jinkook au where celebrity jungkook and his girlfriend goes to a roof top restaurant, nice and open for paparazzi to take pics of them. but when chef seokjin comes out to greet them, jungkook forgets all about the cameras and basically throws himself at seokjin.
the public have been on jungkook’s ass about his love life, which really isn’t any of their business. but at some point, the rumors were getting out of hand and he just wanted to buy himself some peace. so he asks his friend yoonji to pretend to be his girlfriend for a while.
they go on dates in very public or open spaces where they can be caught. when they get private rooms at restaurants, they make sure it’s one with a great view or a huge window so they can be spotted from outside. they hold hands and giggle with each other, talking about their crushes or upcoming events. they buy themselves expensive matching jewelry, which they think is really cute. to them, they’re just being best friends, but to the public, they seem in love.
it was easy. jungkook gets to hang out with his friend every week and no rumors will surface. he can hang out with all of his other friends too and the public won’t question him. it’s a win win. the people get what they want, and he gets to be seen in public with other humans.
… that is until they go to a famous roof top restaurant for a date. they do what they usually do: eat and chat while getting their photos taken from afar. and then the chef comes out to greet them in the middle of their meal.
“i’m seokjin, the chef and owner of this restaurant. thank you for dining here! i heard from the server that you really enjoyed the food. dessert’s on me! also, can i get an autograph? i’m a fan of your work, jungkook!”
jungkook really doesn’t know what to do with himself at that moment. he’s seen handsome men but none as handsome as the one standing in front of him now.
yoonji smiles. she knows exactly what’s going on in his head.
“jungkook would be happy to do that for you! wouldn’t he?” she kicks him hard from under the table to pull him out of his trance.
“y-yeah! sure!!” when seokjin walks away, yoonji laughs at him.
“did i just witness you falling in love at first sight or do you always have that dumb look on your face? ask him out or i will!”
“don’t tease me! i’ll ask him out… and you didn’t have to kick me that hard!”
for the rest of their time dining at the restaurant, jungkook aggressively flirts with seokjin when he comes by to check on them. jungkook has no idea how he got so bold (and cringey) but he couldn’t stop word vomiting every time seokjin came by.
“you look really good in those pants, bet you’d look good without them too.”
“the way i see it, you’re the only 10 here, everyone else is an 8.”
“has anyone ever told you that your lips are pretty? i’d kiss them if you let me.”
every time jungkook said something like that, seokjin’s ears would turn red, trying not to laugh, and then he’d glance over at jungkook’s girlfriend to see her hiding a smile behind her hand. he notices that once he leaves their table to check on other customers, jungkook would hide his face in his hands and groan, loudly. and yoonji would laugh at him. seokjin suspects that maybe… this is what they’re into? they want him as a third?
and seokjin thinks his suspicions about them are confirmed when jungkook blatantly asks him if he’s single and if he’s interested— which he is. he’s interested in jungkook at least, and hopes that doesn’t offend yoonji. he just doesn’t swing that way.
“is it okay if i kiss you? we just met, but i’m already excited to see you later.” jungkook asks as they’re leaving the restaurant.
“uh… yeah. i’d be okay with that.” seokjin smiles.
so jungkook pulls seokjin in by the waist and gives him a kiss on the cheek. seokjin makes eye contact with yoonji as this is happening and she just winks at him. then she hooks onto jungkook’s arm as they leave. maybe this isn’t a threesome situation? maybe they’re just in a very open relationship? seokjin is a little confused but he figures he can just talk to jungkook about it later whenever he calls to set up their date.
the next day, pictures of jungkook kissing seokjin in front of his girlfriend make headlines.
JUNGKOOK CHEATING ON YOONJI WITH FAMOUS CHEF SEOKJIN? FOOD IS THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART, THEY SAY.
JUNGKOOK FLIRTS WITH CHEF SEOKJIN IN FRONT OF GIRLFRIEND ALL NIGHT, SAYS A RESTAURANT PATRON.
JUNGKOOK AND YOONJI SEEN LEAVING ARM IN ARM, HAPPY. WAS IT JUST A HARMLESS KISS?
“—another patron at the restaurant came forward and claimed that he was harassing the chef all night. the chef seemed uncomfortable with his advances and—” jungkook shuts off the tv.
“this is so fucked.” he sighs.
that morning, his manager had called him and told him stay away from social media and the news, but he couldn’t help himself. he had a texts from yoonji asking if he was okay and apologizing for not being careful, to which he responded that it wasn’t her fault.
he was the one who made moves on seokjin to begin with. yoonji was just there supporting him, as any best friend would. they made plans to go on another date in a few days, but the person jungkook really wants a date with is seokjin.
oh god, is seokjin okay? it completely slipped his mind while he was worrying about himself and yoonji that seokjin is also in this situation. he calls seokjin a few times, with no luck. so he grabs his things, a mask and a cap, and goes to the roof top restaurant.
seokjin isn’t the type of check the news everyday, but when yoongi, his best friend and business partner, texts him to tell him to stay home for the week… he gets curious. maybe it was a bad idea to let jungkook kiss him in public like that. he should have been careful. especially with a world famous celebrity like jungkook. especially when they were nothing to each other. they only just met yesterday. they only spoke for 15 minutes max.
seokjin lays in bed and wonders if jungkook had just been playing with him. after all, his girlfriend was right there too. maybe all that laughter and… jungkook’s embarrassed groans… maybe he read it all wrong? why would they want him as a third? why did he think that? would jungkook even want to go out with him if he didn’t want to go out with yoonji? he didn’t even know what their relationship is like. he literally knows nothing about them.
