks worried for a short second, and then a look of realisation crosses his face briefly. He doesn’t comment on it though, just gives Taehyung a soft smile. Taehyung appreciates that, as he tries to will his heart to slow the fuck down.

“Hi Tae-yah,” Yoongi says gently. Something about his voice immediately settles the worst of Taehyung’s nerves, but Taehyung still feels like he is about to throw up. He tries to ignore it.

“Hi, hyung. I hope classes were okay?”

Yoongi nods.

“Oh yeah, and here, I brought coffee from that coffee shop you really like,” Taehyung says, trying to mask the fact that he’s feeling like he’s about to jump out of his own skin. Yoongi just takes the coffee graciously and takes a big sip. Taehyung watches his face for any sign of disappointment or disapproval, hoping he got the order right, but Yoongi just sighs, pleased. Taehyung sighs in relief, too. Okay, now he’s got one thing right, that’s a good start.

“Are you ready to go, hyung?” Taehyung asks.

Yoongi nods in response. As they start walking, he reaches out, taking Taehyung’s hand. Gives it a soft squeeze and then lets go again. It makes Taehyung falter, putting him a few steps behind Yoongi. He rushes to catch up to him again, looking over at Yoongi with wide eyes. His heart speeds up, this time for a different reason that Taehyung can’t quite put his finger on. He looks down at the hand Yoongi squeezed. It only makes him more anxious, so he pushes it away, forcefully.

“I’m sure anything you’ve planned will be wonderful,” Yoongi says, his voice low, calming. It draws Taehyung out of his head. And while Taehyung wanted to show that he is mature and capable, the words of reassurance settle his stomach, and make it easier to breathe.

Almost as if Yoongi can read his thoughts, he looks back at Taehyung.

“And being nervous is just a sign that you care. You should never be embarrassed that you care.”

Taehyung smiles at Yoongi. He knows it’s probably a bit wobbly, but Yoongi smiles back all the same.

As Taehyung looks down again, he can feel how he’s furrowing his brows slightly.

“I just want this to be as good of a date as the one you took me on, hyung,” Taehyung explains, picking away at his to-go cup.

“It will be,” Yoongi responds, voice full of blind trust. And that’s nice, Taehyung reckons. That Yoongi truly believes that. Now, he just has to do the same. It’s easier said than done, but Taehyung finds that the knowledge of Yoongi believing in him makes it easier to believe in himself.

For the rest of the walk, they end up talking about casual topics, like Yoongi’s classes, their weird teachers, Seokjin’s latest antics, and everything in between. When they finally reach the botanical garden, Taehyung barely feels nervous. Yoongi’s calm presence has soothed it all, and now he mainly just feels excited.

“I thought we could go see the butterflies?” Taehyung explains, and Yoongi goes starry-eyed at the thought. Taehyung mentally fist bumps the air, whooping over his success.

The butterflies are beautiful, in every colour imaginable. The big glass dome that is their cage is full of flowering plants, and tall green vegetation, with a few ponds and a tiny stream running through it, and it honestly looks magical. Yoongi’s eyes are wide as he takes it all in, and he turns to Taehyung with the gummy smile that Taehyung knows means that Yoongi is elated.

“It’s so pretty, Tae! Oh look, there’s a purple one!” Yoongi says, pointing to a big butterfly that flies over their heads, batting its big wings slowly. It almost looks like there’s rainbows caught in its wings as it flies directly into a sunbeam, and Yoongi gasps beside him. 

Taehyung is taken back to all of them going whale watching. Yoongi was sitting beside him in the small boat and he was doing the exact same small gasp, as a minke whale tail appeared just 15 metres away from their boat. The way he’d clutched Taehyung’s arm is still something Taehyung can recall in vivid detail. He remembers being more caught up in the look of awe on Yoongi’s face than the whales themselves.

“Oh, there’s a yellow one!” Yoongi says happily, completely unaware of Taehyung being far away in his thoughts. “They even have a place for incubating the chrysalis’,” Yoongi says excitedly, pulling Taehyung along with him by his wrist. Taehyung feels his stomach swoop.

Taehyung ends up following his hyung around for hours, looking through the entire botanical garden before they settle outside on the neatly mowed grass. A small pond is lying before them, and the sun, which is still high in the sky, makes the water sparkle as if the sunbeams were caught within it. Taehyung got them ice cream, while Yoongi was rambling about how Namjoon would love this place, and he should tell Seokjin to bring him because it’s a wonderful place to be taken on a date to. Taehyung preens at the words.

The sun is setting before they’re ready to leave, and the cold starts creeping in as the warmth of the sun slowly becomes absent. The shadows are getting long, trees looking almost otherworldly in the golden sunset, and Taehyung thinks that maybe today’s just been a little magical in general.

Yoongi, though, shivers a little where he is sitting, not wearing more than his thin long-sleeved shirt. Which looks good on him, Taehyung’s mind provides, but not very warm. 

Taehyung tsks as he takes his thick corduroy jacket off, and gently helps Yoongi put it on, ignoring his small protests in the process.

“Won’t you get cold now?” Yoongi asks, drawing the jacket closer around his form, while looking worried. He looks cosy, Taehyung thinks, bundled up in Taehyung’s jacket.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. You run the coldest, and you’re wearing the least clothes. Just take the jacket, hyung,” Taehyung answers with an easy smile. The way Yoongi looks up at him through his eyelashes makes heat rise to Taehyung’s face . 

“Let’s go get something to eat hyung, my treat,” Taehyung continues, trying to deflect from the blush that must be visible on his face. Yoongi looks like he wants to object, so Taehyung holds up a finger, stopping the words from coming out.

“It’s me taking you out today. Let me pay for our dinner. Please,” he says, then laughs as Yoongi gives in, frowning.

“Just know I’m not happy with it,” Yoongi threatens.

“Yeah, yeah hyung, the next time you take me on a date you can buy us dinner.”

Yoongi sticks his tongue out at him, but the way he’s snuggling up in Taehyung’s jacket just makes him look soft and adorable.

Taehyung grins at him, taking his hand, and dragging him towards a small restaurant.

And that’s how Taehyung finds himself sitting in front of Yoongi again, sharing lamb skewers – Yoongi’s favourite – finally completely at ease now that most of the date has passed swimmingly.

Yoongi looks happy, sated. There’s a small smile on his face as he listens to Taehyung talk about his upcoming exam, and the artwork that he’s working on at the moment. He is still leaning into his jacket Taehyung realises, even though it’s hanging on the backrest of his chair. He looks away, smiling softly. 

When they exit the restaurant, the weather is noticeably colder, but it’s surprisingly not too bad.

Taehyung shivers either way, as he steps out into it.

“Want your jacket back?” Yoongi asks gently.

“When I’ve walked you home, sure,” Taehyung says with a small smile and a shrug, and the response makes Yoongi’s cheeks colour slightly, as he looks down shaking his head. He doesn’t fight Taehyung though, and Taehyung takes that as a small win.

The walk to Yoongi’s apartment complex isn’t long, and they quickly reach the front door. Almost too quickly for Taehyung’s liking, the streets of Seoul becoming quieter and more peaceful as the night is falling. 

“Thank you for today, Tae,” Yoongi says gently, as he stands before him, fiddling with the sleeves of the jacket. Now it’s Yoongi that seems a little nervous. Taehyung waits patiently for him to sort through his thoughts.

“It was really wonderful,” Yoongi settles on, looking up at him with a small smile, and oh, Taehyung is mesmerised by how cute he looks in the dim light. “I really enjoyed myself.”

Taehyung smiles widely. That’s all he needs, the feeling of accomplishment settling in his stomach as a warm, happy sensation.

“I’m glad, hyung,” Taehyung says. “I enjoyed myself too.”

“I’ll text you about next week’s date?” Yoongi asks, starting to peel off Taehyung’s jacket.

“It’s probably going to be more simple than these last couple ones; I hope that’s okay. Maybe a movie night?” Yoongi suggests as he hands over Taehyung’s jacket.

Taehyung can feel his own face light up at the mention of a movie night.

“That’d be wonderful, hyung!” he says. But Yoongi is now starting to shiver in the evening air, so Taehyung ushers him on.

“Go on inside, hyung. We’ll talk more about it later.”

Yoongi nods, seemingly relieved he doesn’t have to stand in the cold any longer.

“Goodnight, Tae,” Yoongi says, reaching forward and giving Taehyung’s arm a soft squeeze.

“Goodnight, hyung,” Taehyung echoes, and then Yoongi turns, with a last small smile, and walks in through the doors to the stairwell.

The entire walk home, Taehyung relishes in the way his jacket now smells of Yoongi.

//

After that they settle into a routine, seeing each other at least twice a week. In the start it took some time to get used to being alone with Taehyung that much, and Yoongi worried if they’d have enough to talk about but he has found that there aren’t any issues regarding that.

It’s one of their usual movie nights, and Taehyung is curled up underneath his blanket, staring intently at the screen. Movie nights are something especially Taehyung enjoys – it’s mostly for his sake they have them at all. Yoongi isn’t all that into movies. But there’s something about the way Taehyung lights up when he gets to choose a movie or a show that makes Yoongi happy to sit through things he’d never watch otherwise. 

Yoongi is honestly a little surprised with how easily they fell into the rhythm of dating. Even though he was the one arguing their compatibility in the first place. 

It’s just platonic, but their outings are dates. They call them dates. Their friends call them dates. They feel like dates. It isn’t put on, isn’t even superficial.

Yoongi also has to admit that he is surprised how easy it is to date Taehyung. He had always seen Taehyung as someone who would like big dates, flowers and kisses underneath streetlamps and glittering stars. Dates that required a lot of planning and effort. 

And Taehyung does. The flowers that Yoongi brought him last week are still in their vase in the middle of his table, and the smile he got in return – so wide, with Taehyung’s eyes crinkling into slits at the force of it – was so worth it. But it seems Taehyung likes their small dates just as much. Likes going on lunch dates between classes, likes the walks in the parks, likes the cooking dates and the study dates where they sit in silence, burrowed in their own work.

It’s a little jarring how much Yoongi enjoys spending time with him, he thinks, as Taehyung gasps at something on the screen. Yoongi smiles softly at the sound. They are only four weeks into the bet, but he is already dreading the end. It’s nice to have Taehyung waiting for him after his classes with his own iced tea in hand, and an iced coffee for Yoongi. It’s nice knowing Taehyung is only one call away if he needs someone to hang out with because he can’t get his mind off things. It’s just nice having this thing with Taehyung. 