he thinks he’s ridiculous. did he really think jungkook actually wanted to date him? he lets out a laugh of disbelief.
and over a man who literally came to your restaurant with his girlfriend for a date, you let yourself think he wanted you? he thinks.
it’s been a really long time since he’s wanted to go on a date with anyone. he’s not anti-love or anything, but after a traumatizing relationship from years ago, he‘s just being more careful with his heart and more selective with the people he surrounds himself with.
he’s been a fan of jungkook’s work for quite some time, therefore, he knows about him to some degree. so when jungkook started (badly) flirting with him, he couldn’t help but think ‘what if’ and just like that he let himself hope for more.
a spontaneous and reckless move.
and he really only has himself to blame in this situation. he should have known when he didn’t get any texts or calls after jungkook left. he wanted to think that jungkook lost the paper that he wrote his number on, but…
“stop stop stop. no self pity in this household. you are a handsome, capable, wonderful human being, kim seokjin. don’t be disappointed in yourself for believing you’re wanted by someone else.” he says to himself, as tears start to form.
that’s the thing, isn’t it? he knows he could pull anyone— in fact, there’s probably a long line of people who want to take him out on a date. he’s an attractive man with a great personality, and a famous chef on top of all that. but it took years of healing for him to come to realize that about himself. it took years for him to pick himself back up and put himself back together after hitting rock bottom with his mental health.
he’s not going to let his insecurities about some guy he only talked to for 15 minutes make him feel bad about himself. not when he worked so hard to build up his confidence. so he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand before any tears fall and gets out of bed. since he can’t go to work all week, he decides he would come up with some new special menu recipes for his restaurant.
he goes to the kitchen and puts on his apron before opening the fridge to see what he has to work with. he likes to treat the creation of special menus as though he’s in a cooking competition show where he has a limited resources.
it isn’t something he has time to do anymore. he and yoongi used to do new special menus all the time, but when the restaurant became more popular, they couldn’t keep up. he decides it would be a good idea to call yoongi to ask what his main ingredient should be.
seokjin picks up his phone to call yoongi, but gets a call from yoongi instead.
“hey hyung, jungkook came here to find you earlier, so i gave him your address. he should be at your house soon! sorry i didn’t ask first, but there’s a lot of reporters camping out here. i had to send him away quickly. i gotta go now, we’re really busy! lots of customers today, bye.”
not a single word. seokjin didn’t even get a “hey yoongi” out before the phone call ended.
before seokjin could process anything, the door bell rings. in his doorbell camera, he sees jungkook, pulling his mask down looking straight into the camera with huge eyes.
“h-hyung? can i call you that? can you let me in? is this even the right house?” jungkook whispers loudly into the mic. jungkook moves his face away from the camera and pulls out his phone to check his gps to make sure he’s at the right place.
seokjin can’t help but smile. jungkook is just so cute. this he’s always known. he opens the door to let jungkook in and is immediately pulled into a hug as soon as the door shuts.
“i’m so so sorry. i should have been more careful.” jungkook sounds like he’s about to cry.
“hey, it’s okay! no big deal. just a small little scandal that no one will care about in a few days.” seokjin says, getting a grip on jungkook’s shoulders to maybe push him off a little.
“no, i should’ve never put you in that situation. yoonji and i went there to literally get caught by paparazzi and we completely forgot we were being watched. i’m so sorry.” jungkook can feel seokjin’s hands on his shoulders, but he holds on tightly to seokjin.
he doesn’t think he’s ready to face seokjin just yet. aside from all the shit the media was saying about him, people were calling seokjin all sorts of names: home wrecker, slut, side piece, just to name a few. and it was all his fault.
“does yoonji know you’re here?” seokjin sounds nervous, like he’s afraid to ask, but has to. and it makes sense.
seokjin probably thinks jungkook and yoonji are dating.
oh. seokjin thinks jungkook and yoongi are dating…
with that realization, jungkook pushes off of seokjin, but still has his hands on his waist and looks straight at seokjin.
“we aren’t dating—i mean yes, she knows i’m here—but we aren’t dating, hyung. it’s all for show. it’s fake.”
“what?” seokjin is shocked. he’s seen so many pictures of them together on magazine covers and all over social media. it’s fake? what does that even mean?
“yoonji’s just a friend. i asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend and be seen with me a lot in public. i don’t know if you were aware but for a few years, i had dating scandals left and right with every single human i interacted with. it was unbearable! wait, if you thought i was in a relationship, then why did you agree to go out with me?”
“i… thought you wanted me to be in a throuple? i’m not against polyamory! but i’m also not interested in yoonji… so maybe you were in an open relationship…” seokjin tries his best to explain his thought process and jungkook couldn’t stop giggling.
“seokjin. i’m in love with you, by the way. is that too soon? i don’t know. i literally heard wedding bells the moment you stepped into my view.” jungkook word vomits.
oh my god jungkook shut up right now. you’re literally the worst. who the fuck tells that to someone they just met? jungkook chastises himself in his mind. jungkook body curls forward in embarrassment, forehead landing on seokjin’s chest.
a love confession already? seokjin has never met anyone as bold as jungkook. he felt his face heat up and he knew his ears must be tomato red by now. he lets out a weak laugh when jungkook’s head is on his chest, knowing that he’s feeling embarrassed like he was last night.
he’s known this man for less than an hour at this point. he clears his throat, taking jungkook’s hands from his waist, causing jungkook to look at him, clearly blushing.
“so are we going to just stand in the doorway or what?” seokjin says to lighten the atmosphere.
jungkook smiles, “ah, sorry we should go inside… you’re wearing an apron? were you going to cook?”
“yeah! i was going to come up with some new recipes for our special menu. how about you help me? i’d love to have a taste tester.”
after taste testing a few of seokjin’s new creations, they ate lunch together and talked for hours.
“i can’t believe you’re allergic to garlic! you’re a vampire aren’t you? isn’t that why you’re so pretty?”
they talked like this for hours. small things, big things. no matter what they talked about, jungkook couldn’t help but compliment seokjin every chance he gets.
“hyung, this is delicious! how hasn’t someone tried to pursue you by now. i can’t believe how lucky i am right now.” jungkook had said at some point.
it all felt so easy. jungkook really thinks he’s in love, but he tries not to say it aloud again. they’ve only been talking for a few hours. he doesn’t want to accidentally make seokjin think he’s not serious about wanting to date him. he didn’t want to scare seokjin away.
it all felt so fast—it was so fast… but seokjin let all his walls down so quickly and accepted jungkook. jungkook just had a way of making him feel comforted and comfortable. it felt safe enough to give jungkook a piece of his heart, even if jungkook didn’t know he had it. he shared the story of his insecurities of that morning when he saw the news, about how he let himself get in his own head.
and immediately, jungkook reassured him a thousand times over. “you’re the most beautiful person in the world, hyung, have you seen yourself?"
and now, after getting to know you in this short time, i’m more sure than ever that there’s nobody as great as you. i’m sorry about the news, but you’re amazing hyung. don’t read the articles.”
“don’t put me on a pedestal, jungkook. i’m only human. i can make mistakes too… but why didn’t you call me? or text me? i probably wouldn’t have thought all those things if i got a text or something!”
jungkook’s eyes go wide and he looks almost offended that seokjin was accusing him of such thing. “i did call you! i called you a few times this morning and you didn’t pick up so i went to the restaurant and your friend yoongi gave me your address, which is why i’m here!”
seokjin takes out his phone to show jungkook that he has no missed calls. “see? no missed calls from you. did you call the right number?”
jungkook takes out his phone to show seokjin that he did, in fact, call a few times. seokjin laughs, “the last number is a 1, not a 7! i dont know who you called, but it wasn’t me!”
“what?” jungkook quickly grabs his wallet from his back pocket and pulls out the piece of paper seokjin had written his number on yesterday. “hyung, how is that a 1, it looks like a 7.”
“nope that’s a 1. that’s clearly a 1.”
“no, that’s a 7, who writes their 1s like that?”
“well you have very nice handwriting… except for the 1 that’s begging to be a 7!”
they laugh about it for a while, saving each other’s actual numbers on their phones.
before they knew it, it was almost dinner time. how did time go by so fast? jungkook wants to stay longer, to have dinner with seokjin, but he promised he’d meet up with yoonji to talk about their next date and what they’d do now that jungkook has someone he really wants to date.
seokjin walks jungkook to the door and they stand there for a little while, just smiling and looking at each other.
“i wish i didn’t have to leave.” jungkook says with a hint of regret in his voice. he wish he had a clear schedule today.
“well you can always stay next time, okay? anytime you want.” seokjin smiles, reaching out to jungkook’s face, tucking away some stray strands of his hair behind his ear.
jungkook takes seokjin’s hand and presses it to his cheek. “is it okay if i kiss you hyung?”
“yeah, that’s more than okay.”
so jungkook moves seokjin’s hands from his cheek to his lips and kisses the palm of his hand. seokjin presses his lips together when jungkook doesn’t kiss him there like he expects. it makes him blush. it feels so intimate.
“you don’t have to ask me whenever you want to kiss me, you know. you could just… kiss me. anywhere, anytime.” seokjin chuckles.
jungkook smiles. seokjin really shouldn’t give him so much power. “i like hearing confirmation from you though. it feels good to hear you want me to kiss you, that you’re okay with it. but i’ll keep that in mind for next time.” jungkook slips on his shoes and leaves the house.
they spent a little over 8 hours together. they pretty much did nothing all day aside from eat and talk. before seokjin can feel the loss of jungkook’s presence, his phone rings. it’s jungkook.
“hey jungkookie, did you forget something?”
“aha… no hyung, i just wanted to talk to you a little bit more while i’m driving. is that okay? i miss you. sorry, am i too clingy? we don’t have to!”
“it’s fine! i was just about to miss you too but you didn’t give me enough time.”
they laugh. they talk about this and that for 20 minutes while jungkook is driving. it’s nice. seokjin thinks he could get used to this, talking for hours and feeling so wanted. he’s a little scared to fall, but he lets himself.
that night, he calls yoongi and tells him all about his day. all about jungkook. and yoongi is happy for him, obviously. it’s been a while since yoongi has seen seokjin so happy to have a love interest. yoongi is a realist though and he never wants to see seokjin hurt again. he tells seokjin to be careful anyway.
“don’t expect so much. just go with the flow, okay? you only just met.”
“i know yoongi… it’s just nice now that you’re not the only person i have to talk to!” seokjin jokes.
“and you will still always have me.” yoongi reminds him.
“ah yoongichi, don’t worry too much okay? i tell you everything, all the time! and i’m a grown man, i can handle it.”
“why are you calling me yoongichi all of a sudden?”