And Yoongi has to admit that he is scared that it'll change after the three months. But he tries to not think too much about it. He should just enjoy it, instead of dreading the end – he knows that. It’s still hard

The characters on the screen are currently in a fight, and Taehyung reaches over, tugging at Yoongi’s sleeve.

“Did you hear that? I swear, he’s so toxic. He doesn’t deserve her at all.” A small frown is etched into his face. Yoongi smiles, endeared. Yeah, he is just going to enjoy this as long as it lasts. Maybe Taehyung will even agree to have movie dates after the three months. Yoongi hopes so.

//

Yoongi looks up from where he’s chopping vegetables in his small kitchen as Taehyung returns from the restroom – almost as if he can feel Taehyung’s gaze on him. He smiles as he studies Taehyung, and something about the way Yoongi is looking at him makes Taehyung’s heart beat a little harder in his chest. He takes a deep breath and mentally scolds his heart for its antics. It’s been acting up a little too much lately.

They’re supposed to be cooking dinner together, something that’s also become a regular occurrence since the bet had been made, and Taehyung both loves and hates it. Loves how domestic and calm it is, how they usually listen to music – Yoongi putting jazz on for his sake – and they sway about in the kitchen. On the other hand, he feels kind of out of his element, and a little helpless when they cook, needing direction for every step. Often, he finds himself pressed close to Yoongi as Yoongi demonstrates this or that, which never feels to make heat rise to his cheeks. Both make him a little anxious.

“Ready to make food?” Yoongi asks, moving to stand beside him – handing Taehyung a knife and a cutting board. As his hand brushes by Taehyung’s, Taehyung has to repress a shiver.

Taehyung nods in response, his mouth feeling a little dry.

“As long as you guide me, hyung,” he says with a small shrug.

“Of course,” Yoongi says with a little smile and gives his bicep a small squeeze, to comfort him. 

The thing is, Taehyung does feel like he needs to be comforted. Ever since he stepped foot inside Yoongi’s apartment his heart has been beating hard against his ribs – even harder than usual – and he feels lightheaded from the fact that Yoongi is so comfortable touching him now. And he touches him all the time. Which is not – by any means – a bad thing. Or maybe it is, a little bit. Because it means that Taehyung is constantly overly cautious of his own body in the room, where Yoongi is, and thinking about whether or not Yoongi will touch him again.

Yoongi hands Taehyung a freshly washed aehobak, breaking his thoughts.

Can you cut this in cubes? Like this size?” he asks, using a small piece of carrot to demonstrate how he wants it. Taehyung nods, which turns into a gulp as Yoongi puts the carrot to his mouth and eats it, licking his lips afterwards. 

He tears his gaze away from Yoongi’s mouth, a little worried. What’s going on with him?

Yoongi manages to redirect his attention to the aehobak, and he gets lost in standing beside Yoongi cooking. It’s comfortable, the silence they have going on, and Yoongi hums along to the song that’s playing under his breath. Taehyung doesn’t know the song, but he finds he likes it.

A knock to his hip breaks him out of it, and he looks over at Yoongi.

“Oh, sorry Tae-yah,” Yoongi says softly. “Didn’t mean to knock into you, I was just trying to get the pan up there,” he points to a pan on one of his highest shelves. To distract himself from the blush that’s making its way into his cheeks, Taehyung reaches up and gets the pan for Yoongi, who just looks up at him, wide-eyed.

“Here you go,” Taehyung says with a smile, forcing himself not to keep looking at Yoongi’s face, but instead return to his aehobak that’s nearly fully cut up into neat little squares, just the way Yoongi wanted. The blush in his cheeks have yet to go down. He needs to calm down.

It takes a little while for the heat to leave his face, but as it does Yoongi fries the meat and vegetables. Taehyung feels somewhat calm again, in control. That is until Yoongi asks Taehyung to cut the garlic in a specific way. A way Taehyung does not understand.

Yoongi doesn’t sigh, doesn’t look upset with him, which Taehyung appreciates, but he does leave the pan after turning the heat down. He pushes Taehyung aside gently.

“Let hyung show you how you’re supposed to do it,” Yoongi says, easily squeezing the garlic with the side of the knife, and then cutting it into small pieces. “Now you try?” 

And Taehyung does, with Yoongi hovering over his shoulder. He does somewhat succeed and Yoongi throws him a big smile that renders him speechless for a few seconds. 

And in that moment, Taehyung realises he might’ve lied to himself when he had told himself that he had never really thought about dating Yoongi. Because as he stands there, watching Yoongi cook, his heart doing something silly in his chest, he gets an awful sense of déjà vu. A forgotten memory of Yoongi cooking back at Seokjin and Yoongi’s old apartment pops up – and Taehyung realises he was watching him the same way he is doing now; that his heart was doing the exact same thing back then.

He pushes the thoughts away and is distracted long enough as Yoongi lets him help with the seasoning, lifting a spoon up to Taehyung’s lips every now and then so he can taste. It’s easy keeping the thoughts at bay, seeing he’s busy willing his cheeks not to go up in flames under Yoongi’s attentive gaze. 

As soon as Yoongi deems it okay, Taehyung quickly disappears to set the table, trying to cool down and get the colour out of his cheeks.

It’s a lost cause, because when they sit down to eat dinner, Yoongi insists on giving Taehyung his meal first, and he keeps scooping meat up for Taehyung, clearly in an attempt to treat him. Which causes Taehyung to get the same sense of déjà vu, and another forgotten memory, this time of Yoongi sitting in a restaurant booth beside Seokjin and Jeongguk, pops up. In his memory, Taehyung’s heart also beats faster as he watches Yoongi give all of them food before himself, and his small, happy smile as he watches them eat.

The déjà vu thing keeps happening all night long. As they’re watching a movie, Taehyung remembers one of the first sleepovers they had had, all of them together, and how he had been antsy all night, all because he was going to sleep next to Yoongi. When they clean up the dishes, he remembers seeing Yoongi and Jeongguk cleaning the dishes, Yoongi laughing loudly, gums all out and visible, and how Taehyung himself had wished that he’d been the one that sparked that reaction.

And he realises that he can’t keep lying to himself, as Yoongi shuffles closer on the sofa, and leans his head on Taehyung’s shoulder. Because even that elicits a memory, one from when they had all been out clubbing, and he’d been stuffed into the dirty backseat of some cab, with Yoongi on one side and Namjoon on the other. He’d only been nineteen back then, but the same sensation had passed through his body, and he’d sat completely still the whole trip home, to ensure that Yoongi wouldn’t move his head away.

And maybe he’d been a little (a lot) jealous whenever Yoongi was dating others, but he’d always told himself that was because he was jealous of Yoongi having someone to date, not of someone dating Yoongi. Which should have been proved wrong by the time they had both had boyfriends, at the same time, as he found that he was still jealous. 

To be honest, Taehyung thinks, as he peers down at Yoongi – whose eyes are slipping closed at seconds for a time by now – he should’ve known. Should’ve known that Yoongi had always meant more to him than just a friend. That Yoongi had always sparked something electric deep inside his chest. But he’d been so good at pushing it away, denying its existence, that it was only now, while dating Yoongi – dating him the way he’d always wished to – that he was realising it.

The realisation settles deep inside his chest, warm and heavy, and he doesn’t feel as panicked as he thinks he maybe should. Most of all, it’s just a sense of relief that fills him, relief that he now finally understands why his heart is beating so fast around Yoongi, why his heart always has beaten so fast around Yoongi. 

Yoongi’s shuffles in his sleep, and Taehyung looks down at him, endeared. It makes sense why he’s been falling for his hyung all this time. How could he not? He’s sweet, gentle, caring. He’s passionate, kind. And most of all, he makes Taehyung feel at home. 

When the movie is over, and Taehyung has woken Yoongi yet again, he makes it home through the dark of Seoul. He finds that it’s not as monumental a discovery as he feared. And it’s nice to know that it won’t change things between them, because it’s always been this way. If it had been any of his other friends he’d developed feelings for, he’d be scared of acting out of character around them. But knowing that this is the only Taehyung Yoongi knows makes something like relief settle in his chest. The only downside is the bitter acknowledgement that Yoongi has never felt the same, and probably never will. 

That thought, and the feelings for Yoongi that he is finally acknowledging, bubbles underneath his skin, making it hard for him to settle. It’s almost midnight, but the silence of his apartment is too loud, and his head too full of thoughts.

Ten minutes later, he gives in and calls Jeongguk.

“Hi, hyung,” Jeongguk says.

“Hi, Gukkie,” Taehyung responds.

It’s silent for a bit.

“What did you call me for?” Jeongguk eventually asks.

“I just realised something,” Taehyung says, voice small. “Are you busy?”

“Hmmm, no, just binging Weightlifting Fairy in my bed,” Jeongguk admits, and Taehyung can hear the rustling of sheets as Jeongguk moves around. “What’s up?”

Taehyung takes a steadying breath. He knows it’ll do him good, getting it off of his chest, but he still feels nervous.

“I just found out I have a crush on Yoongi hyung,” Taehyung rushes out. 

“Yeah no shit,” Jeongguk answers, sounding oddly at ease. “That’s why I asked you if you were scared of catching feelings for him.” A few seconds pass in silence. “Wait, you didn’t know you had a crush on him ? ”

“I– no. I never realised,” Taehyung admits, feeling a little more off kilter at Jeongguk’s words.

“Taehyung, I’ve known for years!”

“I’m so dumb,” Taehyung whines into the phone, pressing it closer to his ear.

“Yeah,” Jeongguk just responds on the other end.

Taehyung guesses he kind of deserves that.

There’s some rustling on Jeongguk’s end again, but Taehyung can’t make out where it’s coming from.

“Do you want me to come over so we can talk about it?” Jeongguk asks.

“I don’t want to drag you out of bed,” Taehyung says dismissively, shaking his head along to the words.

“Well that sucks, because I’m already putting my shoes on,” Jeongguk says at the other end, the sound of a zipper following. “I’ll be there in five.”

“Thank you, Gukkie,” Taehyung whispers into the phone.

“You’re welcome,” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung can hear the smile in his voice. Then he hangs up, and Taehyung goes back to staring at his ceiling. Until a well known knock can be heard from his door. When he opens the door, Jeongguk is there.

“I brought ice cream,” he says with a small smile. Taehyung can feel his anxiety settle a bit as he dives into Jeongguk’s arms.

//

“How’s it going with the whole dating thing?” Namjoon asks Yoongi, as they sit in front of each other in the small café. It’s not the first time he’s gotten the question, but he doesn’t mind answering it again.

They’re out getting a midday snack before going back to campus for their evening classes. Yoongi’s on his fourth cup of coffee, having been up since 6 am. He blames that for his jitteriness.

“It's going well,” Yoongi answers. 

“It’s beginning to feel more natural now,” Yoongi says with a shrug. “And it’s nice seeing Taehyung a lot. I think I’ll have to keep hanging out with him more after this whole thing is over,” Yoongi continues, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Yeah, you didn’t use to hang out that much before, did you?” Namjoon asks. He slurs a bit over the words, looking tired. He had a big assignment the night before, which he had crammed. 

“Not alone, no,” Yoongi says. He shakes his head a little. “I don’t know why, I’ve always liked Taehyung. I guess it just never happened?”

Namjoon nods along to his words. “Yeah, I kind of feel the same way with Taehyung actually. Maybe I should ask if he wants to hang out one day?”

Yoongi’s stomach knots weirdly at the words. 

“Yeah, you totally should,” he agrees, trying to ignore it. He turns back to his egg salad sandwich instead. They sit in comfortable silence for a bit, finishing their food and coffee.

“Oh, hyung. I think we should get back to campus now,” Namjoon says, gesturing to the big grey clock hanging on the wall.

As they walk back to campus, Yoongi is left to wonder why his mood has suddenly soured.

//

It’s a warm day at the end of June when it dawns on Yoongi that Taehyung is cute. Like cute cute, making his heart beat harder cute.

They’re out with the rest of the guys, sitting on the grass in the campus park, beers in hand, and a few ciders for Taehyung who doesn’t like anything too bitter. It’s hot, way hotter than Yoongi likes, so he has taken to hiding from the sun in the shadow of a big oak tree. Which helps, but the warmth is still overwhelming, and he can feel a drop of sweat running down his back underneath his t-shirt.

Taehyung’s currently messing around with Jeongguk, both of them trying to wrestle each other to the ground; which is a way too strenuous an activity for the weather if you ask Yoongi. He feels even hotter just looking at them. 

Jeongguk seems to be winning, which honestly isn’t surprising at all. When he finally does manage to wrestle Taehyung out of balance, Taehyung squeaks loudly as he falls to the ground. Yoongi watches as Taehyung breaks out laughing, his entire face scrunched up in happiness, and his smile wide and rectangular etched into his face.

Jeongguk, who is also laughing, pulls him up so he’s standing again, and helps Taehyung brush the worst of the grass on his back off, before they both return to the others who are sitting on a big picnic blanket.

Taehyung ends up plopping down beside Yoongi, and Yoongi smiles softly. He feels Taehyung’s eyes on him but doesn’t turn to make sure – feeling a little hotter from Taehyung’s proximity – sweaty arms and neck a little too close for Yoongi’s eyes not to end up lingering on them. 

“Why did you even take on Jeonggukie?” Hoseok asks from where he’s sitting on the other side of Taehyung. Taehyung just shrugs, turning his body away and Yoongi feels like he can breathe a little bit better.

“It was fun? Like I knew I probably wouldn’t win, but that’s ok.”

Jeongguk’s face splits in a shit eating grin as Yoongi watches him. Taehyung sticks out his tongue at Jeongguk in response, but Jeongguk just wiggles his eyebrows playfully. Yoongi can see the annoyance sneaking up on Taehyung, just as something a little sour rears its head in his chest too.

“I think we all should take him on though,” Taehyung continues, eyebrows lifted as he maintains eye contact with Jeongguk. Jeongguk doesn’t waver. Taehyung narrows his eyes into slits.

It’s a terrible idea, Yoongi thinks. He’s not going to get tackled by Jeongguk. So, he says just that.

“Yeah, no thanks.”

Seokjin breaks out laughing from where he is sitting beside him.

“Hyyyyung,” Taehyung whines, loudly, finally breaking eye contact with Jeongguk and looking over at Yoongi instead. His hair is a little wet with sweat, which Yoongi wills his brain not to think about. Instead, he stares into Taehyung’s big brown eyes.

“Nope. I’m not fighting Jeongguk,” Yoongi says, not budging, even when Taehyung looks at him with the biggest puppy eyes Yoongi has ever seen him make.

“Not even for me?” Taehyung asks, and Yoongi’s heart does somersaults in his chest. His mouth suddenly feels terribly dry, and something within him yells ‘yes I will, anything for Taehyung’ . He’s almost about to agree, before he stops himself in his tracks. What was that?

Taehyung just blinks up at him, waiting for his answer as Yoongi’s lost in his own thoughts.

Yoongi quickly puts up an unbothered front, as if he hadn’t just stayed quiet for a little too long.

“Nope,” he says, popping the p. “Not even for you.”

Taehyung pouts, looking upset as he turns away from Yoongi, and Yoongi inwardly heaves out a sigh. From across where he’s sitting, he can feel Jimin’s eyes bore into him. He tries to not pay it any attention.

When they go home that night, Taehyung gives him a big hug before following Jimin and Jeongguk to their apartment complex. Yoongi tries to soak up as much Taehyung as he possibly can. And if he tries to smell Taehyung on his clothes when he gets home in the safety of his own apartment, that’s nobody’s business but his.

//

With Yoongi’s new revelation, it’s much harder being in Taehyung’s presence. He still enjoys it, that’s not it. Maybe he even enjoys it a little too much, soaking it up whenever he can. 

No, the problem is that this was never a part of the deal. Taehyung never agreed to this, this being Yoongi starting to think he’s cute. It smells a bit too much of it all becoming real. 

And maybe Yoongi is stupid for thinking that he could date Taehyung without being in danger of catching feelings. Scratch that, Yoongi knows he is. Taehyung is exactly the type of guy he’d get a crush on. He thought that it wouldn’t happen because he’d already known Taehyung for six years – and known him well – then why would he suddenly get a crush on his younger friend now? But he can feel himself teetering dangerously close to the edge of that, and it’s only his own willpower keeping it at bay.

Because as it turns out, he hadn’t known Taehyung all that well, Yoongi thinks as he looks over at Taehyung who is writing down notes from an online lecture as if his life depends on it. His eyebrows a little furrowed and hair a messy black nest on his head underneath the hood of his hoodie. 

Hadn’t known how he looks when he’s on the verge of falling asleep or the way he lights up at the sight of a dog. Hadn’t known to what extent he could use his puppy eyes to get Yoongi to do literally anything for him. Hadn’t known how his eyes would sparkle when Yoongi takes him on dates or holds his hand when he’s nervous. 

And if he had known, he’d probably have harboured an embarrassing crush on Taehyung for all this time. Which would be a disaster for their friendship.

He’s tried to will the realisation away, he really has. Tried to convince himself that this is just a temporary thing, that he just needs to get over the fact that he thinks Taehyung is cute. But whenever Taehyung looks over at him and smiles, Yoongi can feel all pretence scramble to the ground yet again.

At least he is proving Jimin wrong. That’s the only upside to all this, he thinks as he fiddles with his own pen, trying to figure out how to solve a particularly difficult question his professors had assigned him. 

Yoongi gets lost in his assignment, and only looks up again as a cup of steaming warm coffee is pushed into his line of sight.

He looks up, confused, only to see Taehyung smiling at him brightly. His heart does that funny thing in his chest that it has started to do around Taehyung. He sighs inwardly. So much for thinking he could will it away.

“Wanna go to mine after I’ve finished this essay?” Taehyung asks.

And what’s Yoongi going to do? Say no?

//

As usual, the seven of them have their bi-weekly meeting at Seokjin’s place the following Friday. Yoongi pushes through the door, having pushed Seokjin and Namjoon’s keycode into the beat-up keypad that looks like he needs to wash his hands after touching it. 

Hoseok is already there, Namjoon and Seokjin too of course. Jimin is also there, sitting in the old chair in the corner, already sipping a beer. He probably pre-gamed, usually does. Alongside Yoongi, Jimin is the one with the highest alcohol tolerance, but out of the two of them, the younger is the one who likes getting drunk the most.

Taehyung hasn’t arrived yet. The observation isn’t one Yoongi thinks would spur any emotions, but he finds that he is a little disappointed. He had looked forward to seeing him. It’s quite unreasonable though, seeing that Taehyung will probably arrive soon. But he can’t quite shake the feeling as he goes to greet the others.

When Taehyung does arrive, Yoongi is sitting with his back turned to the door, and Taehyung slips in unnoticed. To him at least. Jimin on the other hand, now well into his third or fourth beer – in the course of time Yoongi has been watching – recognises his entrance. Jimin’s eyes turn into crescents at the force of his smile, and his shriek of joy easily matches it.

“Taehyungieee!” Jimin yells, to which Taehyung responds with just as enthusiastic a greeting, which makes Yoongi turn embarrassingly fast to the door to see Taehyung. 

Taehyung looks good, which is not surprising to Yoongi, yet it still makes something simmer in his stomach. His jeans are tight around the thighs, and Yoongi wills his gaze away before Taehyung sees that he’s staring. Instead, he stares down at the beer in his hand.

Taehyung comes to stand behind Yoongi, a hand on his shoulder, his own little personal greeting for Yoongi, and Yoongi smiles up at him.

“Hi guys. I’ll just go put this in the fridge, then I’ll come join you,” Taehyung says, shaking the bag he’s wearing over his shoulder. The sound of glass against glass is loud, and Seokjin whistles slowly. 

“Do you plan on getting hammered?” Seokjin asks, and Taehyung just laughs and shakes his head. The sound of his deep laughter vibrates through Yoongi’s chest, and he finds that he kind of wants to lean into it.

“Nah, but I brought enough for the rest of you too,” he answers. Yoongi smiles fondly. That's such a Taehyung thing to do.

“Be right back,” Taehyung repeats, getting ready to leave for the kitchen. Yoongi makes the move to stand up and follow him to help him put the alcohol away, but Taehyung just pushes his hand down on his shoulder. As Yoongi looks up at him again, his smile is a little wider, a little more vibrant.