“because you’re cute, my yoongichi! okay i’ll hang up now. i’m going to sleep. don’t stay up too late!”
after hanging up, he sends a goodnight text to jungkook and puts his phone down immediately, not waiting for a reply. for the first time in his life, he doesn’t feel anxious about his feelings not being reciprocated. jungkook was so obvious about how he felt.
that night, seokjin had the best sleep he’s had in years. no dreams. no nightmares. just peaceful, uneventful sleep.
the moment jungkook gets to yoonji's house for dinner, he can't wait to leave. it's not that he doesn't want to hang out with her, he just wants to marinate in his feelings and thoughts about seokjin. jungkook tells yoonji about his day with seokjin and then completely spaces out once yoonji starts talking about how they should stage and announce their breakup.
head empty. just seokjin on his mind.
"you have it bad." yoonji laughs.
"what?" jungkook blinks, looking up to make eye contact with her.
"i said you have it bad. jeez, i didn't know someone could fall that hard for another person."
"yeah, i didn't know either. i mean, at first i just thought he was super handsome, like i've never seen anyone more beautiful than him in my life. i literally looked at him and thought 'he's the one' even though i knew nothing about him." jungkook explains.
"yeah, you made that dumb face and everything… and now?" yoonji presses for more information.
"and now i find out that he's a real human being with complex thoughts and feelings? now that i've heard his laughter and the facial expressions he makes? i just want to learn more. earlier when he was cooking, he made the cutest face of confusion when his soup didn't taste the way he expected it to. when he made these wraps and fed them to me, his face lit up when i told him they were delicious."
once jungkook starts talking about him, he can't stop. yoonji was hanging onto every single word he said, smiling and nodding at him. he's so grateful to have a friend who is so excited for him because he knows anyone else would be against him falling for someone this quickly.
"and whenever i compliment him, he gets all shy and red, but then he'll agree with so much confidence in his voice. like 'of course it's delicious, i'm famous chef kim seokjin, after all!' when he talks about his personal life, he pauses often to make sure he gets his words right. he doesn't have a single bad thing to say about anyone in his life and… he sees so much good in the people around him. it's so clear that he loves them. i want to be one of those people. and now i feel like i'm in too deep and i have this really intense infatuation with him and i'm probably already in love with this guy and i have no idea how he feels about me because he didn't say. he called me cute a bunch… and he… let me kiss him twice now…"
jungkook lets out a long sigh, folding over to lay his head on the table. he grabs one of yoonji's hands from across the table and holds it just to ground himself. he thinks if he continues to talk, he might start to overthink and doubt himself.
"and he let you stay at his house for like 8 hours and he talked to you the entire time. and then talked to you on the phone /after/ all that too." yoonji reminds him. "he likes you. and if you doubt that, then at the very least, he enjoys your company."
"you're right. i know you're right. i'll just ask him next time." jungkook releases yoonji's hand and lifts his head to see her writing something on a notepad.
"a list of things you like about him." yoonji grins.
"so that when i'm planning your wedding, like next week, i can help you write your vows." she teases him, laughing. jungkook kicks her lightly from under the table.
"we have to break up first though." jungkook reminds her.
"oh, you're ready to stop thinking about seokjin for a minute so we can work that out? great!"
"stop teasing me, i didn't come here to be bullied!" he laughs.
they decide on the narrative that they broke up after deciding they were better off as friends a month ago, so they still went out a lot together, but only as friends. they call jungkook's manager to confirm everything. their statements would be posted in the morning.
jungkook leaves yoonji's house feeling like he has to hold his breath because he has no idea how the public will react. he has no idea what the headlines will be. he drives around for a little bit with the windows down to clear his mind before heading home.
when he finally gets home, he gets a goodnight text from seokjin, which brings a smile to his face.
he texts seokjin back with:
goodnight
yoonji and i are announcing our breakup tmrw ):
can i come over?
i guess you're asleep already
text me in the morning <3
jungkook showers and gets in bed right after texting seokjin. the alternating feelings of his anxiousness about the aftermath of the announcement and his excitement for seeing seokjin again keeps him for an extra couple hours before he can finally fall asleep.
jungkook wakes up to, no exaggeration, hundreds of notifications. he overslept and woke up an hour after the time of their statement release. instead of stressing out, he immediately goes to check seokjin’s text messages and replies to him first.
good morning. ^-^
i’m home all week so you can come over any time this week.
i’m going for a morning grocery run.
if you come by just let yourself in. door code is 090393. <3
wake up! i’m making breakfast. c:
just woke up
i’ll be over asap, don’t eat without me
jungkook rushes to get ready and is out the door in 10 minutes. it takes him another 15 to get to seokjin’s house. when he gets there, he punches in the door code and is greeted by the scent of food.
“jungkook-ah! you’re here!” he can hear seokjin say from the kitchen.
jungkook finds himself frozen in the doorway. he was hit with a wave of comfort. then he feels tears rushing down his cheeks. all the stress and anxiety from the hundreds of notifications this morning caught up to him when he made it to a safe place—seokjin’s home.
“jungkook?” he hears seokjin call out again. then he hears seokjin putting a pot or a pan into the sink, the faucet running, probably from seokjin washing his hands, and then footsteps as he walks towards the doorway.
“oh my god, baby, why are you crying?” seokjin rushes over to wipe jungkook’s tears with his thumbs, which only makes jungkook cry harder. he feels safe enough to let it all out.
“h-hyung…” jungkook manages through his tears.
“shhh it’s okay. come on, take off your shoes, let’s go inside.”
seokjin sits down on the couch and pulls jungkook into his lap and holds him. he continues to thumb away jungkook’s tears as they fall, rubs his back, and kisses his face. it was all so comforting. they’re pretty much the same height, but jungkook feels so small in this moment, being held by seokjin, sitting in his lap.