“It’s okay, hyung, I’ll be right back,” he says quietly, voice only meant for Yoongi to hear. 

And he is right back, settling beside Yoongi with his first cider in hand. His cheeks get a little red as he catches Yoongi staring. Yoongi thinks he’s all kinds of gorgeous.

//

Taehyung doesn’t really know how long it’s been since he got there, but he thinks it’s been a couple of hours. The company of his friends has him relaxing where he’s sitting, their voices carrying through the warm apartment as they talk about everything and nothing. He thinks Seokjin and Namjoon may be kissing, but he hasn’t looked in a while.

He’s lost in a conversation with Jeongguk as Yoongi settles back beside him on the floor, a beer in hand for himself and a fruity cider for Taehyung in his other. He doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, although he sees Jimin throwing a glance at them. Sure, they’re sitting close, but that’s not unusual and the warmth radiating off Yoongi is comforting. 

As Taehyung accepts his drink from Yoongi – which earns Yoongi a big smile – Yoongi’s hand settles on top of his thigh. Again, he doesn’t think much of it, a little tipsy from the three drinks he has had before this. He feels warm, comfortable, and loved. 

When he accidentally catches Hoseok’s gaze, he sees it stuck on where Yoongi’s hand is resting. It’s only then that it strikes him that something is out of the ordinary, momentarily tensing underneath Yoongi’s hand. This only prompts something even more out of the ordinary, as Yoongi begins to carefully knead the muscle. The action seems absentminded, Yoongi not even looking away from Namjoon who is now drunkenly philosophising over life or something, where only Yoongi can follow his train of thought. Something Taehyung guesses comes with being best friends for over ten years, and simultaneously being geniuses. 

The fact that it’s instinctually an attempt at calming Taehyung down, and the fact that Yoongi’s hand is on his upper thigh makes him colour slightly, and he relaxes back against the couch. He hopes the darkness hides his blush from the others. 

Yoongi’s hand remains where it’s placed on Taehyung’s thigh until Taehyung has to go pee, the pressure in his bladder getting unbearable. He gives Yoongi’s hand a few pats, before he stands up and practically flees, to make sure he won’t be there as Yoongi realises where his hand had been resting. He feels a little rattled, a little unstable as he catches his own gaze in the mirror. He can still feel the warmth of Yoongi’s hand on his thigh searing through his clothes. Maybe he’s a little drunker than he thought, he wonders, as he wets his hands and slaps his cheeks a few times. It makes him feel a bit better, and he goes to leave the toilet.

When he returns, Taehyung is thankful that Jimin beckons him over with the promise of gossip about a former classmate. He finds himself sitting with Jimin and Jeongguk, getting a grip on reality again despite his tipsy brain, where everywhere is a bit woozy. If Jimin and Jeongguk realise that he’s a little out of it, they let him be in peace, something he appreciates. Jeongguk pats his back upon going to the bathroom himself, and Taehyung fears it’s obvious. But then again, Jeongguk always had a way of seeing right through him.

Jeongguk doesn’t mention anything about it for the rest of the night, only gives him a gentle smile.

//

Neither Taehyung nor Yoongi realises that they are circling around each other – always sooner or later ending up by each other’s side – but eventually Yoongi plops down beside Taehyung. He’s leaning into Jimin’s side giggling drunkenly, and Yoongi can’t help but feel a little endeared and a little exasperated. 

It’s late, and Seokjin and Namjoon are starting to look like a couple who wants a little alone time, Namjoon sitting on Seokjin’s lap already. 

“Hey Tae-yah, Jimin, I think it’s time to go home,” Yoongi says gently.

“Noooo,” Taehyung whines, leaning into his side, making Yoongi freeze a little where he sits.

“I was just having so much fun,” Taehyung continues, and Yoongi shakes his head fondly.

“Yeah, but I think Seokjin and Namjoon want to head to bed soon, so we gotta get going,” Yoongi explains, gesturing over to where Namjoon and Seokjin are sitting. That does the trick, both Jimin and Taehyung slowly getting up, although hesitantly.

Jeongguk is already by the door, putting on his outerwear as Yoongi and Taehyung join.

Yoongi catches Seokjin’s gaze, as he looks for his bag. He watches from where he’s sitting with a thankful expression on his face, stroking Namjoon’s hair. Yoongi gives him a smile.

“I’ll make sure this one gets home safe,” Yoongi says, gesturing to Taehyung who is giggling with Jeongguk in the corner as they put on their shoes. 

“We’ll walk Jeongguk home too, but I think he’s sober enough to navigate Seoul. I don’t think the same can be said about Tae,” Yoongi adds with a grin, already expecting Taehyung’s reaction.

“Hey! I’m pleeenty sober!” Taehyung half shouts, leaning into Yoongi’s space to slap him on his chest. He loses balance a little, falling further into Yoongi who steadies him with hands on his waist.

“Sure, you are,” he says, with a soft smile, and Taehyung preens . When he turns back to his shoes Yoongi shakes his head at the others, mouthing “he really isn’t”, which makes Seokjin laugh.

Stepping out the door takes a lot longer than it should, but Yoongi remains patient through all of Taehyung and Jeongguk’s silly actions. As they leave, he waves.

“Bye, guys.”

Seokjin, Namjoon and Hoseok wave back.

After they’ve left, Hoseok turns to Namjoon and Seokjin. He looks contemplative.

“I – I think we may have been wrong about their compatibility.”

“I know,” Seokjin answers, face serious. 

“They are closer than I’ve ever seen them.”

“Huh?” Namjoon asks from where he’s sitting perched on Seokjin’s lap, sleepily blinking. “We are wrong about what?”

“Yoongi and Taehyung, baby. I think we were wrong about Yoongi and Taehyung.”

//

After seeing Jeongguk off at his own apartment complex, Yoongi and Taehyung make the trip to Taehyung’s apartment. Yoongi is glad that it’s July, the morning air is not too chilly. He wouldn’t want Taehyung to get cold.

Taehyung, on the other hand, is having a blast, pointing out neon signs to Yoongi, telling him exactly why he likes every single one of them. He had grabbed Yoongi’s hand long ago and is swinging it back and forth as they walk. Yoongi can’t help but be endeared, his heart stuttering a little in his chest every time Taehyung turns his bright smile at him. His happiness is infectious.

Yoongi is almost a little sad as they reach Taehyung’s apartment building, Taehyung still happily rambling beside him, but he knows that they need to get into the warmth of Taehyung’s apartment. 

Taehyung doesn’t protest as Yoongi leads him inside. The trip up the stairs is a whole other story.

“Hyung,” Taehyung whines as Yoongi pulls him up the stairs to his apartment.

“Hyuuuuung,” he continues, and Yoongi just rolls his eyes fondly.

“Hyung.”

“What?” Yoongi asks as they finally reach Taehyung’s door. Taehyung’s cheeks are flushed red from the alcohol, and his hair is all messy, making Yoongi want to run a hand through it. Something he’s wanted to do all night. It looks soft and fluffy, even in its dishevelled state. He looks so cute. Yoongi’s heart does something weird in his chest again. He pushes the thought away, shaking his head. 

Instead, he turns to Taehyung, who is just staring at him, with a small, dreamy smile. Yoongi doesn't think he’s registered where they are yet. Yoongi rolls his eyes at him again, giving him a small smile. 

It doesn’t seem like Taehyung remembers what he wanted to say, as Yoongi rummages through Taehyung’s jacket pockets. Instead, he just keeps on staring. Yoongi feels a little hot under his gaze, refusing to meet his eyes.

Just when Yoongi actually gets a hold of Taehyung’s keys, getting ready to let them in, Taehyung’s next words stop him.

“You are so beautiful, hyung.”

Yoongi stares up at Taehyung in shock. Taehyung just smiles, and shrugs.

“You are.”

“I– Thank you, Tae-yah,” Yoongi says, in his mind re-evaluating how drunk Taehyung is. More than he thought probably.

He turns from where he’s facing Taehyung and goes to unlock the door, which he manages without more distractions. As they get in, Taehyung’s eyes light up in recognition.

“Oh, we’re home!” 

“We are,” Yoongi says in what he hopes is a calm voice, not wanting to admit that he feels his stomach swoop at the words. 

Taehyung just marvels at his own apartment, until Yoongi squats down and starts helping him out of his shoes.

“I don’t know how much I had to drink,” Taehyung admits, and Yoongi chuckles.

“A lot, baby,” he says, the nickname just slipping out. Yoongi looks up in fear, just to see Taehyung preening again. He lets out a sigh of relief. Jesus. Where did that come from? He must be drunker than he thought at first, too.

Once Taehyung is out of his shoes, Yoongi stands back up.

Now he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn't really feel like going home to his own lonely apartment, but he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome at Taehyung’s either. He looks between Taehyung and the door.

Taehyung just looks confused.

“I think I should go home,” Yoongi ends up saying, the silence having lingered too long.

Taehyung doesn’t look happy with that, frowning.

“I thought you were going to stay?” he says easily, so genuine, eyes wide and sparkly, in a way only drunk Taehyung can manage.

“I– Do you want me to?” Yoongi asks.

Taehyung nods.

“Stay, please.”

So, Yoongi stays. Toes off his shoes and follows Taehyung into his apartment. He grabs a glass of water for each of them, and a few painkillers that he brings to Taehyung who has collapsed on the couch. 

“You should drink a bit of water, and take these, Tae,” Yoongi says softly, as he sits down beside Taehyung’s lying form on the couch. Taehyung just groans.

"Come on,” Yoongi coaxes, drawing patterns onto his back gently. “It’ll make you feel so much better tomorrow. I promise.”

That seems to convince Taehyung, because he slowly sits up, taking the glass of water that Yoongi is offering him, and the two painkillers. 

Taehyung grimaces as he looks down at them. 

“I hate taking pills,” he mumbles under his breath, so low that Yoongi can barely hear him. 

And Taehyung does end up struggling, more than Yoongi’s seen anyone struggle to take pills in a long time. When he finally manages, he sticks out his tongue afterwards in disgust.

“Urgh, painkillers taste awful,” Taehyung whines, and with anyone else, Yoongi would have probably found it childish. Taehyung is just adorable. 

They sit in silence for a few minutes, Yoongi reaching over and taking Taehyung’s hand to comfort him. It’s comfortable, but Taehyung’s eyes keep slipping shut for longer and longer periods of time. Yoongi feels so fond .