“it’s okay baby. you’re okay. who made my pretty baby cry, hm?” he could hear seokjin say between face kisses.
some might think that he’d have thicker skin after being a celebrity for so long, but things still get to him. there’s a lot of things he can ignore, but on days where he gets hundreds of notifications, he gets overwhelmed. it’s a wonder how his phone hasn’t exploded yet.
he wishes the world would stay out of his personal life and focus on his work. it makes him wonder if all the work he’s done was for nothing. what’s the point of coming up with amazing content if all people care about is who he’s dating and what he’s doing in his free time? which he knows isn’t true. he knows he has lots of adoring fans who love him for the content he’s put out, the movies he’s directed and/or starred in, the music he makes. he wishes he could block it all out and only focus on that.
it takes him around 20 minutes to calm down, an all time record for him. usually when he’s stressed, he’ll cry for at least an hour. after he calms down, he chooses to remain in seokjin’s lap, head resting on seokjin’s shoulders.
seokjin’s fingers comb through the hair on the nape of his neck.
“hyung?” jungkook finally says.
seokjin hums in response.
“of course i do. i more than like you. you’re so easy to love, jungkook. is that what this is about?” seokjin replies softly.
seokjin doesn’t say anything. he just chuckles in response. jungkook can feel the vibrations coming from seokjin’s chest and neck as he chuckles.
“i liked it when you called me your baby. i like being yours.”
“you have no idea what it’s like to be mine.”
“can i find out?” jungkook says as he lifts his head to face seokjin. “i want to be yours. i want you to be mine. i know it’s only been… 2… 3 days now. but why waste time when i already know how i feel?”
“what are you saying right now?” seokjin says, brushing jungkook’s hair out of his face.
“i’m saying… do you believe in love at first sight, hyung? that’s how i feel about you. i feel so in love with you already. i’m not love bombing you. i have real serious feelings for you. i’m saying you called me ‘baby’ and i want to keep hearing it from you. i’m saying you let me cry in your lap and didn’t complain… you comforted me. you made—make me feel safe. i’m saying you kissed me, all over my face, and i want more, if you’ll give it to me. i’m saying be my boyfriend, seokjin. please be with me?”
“i’ve really never met anyone as bold as you, jeon jungkook.” seokjin lets out a weak laugh, blushing.
“yes, anytime you want. i’m yours.” seokjin smiles.
so jungkook grabs seokjin by the face and kisses his forehead, then his nose, then his lips. they stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, hearts beating loudly and in sync, a little out of breath from their emotions.
seokjin bites his lips and breaks their comfortable silence. “come on, our food is probably cold by now, i’ll go heat it up.”
before jungkook can move off of seokjin, he’s pulled into another kiss, causing him to giggle. “you’re so cute, baby.”
then seokjin stands up, still holding onto jungkook, effectively carrying him. jungkook quickly wraps his legs around his waist like a koala and is carried to a dining table chair. when seokjin lets him down, he adds a kiss to the top jungkook’s head and goes to the kitchen.
jungkook can safely say that he has never felt more loved and cared for by another person than he feels it with seokjin in the past few days he’s known him. while he waits, he scrolls through his phone notifications. he figures this is as good a time as any to check them.
all this friends sent him messages to check in on him, his manager texted him to stay off of social media, lay low, don’t even leave the house (oops, jungkook thinks), and yoonji sent him 17 cat videos along with a text that read:
watch these, not the news!
he decides those are the only notifications worth checking for now and leaves the rest for later.
“everything okay?” seokjin asks, as he sets down their food on the table and takes a seat across from jungkook.
“yeah,” jungkook smiles, “never better, actually.”
“thanks for letting me stay hyung!” jungkook happily says.
after breakfast, they checked the news and then played games, talked, cooked lunch, pretended they were in an episode of master chef… the day went by quickly and it was fun.
jungkook got a call from his manager saying that there were reporters camping outside his neighborhood, waiting for him to come out. except he wasn’t home. so with a sigh of relief, his manager said they would look into safer housing and told him to stay where he was. and if he couldn’t stay, then he should find a friend to crash with for the next few days. so obviously jungkook looks to seokjin and asks him. and obviously seokjin lets him.
jungkook lays on seokjin’s lap, loving the feeling of seokjin’s hands running through his hair, as they’re on the couch watching tv before dinner. seokjin is a lot more physically affectionate than jungkook had initially thought.
yesterday, despite all the flirting and talking for 8 hours, seokjin barely touched him. the most he did was feed him with his own two hands, but jungkook thinks that might be because he’s a chef. he did let jungkook kiss him though, so it’s not like he’s uncomfortable with it.
seokjin was right, jungkook had no idea what it’s like to be his. now that he’s getting an idea, he loves it. seokjin was always touching jungkook, whether it was just brushing shoulders, keeping a hand on jungkook’s thigh while sitting, massaging his neck, or holding hands. he also kisses jungkook a lot. just little casual kisses, kisses to fill pauses in their conversation, victory kisses when he wins a game… jungkook loves it. he’s been kissed so many times today and yet he still wants more.
it feels like they’ve been together for longer than just a few hours. jungkook walks around the house comfortably, as if he’s lived there with seokjin for years. it’s odd. it’s nice.
it’s probably because people usually spend short amounts of time together and slowly get to know each other throughout weeks or months, but they have been in each other presence for this huge block of time and they talked with each other for almost all of it. it also helps that jungkook was immediately taken by seokjin the moment he laid eyes on him. and it helps that seokjin thinks jungkook is so easy to love.
and it’s theirs. their relationship. their affection. their happiness. their comfort.
jungkook is dozing off on seokjin’s lap, almost fully asleep, when he heard the beeping of someone putting in the door code and opening the door. then he hears some foot steps walking towards him and seokjin.
“is he…?” he hears someone speak softly, in a low voice.
“jungkook? baby? can i get up?” he hears seokjin whisper into his ears. he sits up, blinking away his sleepiness. the couch shifts as seokjin gets up. seokjin leaves a kiss on his head before he goes.
when jungkook fully wakes up, he looks up to see yoongi setting up the table. he walks over to offer his help.
“hey jungkook, i brought some dinner. hyung’s in the bathroom.” yoongi says.
jungkook nods. he feels a little awkward since he doesn’t really know him. he only met yoongi for like a minute yesterday when he went to the restaurant, but yoongi’s speaking to him so casually.
“wait, how did you know i was here?” jungkook questions.
“nothing gets past me when it comes to seokjin,” yoongi makes eye contact with jungkook, “nothing.”
is he… threatening me? that sounded like a threat. jungkook thinks to himself, panicked.
yoongi chuckles, seeing the panic in jungkook’s eyes. “he texted me earlier, said you were staying over for a few days. don’t look so worried, i mean i wouldn’t be worried if i haven’t done anything wrong.” yoongi smirks.
“but if you do,” he continues, “i’ll be the first to know.”
“right… got it.” jungkook says.
realistically, jungkook knows that yoongi can’t actually do anything to hurt him. he doesn’t know his number or where he lives… and what is he going to do to a celebrity like jungkook? but admittedly, jungkook is terrified of yoongi at this point. this man is running a whole restaurant by himself to cover for seokjin because of a scandal that /he/ caused. what does yoongi think of him? does yoongi even approve of him dating seokjin?
he’s realizing really quickly that this is the same man seokjin has told him about for hours. in fact, he’s one of the only people that seokjin tells lots of stories about. the best friend. the business partner. the eternal roommate. the platonic soulmate.
this is the man seokjin says is adorable and kitten-like. which makes him question seokjin. how is he so powerful that he tamed a man like yoongi to be his best friend. how did he not die in the process? yoongi has the aura of a final boss in a video game.
jungkook has to win him over if he plans on being with seokjin for a long time. this is the man who’s birthday is seokjin’s door code, for crying out loud. he inhales. then exhales. and he’s about to attempt to talk to yoongi again when seokjin comes out of the bathroom.
“jungkook, you’re alive! why do you look like that? did yoongichi say something to you?” seokjin says, smiling.
“stop calling me that.” yoongi replies loudly, sounding a bit whiny and annoyed, but he’s smiling and looks a little flustered.
“never, my yoongichi is so cute and deserves the cutest nickname. don’t you agree jungkookie?” seokjin’s voice sounds a bit higher pitched now, clearly teasing yoongi.
jungkook can only reply with giggles.
he finds it amusing that just a second ago, yoongi seemed so scary to him, but in the presence of seokjin, he became so… cute. louder, whinier. a whole different person. his whole aura has changed.
the power seokjin holds and he doesn’t even know it. jungkook thinks.
during dinner, jungkook observes a few things about the pair.
1. they really love each other. like they clearly do. and jungkook would be jealous if he didn’t know anything about yoongi and their friendship, but he does because seokjin talked about him so much.
2. yoongi brings out seokjin’s cuteness. not that seokjin isn’t naturally always cute already, but in the name of annoying and teasing yoongi, seokjin will purposefully act cute. yoongi will cringe 100% of the time, but he (not so) secretly likes it.
3. seokjin brings out yoongi’s inner child. when jungkook interacts with yoongi, he’s more quiet, speaks a bit more matter-of-fact. but with seokjin, he’s loud, whiny, playful. he jokes around with seokjin. jungkook can only hope that he can get to that level with yoongi.
4. even when yoongi verbally denies seokjin of something, he does it anyway. like when seokjin tried to feed him, yoongi told him to stop, but opened his mouth to receive the food anyway. seokjin can pretty much get away with anything when it comes to yoongi.
jungkook wants to know what yoongi thinks of him. he just doesn’t know when a good time to ask is. as they’re having dinner, he notices that yoongi starts to joke around with him a little bit too, which makes him feel better.
when yoongi leaves, jungkook feels a bit of relief. he finally has some time to collect his thoughts and maybe plan what he might say to yoongi next time.
jungkook is honestly ready to turn in for the night. they just had dinner, but he’s emotionally exhausted from earlier today and he just wants to rest. but before he can do that, he has to get ready for bed. he didn’t have any of his things with him though, since he didn’t intend on sleeping at seokjin’s. so seokjin leaves him alone in the house while he goes to the store to buy some basics.
jungkook explores the house in areas he hasn’t explored. they’re mostly spent all their time together in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. the house is so big and there’s a lot of it he hasn’t seen.
he likes how spacious it is in the house, but it feels cozy due to how seokjin decorated it. it has a modern feel, but with cute colors and plushies thrown into the mix.
for example, seokjin’s kitchen is huge, modern, and sleek, but all the cabinets are pastel pink. he has kitchen towels with cute characters on them. it helps his very modern house feel less cold, more cozy, but still spacious. there seems to be 3 spare rooms on this floor, one of which belongs to yoongi, since he crashes here all the time. there’s an upstairs area that jungkook is too nervous to explore without seokjin. he knows the upstairs area is mostly seokjin’s, like his office and bedroom.
he wonders if seokjin will let him sleep with him in his room tonight or if he’ll get given his own room. on one hand, it would be nice to sleep with seokjin and wake up to him. they could cuddle all night and he thinks that would be a huge comfort for him. on the other hand, he doesn’t know if his heart can take it. falling asleep on seokjin’s lap on the couch is one thing, but sleeping together on the same bed? jungkook has never slept in anyone else’s bed with them before.
he’s never really dated anyone seriously like this before. jungkook is a hopeless romantic. he always believed that he would meet /the one/ and fall in love with them instantly like in all the romance movies and novels. and he did. at least that’s how he feels about seokjin. no one ever felt just right for him, so he never got into any relationships. on top of that, he’s a celebrity who’s constantly in the public eye. he wouldn’t put anyone through the whole process of dating him if he wasn’t serious about them.
after some time, seokjin finally comes back.