It’s only when Taehyung slips his head down onto Yoongi’s shoulder that Yoongi gets his shit together and they finally get going.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed, bubba,” Yoongi says, as he gently shakes Taehyung, who mumbles something along the lines of “hyung” and “please”. But even though he’s adorable, Yoongi won’t let him sleep on the couch all night. His back will hurt, and they can’t have that.

“Bed, then sleep,” Yoongi says, gently coaxing Taehyung upright and leading him into his room, arm around his waist to make sure he won’t lose his balance. 

When they finally enter Taehyung’s room, they don’t even bother turning the light on. The light from the living room is carried into the bedroom, their only source of light.

Yoongi is trying to figure out where he’s going to sleep, when Taehyung suddenly turns to face him. It’s dark, meaning Yoongi can’t really make out his expression.

“I just wanted –” Taehyung says, voice a little shaky, but cuts himself off.

Yoongi looks up at him, tilting his head in question.

Taehyung shakes his head in the way he always does when he’s embarrassed. Yoongi tries to catch his eyes, but Taehyung turns his head away. He seems agitated, and a little off. It’s making Yoongi’s chest fill with worry. 

“Taehyung, I don’t think I’m following –” Yoongi tries, but is cut off as Taehyung’s lips are suddenly on his, all soft and gentle. He smells like alcohol, but also sweet, because he dislikes bitter drinks. It’s no more than a short press of their lips, it’s over almost before it starts, but Yoongi is still left reeling. He blinks, surprised in the dark, and suddenly feels a lot more conscious of his own body’s presence in the room, and his heart that is now hammering away in his chest.

They stare at each other for a few seconds, faces so close that Yoongi can feel Taehyung’s breath on his skin. It’s weird, unusual, and somehow it feels addictive. 

Taehyung’s eyes are wide as he moves to draw back, looking just as surprised as Yoongi feels. His breaths are shaky, and loud in the silent room.

Yoongi doesn’t know what comes over him, but he doesn’t want Taehyung to stop, to feel guilty, to feel scared, so he chases Taehyung’s lips and pulls him closer again by the back of his neck. He kisses him properly this time, letting his eyes flutter shut.

There’s something magical about kissing Taehyung, Yoongi decides. His lips are soft underneath Yoongi’s, giving, relenting, and as Yoongi nips at his lower lip he draws a small sigh out of Taehyung, which sends shivers down Yoongi’s spine. He can feel butterflies starting to act up in his stomach as Taehyung finally properly reciprocates, drawing him closer by the small of his back.

Yoongi runs his hand through Taehyung’s hair, like he’s wanted to do all night, tugging gently at it, relishing in the shallow breath he receives, alongside a tiny “hyung”.

Yoongi knows they can’t keep going, both of them too drunk to really understand the consequences of what they’re doing. It doesn’t mean he wants to stop, he’s left reeling with how badly he wants to continue. But one of them has to be responsible. So, he kisses Taehyung one last time before drawing back.

Taehyung burrows his face in Yoongi’s neck and whines.

“Sleep, baby,” Yoongi reminds him, running his hands through his hair again. Taehyung hums against his skin, sending shivers down Yoongi’s spine. He doesn't make a move to get ready to sleep. Yoongi gives in, standing there and holding him. He needs a bit of time to get his heart to slow down again too, the dark of the room thankfully hiding the blush that’s rising in his cheeks. What just happened?

Surprisingly, it’s Taehyung who takes initiative, pulling away from Yoongi this time, and walking over to his closet.

“Want a t-shirt?” he asks tiredly, as if they’ve not just kissed. Yoongi’s thankful for the deflection, he’s too tired to think about what they’d just done; discussing it would’ve been way too much.

Instead, Yoongi looks down at himself, contemplating Taehyung’s offer. His shirt would probably not be the most comfortable sleeping attire.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Yoongi agrees. “Thank you, Tae-yah.”

Taehyung smiles and chucks him a shirt from where he’s standing, pulling his own long-sleeved shirt over his head, leaving Yoongi with the view of his back.

Yoongi stares at the miles of tan skin that’s suddenly exhibited before him. It looks almost like honey in the dim light, and his breath catches in his throat. 

He knows that Taehyung has muscles. And that he has a tiny waist. But seeing it like that? Yoongi is glad he stopped whatever they were doing before so early, or else he might’ve done something very stupid.

“Hyung?” Taehyung asks, as he turns around to find Yoongi sitting, staring at him from his bed.

“Oh, yeah,” Yoongi says, rubbing his neck. Taehyung seems to catch what’s going on, and smiles, a little sly, and a lot embarrassed. 

“Let me just go change,” Yoongi mumbles, equally embarrassed, fleeing the room. What’s going on with him today?

When he gets into the bathroom, and looks himself in the eyes, he can see just how flustered he is.

“Good god,” he mumbles, splashing water onto his face in an attempt to cool off his warm cheeks. He refuses to think more about it though, as he quickly changes into the t-shirt Taehyung has given him. It’s big, black, and smells distinctly like Taehyung. Yoongi wonders if he’d realise it was gone. Yoongi wants to sneak it home.

After a few more steadying breaths, Yoongi reckons he is ready to leave the bathroom. He will have to ask Taehyung for a blanket for the couch, he thinks. 

The sound of Yoongi’s footsteps makes Taehyung look up from where he’s lying in his bed. He pats the spot beside him. 

“Come over here, hyung,” he mumbles, rubbing his eyes tiredly, and then yawning. “Wanna go to sleep.”

Yoongi walks over, footsteps faltering, eyes wide in surprise.

“You want me… to sleep in the bed?” Yoongi asks, confused.

He can make out Taehyung nodding and hears the sound of a big yawn. It’s darker in here now, Taehyung having turned off the living room lights while he was away.

“You sure?” Yoongi asks.

“Yeah I’m sure hyung, come on.” The last part is whined out, which spurs Yoongi into action, hesitantly making his way over to the bed. He stands there for a few seconds, feeling unsure of himself, but then Taehyung loudly whines again, and Yoongi settles down on the bed, slipping underneath the covers beside Taehyung.

Taehyung inches closer, throwing one arm and leg over Yoongi’s body, which has Yoongi tensing up, paralysed. His breath is warm and humid against the back of Yoongi’s neck, but Yoongi finds he doesn’t mind.

Taehyung doesn’t seem to realise that Yoongi’s frozen in the spot, just smacks his lips cutely.

“Night, hyungie,” Taehyung whispers into the night, and yawns again.

“Goodnight Tae-yah,” Yoongi responds.

He lies awake long after Taehyung has fallen asleep, snoring lightly. His brain is spinning, but he can’t make anything out of the mishmash that is his drunken thoughts and feelings. It’s only right as he’s falling asleep that a coherent thought forms in his head. 

He doesn’t have to fear getting a crush on Taehyung anymore. He already has one.

//

Yoongi wakes up, mouth dry, head feeling heavy, but surprisingly without a headache. His eyelashes are sticking together, and he feels disoriented and disjointed. The sun is probably high in the sky from the way it’s making everything light, even behind his eyelids. But the bed is comfortable beneath him, and sleep is begging him to return.

The only problem is that he’s hot. Way too hot. The blanket that is weighing him down is heavier than he remembers. Trying to return to the sleep that’s still clinging to him, he tries to throw it off, his movements sluggish. The blanket groans at this, moving around. Breaths start hitting his neck.

Yoongi’s eyes fly open. 

The first thing he sees as he opens his eyes is Taehyung. Which is only natural, because he’s lying on top of Yoongi – one leg thrown across Yoongi’s waist and an arm across his torso. Yoongi can’t really make out his face from where he’s lying, Taehyung’s face being hidden close to the crook of his neck. 

Yoongi’s mind blanks in a panic, trying to remember how he got himself into this situation all while Taehyung is snoring very softly, sounding so peaceful. A sharp contrast to Yoongi’s state of mind.

It comes back to him in pieces, the night, Taehyung asking him to stay, the kiss – all while he watches the sunbeams dance on the ceiling, fragments of them being caught in Taehyung's fairy-shaped suncatcher that’s hanging by the window. It makes small rainbows appear around the room in the quiet morning air, and Yoongi – while he feels panicked, his heart thrashing in his chest at the thought of the complications, the consequences this will have for both of them – can’t really completely freak out.

Taehyung shuffles beside him, and Yoongi stiffens, scared. He’s not ready for him to wake up quite yet, hasn’t even gotten around to sorting his own thoughts out. Taehyung thankfully settles again, still in deep sleep. This time Yoongi can see his face. He looks calm, angelic, the sound of his deep breaths the only thing breaking the silence around them. Yoongi smiles a little. At least it’s Taehyung he’s in this mess with.

Yoongi watches Taehyung for a few more seconds, before slinking out of bed and into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He feels a bit sweaty from being tangled up with Taehyung all night – the thought brings a vicious blush to his cheeks – so he decides to sneak into the bathroom to wash it off and clear his head.

It’s only as he stands underneath the stream of hot water, in Taehyung’s shower, in Taehyung’s apartment, that he allows himself to really think about the kiss. The memory of Taehyung’s lips on his feels burned into the back of his mind, and it pops into his thoughts as soon as he lets it. Water is cascading down his body, but all he can think of is where Taehyung touched him, the way he drew Yoongi closer by the small of his back, his small almost desperate “hyung” which was mumbled into Yoongi’s own mouth. Jesus, he had kissed Taehyung and he had liked it . He even wants to do it again, he thinks as his treacherous brain provides mental images of him kissing Taehyung hard against a wall, but also holding his hand and kissing him softly in the starlight.

And holy shit, Yoongi should’ve seen this coming. Should’ve noticed how his eyes started to linger on Taehyung. Should’ve noticed how he unconsciously started to do things to please Taehyung, like giving him the last spoonful of ice cream, or making sure to text him good luck before his tests. Should’ve noticed how Taehyung’s smile has started to render him helpless, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Should’ve noticed that this is not just something he feels for Taehyung as a friend, but that he’s slowly but surely catching feelings for Taehyung.

As the realisation settles deep in his bones, he has to sit down to calm his now erratic breathing. 

“Shit,” he mumbles, running a hand down over his face. It was never meant to get this out of hand. Now he has to deal with the consequences. 