“I’m home! i just picked up a toothbrush and some underwear and socks for you. you can wear my clothes, is that okay?”
“that’s okay with me.” jungkook confirms. “so… where am i sleeping?”
seokjin looks a little shocked, and then laughs a little, rubbing the nape of his neck. “oh, sorry… i don’t know why i assumed you would just be sleeping with me in my bed. do you want your own room? you can take any of the downstairs ones if you want.”
“no! i want to… with you… in your room… sleep… please?” jungkook can’t even form a full sentence because he’s never asked to sleep with anyone before. it’s new and he feels shy about it. his request makes seokjin grin, pulling him closer to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“you can sleep wherever you want, okay? don’t feel pressured. but my room is open to you, if you want.”
“i do want.” jungkook replies, a little too quickly.
“okay then. come on, i’ll show you how the shower works.”
seokjin holds one of jungkook’s hands and they head up the stairs. for the first time since jungkook has known seokjin, he feels extremely nervous. a nervousness caused by being near seokjin.
this is all new for him. this is something he’s never felt before. this is something he never anticipated he would feel. but it’s a good nervous and he can’t wait to overcome it.
as tired as he is, jungkook can’t seem to fall asleep. he lays in seokjin’s bed by himself while seokjin is showering. he closes his eyes, only to open them again a few minutes later. he tosses and turns, not because the bed is uncomfortable, but because he’s so nervous.
jungkook doesn’t even know if seokjin will be joining him right after his shower, because it was still early in the night, only 9 pm. he wishes his tiredness and emotional exhaustion would take over his feelings of nervousness, but they don’t.
when seokjin comes out of the bathroom, he shuts his eyes, pretending to sleep. he doesn’t know why he does it. what’s the point? a few moments pass, he hears seokjin walk over to his side of the bed. he feels the lightest touch on his hair, causing him to open his eyes.
“sorry baby, did i wake you?” seokjin questions in a low, quiet voice.
“no, i couldn’t sleep anyway.”
“are you uncomfortable? is it the bed? your pajamas? i could get you different ones.” seokjin offers, taking a seat on the bed, running his fingers through jungkook’s hair.
“no, everything’s great. very comfy. i’m just a little nervous. i’ve never- this is- it’s just-” jungkook just can’t find the words. he doesn’t think seokjin will judge him, but he just can’t get himself to admit it out loud.
“like i said earlier, you don’t have to-”
“i want to.” jungkook cuts in.
“and that’s okay too, if you need something, just let me know okay? i’ll be in my office for a bit to do some work, right next door. i’ll join you when i’m done.”
seokjin leans down to plant a kiss on jungkook’s lips. jungkook tries to chase seokjin’s lips with his own, but seokjin only offered a short peck, before he’s up and out of the room.
jungkook immediately feels the absence of seokjin. earlier, he could at least hear him showering, but now it was too quiet. he should be used to it since he lives alone, but he can’t help but feel lonely. he already misses seokjin and they’re in the same house.
it only takes a couple minutes before jungkook gets out of bed to go to seokjin’s office room. the door was wide open, so he quietly let himself in. seokjin doesn’t seem to notice, so he takes a seat in an armchair, just watching seokjin focus on his work. jungkook dozes off in the armchair, feeling less nervous than he did in bed.
about 45 minutes later, he’s wakes up to the sound of seokjin screaming in surprise.
“AISH JUNGKOOK! oh my god i thought i saw a ghost. how long have you been in here? at least make some noise if you’re going to be in the same room as me at night. are you trying to scare the life out of me? i thought i was alone!” seokjin’s words fly out so fast and aggressively.
it’s the first time jungkook has seen this type of reaction from seokjin. sometimes he’ll scream from surprise, but quickly recover with laughter. this was new.
it makes jungkook laugh. “i’m so sorry hyung, i didn’t want to disturb you.” he says through his laughter.
“YAH! there’s nothing funny about scaring the life out of me okay? i nearly had a heart attack. i could have died!” seokjin says, hand over his chest. then he starts to laugh too. seokjin stomps over to jungkook and starts to tickle him.
“you think you’re so cute huh? you think i’ll forgive you for scaring me like this?”
“i’m sorry! i’m sorry! hyung please!” jungkook laughs harder than he did before.
seokjin stops, standing up straight, hands on his hips. he was laughing, but immediately makes a serious face.
“that’ll teach you not to laugh at me while i’m suffering! who knew i was dating a brat.”
jungkook recovers from laughing, just enough to reply. “and this will teach you that i’ll always give you what you give me in return!”
jungkook stands up and immediately goes to tickle seokjin back. seokjin starts running out the door and into the bedroom, escaping to his bed.
jungkook chases right after him, climbing onto the bed, on top of seokjin, to tickle him more. they’re playing with each other like kids, having fun, not caring how loudly they laugh. it’s not something jungkook thought he could have in a relationship as a full grown adult.
after a few minutes of this, seokjin pulls jungkook into a hug, stopping jungkook from tickling him. jungkook lays on top of seokjin like this for a few minutes, catching his breath. then seokjin shifts his body to sit upright and jungkook shifts to sit facing him in his lap. they smile looking at each other, bodies close, still breathless from all the laughter.
“i really think i love you.”
“yeah, hyung. i do. do you think you love me?”
seokjin just smiles at him. not answering, for the second time today.
“you said i’m easy to love.”
“i can work with that. this is just day one. we have plenty of days ahead of us.”
“we do, i look forward to them all.”
jungkook leans in close enough to feel seokjin’s breath. “can i, please?”
that night, they kiss, tongues dancing on each other, moaning each other’s names. painting a beautiful memory to save in the archive of their love.
needless to say, jungkook overcomes his nervousness that night, having the best sleep of his life next to the man he loves, who loves him back. this is their day one out of infinity.
4 months later, jungkook finally moved in with seokjin. to be honest, he never really left since that first week he stayed over. he was at seokjin’s more than his own house.
they still haven’t officially announced their relationship to the public, but they’re not exactly hiding it either. they’re just enjoying their time together, whether or not they’re caught by cameras.
since jungkook and yoonji’s “breakup” announcement, people have been less invested in his love life. they still went out and would have their pictures taken by paparazzi, but since they weren’t dating and made it clear that they were only friends, people lost interest.
what this meant was that jungkook could hang out with seokjin and people would just assume that they were also just friends. no crazy headlines. no mess. no drama. they held hands, shared food and drinks, sometimes even kissed on the cheek in public. even with these displays of affection, no one jumped the gun to assume he was in a relationship with seokjin just because he held hands with him. it was so freeing for him.
seokjin’s restaurant had a huge spike in customers and popularity after he became very publicly “friends” with jungkook. jungkook’s fans often came by to get a glimpse of the man jungkook kissed in public months ago that caused headlines.
many modeling and entertainment agencies reached out to seokjin due to his good looks, but seokjin remained faithful to his love of cooking and running a restaurant with yoongi. they hired more help in the kitchen to keep up with the demand.
their rooftop restaurant was quickly becoming a reservation only place due to the high demand. with the help of more chefs, seokjin and yoongi actually started to make cooking videos together online, teaching others how to cook their recipes. they figured that not everyone could come to their restaurant, so they should share all their secrets. they knew there was a slight risk, but they also knew that most people at home were too lazy to make it anyway. and they would still always have customers at their restaurant.
tonight is jungkook’s movie premiere. it’s a movie he had filmed over half a year ago and it’s finally being released. he thinks there’s no better time to announce their relationship. and maybe even something more.
seokjin and yoongi leave the restaurant in the hands of their employees for the day to attend jungkook’s premiere with him. of course, yoonji would be there too. the four of them became quite close over these past few months.
jungkook may be the star of the movie, but seokjin seems to be the star on the red carpet. the people and the cameras love him. this is where jungkook seizes the opportunity.
yoonji and yoongi stand off to the side while reporters are picked to ask jungkook questions. jungkook has seokjin by the arm so seokjin couldn’t move to the side along with his friends. instead, he stands in the spotlight with his boyfriend as questions are being asked.
“what are you wearing tonight jungkook?” a reporter asks.
“ah, this is a one of a kind suit a famous foreign designer made for me! i had it made as soon as we wrapped up filming for this movie. this is a special film and definitely deserves a special suit!”
seokjin stands beside his boyfriend, amazed by how charming he is in front of all these cameras. it’s no wonder he’s so famous and adored by many. he’s one of jungkook’s fans too, after all.
“and chef seokjin? what are you wearing tonight?”
“oh me? i have no idea! jungkook gave me this suit and told me to wear and and come to the premiere with him. so here i am!” he smiles, looking over at jungkook.
“my boyfriend is wearing a suit by the same designer. they match each other, just different colors, as you can see! i had it made for him recently.” jungkook says, smiling wide, as he holds seokjin’s hands and takes a step back for the cameras to see their matching suits.
immediately, the sound of camera shutters and flashing lights becomes more intense. reporters start to yell out their questions, not waiting for their turn.
jungkook laughs, “i actually will not be taking anymore questions, but…” he looks over at seokjin, who’s looking over at him nervously, shocked that jungkook just announced their relationship like that, so casually. “will you take one more question seokjin?”
“uh, yeah… sure?” seokjin looks over to the reporters to see everyone’s hands up. then he looks back at jungkook to see that jungkook also has his hand up to ask a question.
“jungkook?” jungkook gives seokjin a huge smile, and gets on one knee, pulling out a ring.
in this moment, seokjin couldn’t see or hear anyone else.
“i was wondering if you’d wear this too?”
“what are you saying right now?” seokjin says as he also gets on his knees to be on the same level as jungkook.
“i’m saying i fell in love with you at first sight and that feeling never went away and will never go away. i’m saying i still hear wedding bells and i want that to be our reality and not just something in my head. i’m saying i want to spend the rest of my life with you. i’m saying… why waste anymore time when i already know how i feel? i love you. be mine. be my husband. please?”
seokjin stares at jungkook, tears threatening to leave his eyes.
“jeon jungkook, i’ve never met anyone as bold as you.” he says, smiling.
“of course it’s a yes! i love you, jungkook.”
immediately jungkook starts to cry. “that’s the first time you’ve ever told me you love me!”
“what? there’s no way. i love you so much. how could i not have said it at least one other time?”
“you show me you love me in so many ways but this is the first time you’ve said it!”
“it’s okay hyung, i love you.” jungkook slips the ring onto seokjin’s finger. “can i kiss you hyung?”
instead of answering, seokjin leans in to kiss jungkook. in front of all the lights and cameras on the red carpet of jungkook’s movie premiere.