When he eventually calms down and manages to get out of the shower, skin red from the warm water, his mind is settled. He has to tell Taehyung before this messes up their friendship, nothing else would be fair.

Taehyung is still sleeping when he sneaks back into his bedroom and settles on top of the covers, back against the headboard and phone in hand. Taehyung shuffles in his sleep, unconsciously disturbed by Yoongi’s return, and ends up throwing his arm across Yoongi’s legs, smacking his lips softly.

Yoongi looks down on him and smiles – wishing for this to not be a one-time occurrence.  

//

As Taehyung peels open his bleary eyes, a hand cards through his hair gently. 

“Morning,” Yoongi’s voice says gently, a little raspier than usual. Taehyung feels a shiver run down his back.

“I used your shower, I hope that’s okay,” Yoongi continues, drawing his hand away, and Taehyung wants to pout at the loss. He doesn’t. Instead, he nods.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Silence settles between them for a little bit, before Taehyung’s stomach rumbles, making Yoongi giggle. Taehyung blushes a little.

“Hungry?” Yoongi asks, and as Taehyung looks back up at him, he realises his hair is still a little wet, swept away from his forehead. Yeah, for you, Taehyung’s brain provides. Another blush threatens to spill onto his cheeks at that.

“Yes, a little. You?” Taehyung answers, trying to will the blush away.

Yoongi hums, contemplating.

“I could eat something. I’ll go see if there’s something in your fridge,” Yoongi says, getting up. As he makes it out the door, he stops and looks back. 

“I don’t mind making breakfast, you can go take a shower if you want.” And then he’s gone.

It was surprisingly not awkward to wake up together, Taehyung thinks as he gets up too, grabbing some fresh clothes from his closet and making it out into the combined living room and kitchen. The air between them is gentle and calm. Yoongi is a little quieter than usual as Taehyung makes his way to the bathroom, his back to Taehyung, but Taehyung doesn’t pay it much attention. 

The only thing dulling Taehyung’s mood a bit, is the headache that’s starting to make itself noticeable. And the sticky feeling of sweat and alcohol that comes after a night of drinking. As he washes it off underneath the hot water of the showerhead, he feels a little better, and a lot cleaner. The shampoo bottle is in a different place than Taehyung usually puts it, and the thought of Yoongi smelling like him brings a small shy smile to his face. He can hear pots clanking from his kitchen. It's probably Yoongi making them breakfast. Gosh, he is so wonderful. Taehyung kind of wants to scream. 

As he lathers up his own hair in shampoo, his hands massaging his scalp, his fingers get stuck on a knot and he shudders as he accidentally pulls on it. The feeling though gives him a weird sense of déjà vu, and then he suddenly remembers a fragment of something from last night. A hand in his hair, pulling softly. With it comes the sensation of a hand on his jaw, and soft lips on his own and oh. Oh, holy shit.

This time Taehyung does scream. Or more like, squeaks. The sounds stop from outside the door.

“You good?” Yoongi yells from the kitchen. Taehyung doesn’t pay it any mind, just wants to melt into the floor and disappear. He kissed Yoongi last night. Oh my god, he kissed Yoongi last night. He is going to die.

“ Hello?” Yoongi tries again. It’s obvious that he’s gotten closer to the door of the bathroom. Taehyung can feel the blush in his cheeks, all warm and heavy. They had kissed. And he had liked it. So much.

“I’m fine, hyung,” he yells, as he tries to calm down. It’s not surprising at all that Yoongi is quieter than usual this morning. Looking back, he has been a little more hesitant too, a little more distanced. But he hadn’t left. Taehyung decides to take that as a good sign.

//

Yoongi can’t keep his eyes off of Taehyung as they eat breakfast together. He can feel his hands getting clammy as he searches for any sign of Taehyung remembering their kiss, but Taehyung just slurps down the food with vigour and smiles at him, like he usually does. It’s impossible to see whether or not he remembers what happened last night, and it makes Yoongi feel a little like he’s out of his mind. Yoongi hasn’t even made his mind up yet, on if he wants or doesn’t want Taehyung to remember, but he needs to know. 

Eventually, they finish their breakfast and Yoongi stands up to clean the table. Taehyung winces at the loud sound that his chair makes, visibly hung over.

“Did you take the painkillers?” Yoongi asks gently, referencing the ones he had left on Taehyung’s nightstand as he was showering.

“Yeah,” Taehyung agrees. “My head is still killing me though.” 

Yoongi chuckles in response.

“You did drink quite a lot last night,” he agrees, stopping in his tracks as he realises how close that is to referencing their kiss. Maybe that’s just in his head though. He quickly gathers their plates and utensils, trying to distract himself.

Taehyung is just silent. Yoongi wonders what that means, his heart now beating so hard that he can feel it everywhere. Blood is rushing in his ears. 

The silence lingers for a bit, the only sound filling it is that of the hot running water from Taehyung’s old tap.

“Hyung?” Taehyung asks from where he’s sitting, breaking the silence. His voice has gone from calm to shaky – he sounds nervous. Yoongi freezes by the sink he’s lowering their dishes into. It’s all that he needs to hear to know that Taehyung remembers. Dread fills him, although a small spark of relief makes itself known. At least he won’t have to act like it never happened.

“Yeah?” he answers, trying to act like he doesn’t know what’s about to come. His back is still facing Taehyung, and he uses the fact that Taehyung can’t see his face to take a steadying breath.

“We – we kissed last night. Right?” Taehyung continues.

Yoongi inhales sharply, before turning around, looking at Taehyung.

Taehyung’s expression is open, yet nervous. A little hopeful even, Yoongi thinks. It makes him feel like maybe all is not lost. Taehyung surely doesn’t look upset or angry.

“We did,” Yoongi agrees. “You were pretty drunk though – we both were – so I won’t hold it against you if –” Yoongi stops his own words, wishing to slam a hand over his mouth.

“If I what, hyung?” Taehyung asks.

“If you regret it,” Yoongi whispers. “I don’t, but I won’t hold it against you if you do,” this time it’s Yoongi’s voice that’s shaky. He lowers his gaze, scared of seeing Taehyung’s reaction.

It’s scary saying it out loud, especially as he only figured his own feelings out this morning. But at the same time, it’s lifting something heavy from his chest, making it just a little easier to breathe.

The silence in the room makes him a little scared, so he looks up to see Taehyung’s expression. 

Taehyung is looking at him flabbergasted, which kind of makes Yoongi want to die. At a minimum just disappear. Taehyung definitely regrets it and now he’s going to end their friendship and – Oh god, why did he have to be so honest with Taehyung all the time. He hides his face in his hands, and almost whimpers. What has he gotten himself into?

“I don’t regret it, hyung,” Taehyung says, voice small.

Yoongi's head snaps up to look at him so fast that he almost gets a crick in his neck, and he knows that his eyes are as wide as saucers.

“Sure, I’d like to remember it better, but. I don’t regret it at all. I actually have wanted to do it for a while now,” Taehyung admits, and now it’s his turn to look like he wants to tape his own mouth shut.

“You – what?” Yoongi asks, blush making its way into his cheeks. He can feel his shoulders lowering little by little, still a bit hesitant. 

“Have wanted to kiss you for a while now – god why are you making me repeat myself, hyung?” Taehyung whines, and he looks so adorable. 

Yoongi finally breathes out, allowing his body to relax somewhat from its tense state. He feels relieved, happy, and a lot nervous, but the good kind. His little chuckle is breathy, giving his giddiness away. 

A shy but happy smile makes its way to Taehyung’s face too at the sound.

Yoongi finally pushes himself away from the kitchen counter, and slowly makes his way to the table and sits back down. He grabs one of Taehyung’s hands and squeezes it gently, making Taehyung look up at him, smiling. His cheeks are a pretty rosy colour, and Yoongi knows his face looks the same. 

They sit in a comfortable silence for a bit, both left reeling at the fact that they want to kiss each other.  

“Wait,” Taehyung mumbles, breaking the silence. 

“What now?”

He looks up with wide hopeful eyes, looking a bit shy still, but he doesn’t break their eye contact before Yoongi does – looking down to their hands, and fiddling a bit with Taehyung’s fingers.

It’s a good question.

“I guess we just… keep dating?” Yoongi says, and looks up to catch Taehyung’s eyes again. His heart is thumping in his chest. Taehyung nods a little.

“And sees where it goes?” Taehyung asks.

“Yeah,” Yoongi easily agrees.

A silence settles for a short while, then Taehyung takes a steadying breath. Yoongi looks up at him, and gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Taehyung smiles back, but he still looks nervous.

“I just think you should know that I like you – I really like you,” Taehyung admits, blushing even harder.

Yoongi looks at him softly, which prompts Taehyung to keep speaking.

“I just. Need us to be on the same page?”

Yoongi nods.

“I really like you too, Tae,” he says, squeezing Taehyung’s hand. 

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

A short silence settles between them.

“So, dating? Still?” Yoongi asks, sounding a little more certain, feeling a little more sure of himself.

“Yeah,” Taehyung says with a smile.

“And kissing please,” Taehyung adds. “Lots of kissing.”

“I – sure,” Yoongi says, and he can feel his cheeks turning beet red. Taehyung coos.

Yoongi leans over the table in a sudden burst of confidence and shuts him up with a kiss.

//

Jeongguk squeals into the phone when Taehyung calls him later, after Yoongi’s left.

“You need to tell me everything . Literally everything,” he insists.

Taehyung does just that.

//

Ever since their talk, Taehyung has not been able to get enough of Yoongi – and the fact that Yoongi always indulges him only makes it worse. At this point, he’s starting to feel a little addicted. And now it’s even gotten to the point where hanging out with him and the others isn’t enough because he can’t kiss and touch Yoongi like he wants to when their friends are there.

They’ve decided not to tell the others (the only exception being Jeongguk) until they’re sure where this thing is going – which Taehyung generally thinks is a good decision. Today? Not so much. 

They’re all hanging out at Yoongi’s apartment – a place Taehyung has been at more than ever during these last few weeks. Jimin, Jeongguk, Hoseok and Seokjin are playing Mario Kart on Yoongi’s television, screaming at each other. Unsurprisingly, Seokjin is winning, but Jeongguk is putting up a good fight. 

Namjoon, who is sitting beside Taehyung as they watch the four others play, sighs deeply as Seokjin yells at the top of his lungs as he’s hit by a blue shell. Even through his visible exasperation, his eyes are still so full of adoration. Taehyung knocks his shoulder into Namjoon’s and smiles gently as Namjoon looks back at him.

There’s something on his mind, something he’s been wanting to ask Namjoon for a while now. But he hasn’t gotten him alone for long enough to ask. Taehyung looks over at the others to make sure they’re still immersed in the game, before speaking up.

“When did you know you were in love with Seokjin?” Taehyung asks, so quietly that only Namjoon can hear. The others are – as Taehyung had hoped – too into the game to pay them any attention. He’s glad Yoongi’s out getting more meat for dinner. The question has lingered in his mind for a while now, and he’s nervously waiting for the answer. He would never have dared to ask if Yoongi were around.

Namjoon looks over at him with wide curious eyes as he ponders over Taehyung’s question. Taehyung’s hands are starting to get a little clammy under Namjoon’s attentive eyes. Namjoon doesn’t prod though, just answers, which Taehyung appreciates greatly.

“I guess when I started missing him any time we weren’t together,” Namjoon answers truthfully, looking back at Seokjin.

“When we started dating, I wanted to spend time with him, but at some point, it just started feeling like I wasn’t completely whole without him there. And I think that’s when I realised I was in love with him. I may have been in love with him for a while before that too, but,” Namjoon shrugs, scratching his head.

Taehyung hums, to show he’s listening.

“Yeah, I guess that’s how I knew,” Namjoon answers with a small smile.

Namjoon doesn’t ask Taehyung why he’s asking, and just turns his attention back to the game. Taehyung is glad the conversation ended there, as Yoongi makes it through the front door.

“Hi guys, they didn’t have more lamb, so I got us chicken instead,” he yells, and a chorus of “okay hyung”s makes its way back to him. The guys barely take their eyes off the screen, too caught up in their dramatic match. Taehyung thinks he may have missed some bet seeing how focused all of them are. It wouldn’t be unlike them to have the loser do something embarrassing. 

Instead of pondering more over the game, Taehyung stands, and goes to the small entrance to help Yoongi with the bags that he’s holding so Yoongi can get out of his shoes.

“Thank you, Tae,” Yoongi says, with a small, fond, loving smile – one Taehyung is still getting used to being on the receiving end of. It makes his heart beat a bit faster in his chest, as he smiles back, catching Yoongi’s eyes. They’re so beautiful, the brown colour dark and deep, but every now and then Taehyung catches a shimmer inside them. And while it may just be the light reflecting, it still feels magical, like if Taehyung looked long enough into them, he’d be able to make out freshwater pearls hidden in the deep. Taehyung wants to drown in them.

He wishes all the guys weren’t there, in this moment where they are looking at each other, because he wants nothing more than to just lean down and kiss Yoongi. He can’t, so instead he tears his eyes away from Yoongi’s and grabs the two plastic shopping bags tighter. 

“Are these just going to the kitchen, hyung?” he asks, and when Yoongi nods, he turns on his heel and takes them into the kitchen before he does something stupid.

He’s busy putting away the groceries when Yoongi enters the kitchen.

“Hi Tae-yah,” he says quietly, and there’s something in his eyes that makes Taehyung look between him and the opening to the living room where everyone else is situated. He can’t see anyone, which means that they aren’t visible to the guys either, but he knows that it’ll take nothing more than one of them having to use the bathroom for them to be able to look right into the kitchen where Yoongi and himself are standing. That doesn’t stop Yoongi from winding his arms around the back of Taehyung’s neck and standing up on his tippy toes to kiss him.

“Finally,” Yoongi mumbles, and Taehyung agrees. He’d been late because of traffic, meaning Jimin got there before him, making any kissing impossible. He’s been aching for his hello kiss ever since.

The kiss is great, like it always is, Taehyung thinks as he winds his arms around Yoongi’s waist and pulls him in closer. His mouth is warm, gentle against Taehyung’s. It’s simple, just their lips meeting, until Yoongi sighs against his mouth, and suddenly it’s not all that simple anymore. 

Before Taehyung thinks about it, he’s hoisting Yoongi onto the kitchen counter, kissing him harder. Yoongi’s hands are in his hair, tugging, and he mewls against Yoongi’s mouth.

“Hyung, do you need help with anything?” Hoseok calls from the living room, and both of them freeze in their spot. The sound of the loading screen on Mario Kart can be heard.

Yoongi looks a little dishevelled, and Taehyung thinks he does too, as he quickly backs out so Yoongi can jump down from the kitchen counter.

“No, Seok-ah, I’m fine,” Yoongi yells back, voice already a little scratchy and lips bright pink. God, Taehyung wants nothing more than to keep kissing him, kissing him until they’re both out of breath – 

“Taehyung is here helping me, we’re good. I’ll ask if I need any more help.”

“Okay,” Hoseok yells from the living room, and they can hear another course in Mario Kart being put on, along with Jeongguk’s “game on, hyung,” and Seokjin’s cocky huff in response.

As they both look away from the opening, and back to each other, they can’t help but break out in soft giggles.

“That was close,” Taehyung mumbles, shaking his head, going back to putting the groceries away. He knows his cheeks are a little red from getting so carried away, but Yoongi’s match his.

“Hey,” Yoongi says gently, hand on Taehyung’s arm. Taehyung looks back down at him.

Yoongi stands up on his tippy toes, and kisses Taehyung gently. It’s only a peck, but Taehyung feels his cheeks growing warmer.

“Hi, you,” Yoongi says, and the smile on his face makes Taehyung feel warm, loved, important. His heart beats harder in his chest.

“Hi, hyung,” Taehyung just responds, dropping a kiss to Yoongi’s nose.

Eventually they do get all their groceries put away, only a few more kisses sneaked in between. 

Yoongi and Seokjin end up making dinner, while the rest of them set the table. Taehyung sits between Jimin and Hoseok, listening to them talk about classes, mutual classmates and their dance classes. He feels Yoongi’s gaze on him more than once, and it’s nice, feeling so wanted. If Taehyung smiles a little brighter and laughs a little louder, no one comments.

The rest of the night goes by swimmingly, Yoongi and Taehyung sneaking away a few times to kiss again, but it doesn’t seem like any of the others notice. They’re too busy bickering with each other over the bet that they apparently had made, and what Jimin should do as punishment for losing in Mario Kart thrice.

At last, it’s only the two of them left, Jeongguk bidding them goodnight with a glint in his eyes as he leaves. They’ve already done the dishes, so there’s really no cleaning up to do, and Taehyung feels Yoongi’s presence as he makes his way from the kitchen out to where Taehyung’s sitting on the couch. He looks up from his phone.

“Hi hyungie,” he whispers, and Yoongi goes to sit down beside him, leaning against his shoulder with a small yawn.

“You’re tired?” 

Yoongi just shuffles closer in response. Taehyung giggles, dropping a peck to Yoongi’s exposed forehead. Yoongi tilts his head up in a clear invitation, and Taehyung always gives him exactly what he wants. So, he leans down, slotting their mouths together with practised ease, and feels his own eyes falling shut.

When they come up for air, Yoongi leans his head against Taehyung’s shoulder again, chest heaving.

“Are you staying the night?” Yoongi asks softly.

“Do you want me to?” Taehyung asks back, a clear reference to the first time they spent the night together at Taehyung’s apartment, both drunk, tired, and maybe a little in love.

Yoongi rolls his eyes, but plays along nonetheless.

“Stay, please.”

Taehyung does just that. 

//

They still haven’t told their friends about the sudden change of nature that their outings have had. 

Taehyung finds that nothing has changed, and yet everything has. He still feels the butterflies acting up when he’s about to go out with Yoongi, still feels enamoured and happy in his presence. Still enjoys the same types of dates. But now every date starts with a kiss and ends with one, and usually there are many littered in between those.

They’ve also started to spend the night at each other’s places – wandering hands getting accustomed to each other’s bodies, sweet nothings whispered between mouths open in pleasure.

And although all those things are great, Taehyung’s favourite part of it all is how open they’ve become with each other. If either of them wants something – needs something – they talk about it. They talk about boundaries, wishes, the future, their past.

Slowly but surely Taehyung notices how his crush is slipping into something new, something unknown, scary but also exhilarating. Something that feels a lot like love, Namjoon’s words etched into the back of his mind. Which is what he’s thinking about as he watches Yoongi wake up.

It’s a calm Saturday morning and the birds are chirping outside Yoongi’s window. He looks so cute like that, Taehyung thinks to himself, cheek squished against the pillowcase, eyes closed and eyelashes fanning across his cheeks. He’s been stirring for a while, which Taehyung by now knows is a sign that he’s waking up.

Finally, Yoongi’s eyes crack open, even just slightly.

“Morning, hyung,” Taehyung whispers into the gentle air of the morning. “Sleep well?”

Yoongi just hums in response, and shuffles further into Taehyung’s arms. Taehyung coos as Yoongi hides his face in his chest, pulling him closer by the waist.

They end up lying there, waking up together, for around ten minutes before Yoongi finally peeks up at him.

“Morning sleepy head,” Taehyung whispers, dropping a kiss onto Yoongi’s nose. Yoongi scrunches it up in response. Taehyung feels like he might just die from cuteness.

“Morning Tae-yah,” Yoongi mumbles into the small amount of space between them. His voice is deep and scratchy from not being used, and Taehyung feels a shiver run down his back.

It takes them a while to get out of bed.

Once they’ve eaten breakfast – Taehyung cleaning up as Yoongi sits at the table – Taehyung finally opens his mouth to ask Yoongi about something that has been on his mind ever since liking began to sound more like loving.

“So hyung, I was wondering.”

Yoongi hums, to let him know he’s listening, looking up from his phone.

“We haven’t specified what we are,” Taehyung continues, washing the dishes. His stomach feels a little like it’s one big knot, but he’s been wanting to have this talk for a while, so he pushes through. Out of the corner of his eye he can see he now has all of Yoongi’s attention as Yoongi puts down his phone.

Taehyung turns away from the dishes with a deep breath and turns to face Yoongi.

“So, would you like to be my boyfriend?” Taehyung asks, placing his hands on the kitchen counter to ground himself. He can feel a bit of the water seep into his shirt. He’s more focused on Yoongi’s face, reading it for any sign of discomfort. 

Instead, all he sees is happiness, as Yoongi’s face scrunches up, a big smile settling on his face already before he’s gotten around to answer. Taehyung feels some of the nerves settle in his stomach at the sight.

Yoongi quickly stands up, chair making a loud sound as he pushes it back, and makes his way over to Taehyung. He’s looking up at him, big smile still in place, and he gently winds his arms around the back of Taehyung’s neck. Taehyung places his hands on Yoongi’s waist, as Yoongi looks up at him, eyes sparkling.

“I’d love to be your boyfriend,” Yoongi says, and giggles as he happily accepts the feverish kiss Taehyung presses to his lips.

“Ah look at that, you’ve made my shirt wet,” Yoongi says as they draw apart, looking down at the two wet spots underneath Taehyung’s hands.

“Just take it off boyfriend,” Taehyung says, with a suggestively wiggle of his eyebrows. Yoongi groans at that, looking unimpressed with Taehyung’s words.

“Don’t make me regret saying yes,” Yoongi threatens as he steps back from Taehyung.

Taehyung just gasps in response.

“You would never!”

Yoongi looks contemplative for a few seconds. Then he sighs.

“Yeah, you’re right, I wouldn’t,” Yoongi says. “Well, I guess I’ll take your advice instead then,” Yoongi adds, peeling off his wet t-shirt, walking towards his bedroom, and throwing a sultry look over his shoulder at Taehyung.

Taehyung has never rushed more to finish the dishes in his life.

//

It’s been a month and a half since the bet technically ended, and Yoongi knows that their friends are growing suspicious. Which is not weird, seeing that Yoongi and Taehyung spend more time together now compared to during the time where they were “dating”.

They’ve talked about it multiple times now and have decided that it is about time that they tell the others about them actually dating. With romantic feelings and everything involved. 

The only reason that they haven’t told their friends yet is that Yoongi is petty. Taehyung had doubled over laughing when Yoongi had refused to tell the others the first time with the words; “Let them suffer. I’m not telling Jimin before he asks me. That’s what he gets for being a dumbass.”

So, one and a half months have passed already, and although it’s obvious on their friends' faces that they are curious, they’ve never asked. Which means Yoongi has not told them yet, and Taehyung hasn’t either – staying true to Yoongi’s wishes.

They’re at Seokjin’s again, just like the night where it had all started. School has started up again, and everyone has been busy, so it’s been a while since all of them have seen each other. They’re eating fried chicken, and it’s nice sitting in the midst of the chaos that comes with their five friends, laughing, talking, and eating. 

The air is heavy with the smell of grease, soju and beer, and Yoongi feels warm, safe and at home. Taehyung’s presence beside him may also have something to do with that, as he throws his head back, laughing at something Hoseok said. Yoongi doesn’t even realise that he’s staring until Jimin clears his throat loudly and gets his attention.

“What happened to the bet?” Jimin asks, a cocky smile spreading on his face. Yoongi suppresses his smile. He can’t wait to wipe that expression right off Jimin’s face. It’s going to be amazing.

"We’ve never evaluated like we said we would, have we?” Jimin continues, and it suddenly becomes silent around the table, all eyes on Yoongi, Taehyung and Jimin. Taehyung gently rests a hand on Yoongi’s thigh and gives it a small squeeze. Yoongi smiles softly, looking down at the table.

“No, we haven't,” Taehyung responds, shrugging. “What do you want to know?”

Jimin looks just a little bit confused before he continues.

“Just if the test was right? It was, wasn’t it?”

When Yoongi looks up at Taehyung, he can see him trying to school his face into a calm expression. He’s failing miserably. Yoongi grins. He can feel their friends' confused gazes jumping between himself and Taehyung with lightning speed. He feels powerful, and the sweet feeling of revenge fills his veins. They should never have doubted him. He is always right.

“I wouldn’t say it was right,” Yoongi says, trailing off, enjoying how they’re all now hanging on his every word. The only one who isn’t completely focused is Jeongguk who’s still eating chicken. 

After his dramatic pause, he continues.

“Considering we are now boyfriends.”

The table breaks into chaos, a lot of voices trying to ask them, when, how, who asked, and what happened, but the only thing Yoongi can really focus on is Taehyung’s laughter beside him.

It takes a while for everyone to calm down, but they manage as Yoongi and Taehyung alternate on telling the story of how they got together. Hoseok is cooing at every other word, and Seokjin and Namjoon look a little proud, Seokjin faking wiping a tear away as Taehyung tells them about their first “I love you’s”. It’s partly adorable, partly annoying. Yoongi finds himself thinking it’s more of the former. 

The only thing dimming his happiness is that Jimin still doesn’t look as shocked as Yoongi hoped.

“You really showed us, huh?” Jimin asks, when the worst of the ruckus has died down.

Yoongi looks at Jimin incredulously. Now all eyes are on Jimin, and he openly revels in the attention. Yoongi schools his expression, not wanting to appear annoyed just yet, although he can feel it growing slowly.

“What?”

“Who says this wasn’t my master plan all along?” The silence is deafening.

“I do!” Jeongguk says, finally looking up from the chicken. “You were sure nothing would come of it, you told me!”

The frown on Jimin’s face as he looks over at Jeongguk tells them all they need to know, and Yoongi can’t help but laugh.

“Ok, ok, stop rubbing it in,” Jimin mumbles – even he knows when he’s lost a battle.

“You’re so mean!” Hoseok whines. “I trusted you for a second there!”

“Sorry, hyung,” Jimin says, grimacing. Then he turns to look at Yoongi. “I was wrong, I admit it.” Yoongi sends him a big smile, done with being petty now.

“Congratulations you guys,” Jimin continues, and even though he still looks a little sour, and shoots daggers at Jeongguk whose attention is back on the chicken, it’s obvious that he means it genuinely.

“Thanks Jimin-ah,” Yoongi says gently.

“You’re welcome.”

//

“How did I ever think that they weren’t compatible,” Jimin says loud enough that Seokjin and Hoseok can hear him over the music that’s playing. He’s staring over at where Yoongi and Taehyung are mingling with their guests, Yoongi’s hand on Taehyung’s arm. Every now and then they see either Yoongi or Taehyung look at the other with the fondest expression ever. Jimin had playfully gagged as they had said their vows, wearing that same look. It was a pitiful attempt to hide the fact that he was crying.

The wedding reception is in full swing already – the ceremony being over in the blink of an eye if you ask Jimin. There’s white flowers everywhere, matching Yoongi and Taehyung’s suits.

“I don’t know,” Seokjin answers truthfully, while standing on his tippy toes trying to locate his own husband.

“Joonie, over here,” he yells, waving his hand in the air. The wedding band on his finger glints in the light.

As the night goes on, Jimin only grows more fond the drunker he gets. He’s congratulated both Yoongi and Taehyung more times than he can remember, but now they’re gone, talking to some other guest, so he can’t do it again, even though he wants to.

By now it has been a few hours since the party started, a DJ putting on music, and the wedding venue being made into a makeshift dance floor. Jimin was there with Jeongguk, but he’s disappeared, so now he’s just vibing to the music alone, drink in hand. 

It’s around midnight that Yoongi and Taehyung walk up to the DJ, causing a lull in the music. People stop dancing and look up at the couple. Jimin can feel Hoseok come up beside him. He leans a little into the well-known presence.

As Yoongi grabs the microphone, he looks straight at Jimin, which cannot possibly mean anything good. Hoseok snickers beside him.

“I think it’s time we – Taehyung and I –” he says, looking up at Taehyung, who looks back with the biggest heart eyes Jimin’s ever seen, “give a special thanks to a special person who’s here with us tonight.”

Jimin – who before was just curious – has a sinking realisation of what this may be about, contemplating running away, looking for escape routes. When Hoseok sees, he places a hand on his back. “Stay,” he mouths. Jimin grimaces, but nods.

“We want to give a special thanks to Jimin whom we think most of you guys know,” Yoongi continues, pointing down to where Jimin is standing.

“Who, by being an annoying little shit, was the cause of our first few months of dating.”

Jimin can feel a blush rise to his cheeks.

“To let everyone know the specifics, he told us we weren’t compatible,” Yoongi explains, which causes some laughter, and some surprised “what”’s. Jimin wants to disappear into thin air as dozens of eyes stare at him, but at the same time he feels the same fondness that’s been filling his chest all night threaten to bubble up and out when Yoongi smiles brightly.

“Which of course meant that we had to prove him wrong. I think today is proof of the fact that we did just that.” Jimin nods, sagely. Hoseok pats his shoulder comfortingly.

“But without him, I don’t know if I’d stand here today, being the happiest man in the whole world. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have realised that Taehyung is my person without Jimin spurring me on. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Jimin. You’ve made all this possible. I don’t know how I’ll ever properly express my gratitude for that,” Yoongi says, finishing off his impromptu speech with a soft smile in Jimin’s direction.

The music starts again, and Jimin sees Taehyung draw Yoongi closer, kissing him hard and heavy, and then whispering something, leaning his head into Yoongi’s hand on his cheek.

“Here,” Hoseok says, handing Jimin a tissue, and it’s only then that Jimin realises he’s crying again.

“I. Uh, thank you, hyung,” he says, sniffling, and blowing his nose.

Hoseok just smiles at him, his face so open, so soft that Jimin almost gets lost in his eyes.

“Jimin-ah,” he hears from behind him, and when he turns, Yoongi is standing there. His arms are open wide, and Jimin immediately runs into the hug Yoongi offers, and cries a little more. Just a little.

“You know,” Yoongi mumbles. “I meant every word I said. Thank you so much, for opening my eyes to him.” Jimin just sniffles in response, whispering a little “you’re welcome, hyung”.

They hug for a little longer, before Taehyung’s voice can be heard.

“Hey hyung, it’s my turn now.”

And then he also scoops Jimin into his arms, squeezing him. When they break apart, Taehyung has a big smile on his face.

“Hyung is right,” he says, softly. “Thank you,” he finishes before looking between Jimin and Hoseok, who’s been watching the whole exchange. A realisation of sorts is visible in his eyes.

“Uh, hyung and I should really go talk to our parents now,” he says, nodding animatedly as he tugs a confused Yoongi along with him.

“Have fun,” Taehyung yells, and throws a wink over his shoulder.

Jimin colours a little and turns back to Hoseok.

“Want to dance?” Hoseok asks, presenting his hand to Jimin.

Jimin takes it.

“Yeah hyung, I wanna dance.”