he fell first
pairing: jungkook x f!reader
genre: friends to lovers, soft romance, comfort
word count: 2.3k
summary: a late night convenience store run turns into jungkook realizing he’s been in love with you for much longer than he thought.
note: hope you enjoy! also i need more ideas on what/who to write next so feel free to send me tropes or scenarios hehe ♡
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The convenience store near your apartment is quiet when you walk in.
Not empty, but close to it. Just quiet enough that the low hum of the refrigerators fills most of the silence while the bright ceiling lights make everything feel softer somehow.
You wander around for a minute before hearing the familiar chime of the store door opening behind you.
“You came fast,” you say, glancing over your shoulder.
Jungkook pulls his hood down slightly after stepping inside, dark hair falling messily across his forehead from the wind outside.
“You sounded serious.”
A laugh leaves you quietly. “I said I needed snacks.”
“Mhm.” He grabs a basket near the drinks section. “That’s usually serious.”
You shake your head, already walking further into the store while he falls into step beside you naturally.
“You always come here this late?” he asks.
“Only during personal crises.”
His eyes flick toward you immediately. “That serious?”
“I had to answer six emails today that all could’ve been one sentence.”
A quiet laugh leaves him, head dropping briefly.
“Yeah, okay,” he says. “That’s fair.”
You smile a little before you can stop yourself.
Today really had been exhausting from the second you woke up. Too many notifications. Too many conversations. Too much everything. By the time you got home, your apartment felt weirdly quiet in the kind of way that only makes your thoughts louder.
So you texted Jungkook.
Which probably said enough on its own.
He doesn’t ask too many questions after that. Just follows beside you while you wander slowly through the aisles, occasionally grabbing random things off shelves and dropping them into the basket.
Banana milk.
Peach gummies.
Honey butter chips.
Then he stops in front of the ramen shelf, staring at the different flavors with unnecessary concentration like this is somehow a life decision.
You glance over at him, hair falling into his eyes beneath the hood of his sweatshirt.
“You’re taking instant noodles weirdly seriously right now.”
Jungkook stares at the shelves for another second before replying thoughtfully, “Choosing wrong and being disappointed for the next ten minutes would actually ruin my night.”
“That’s deeply concerning.”
“It’s called standards.”
You snort softly, and Jungkook glances over immediately at the sound like he likes hearing it more than he should.
And maybe that’s why your chest suddenly feels tight.
Because lately, moments with him have started lingering longer than they used to.
It’s such a small thing.
But lately, your friendship seems built from small things.
The way Jungkook automatically reaches for the peach gummies you like before you even ask.
The way he remembers you hate taking medicine unless you absolutely have to, so he always brings juice with it.
The way he slows down slightly whenever the two of you walk somewhere together because he knows you get annoyed when people walk too fast.
None of it should mean anything.
Which is maybe why it means too much.
You end up talking more while wandering the aisles after that.
Just random things that somehow keep the two of you standing there longer than necessary.
A movie neither of you finished because Jungkook fell asleep halfway through it last week. The fact he still refuses to admit he snores. Whether banana milk is actually good or just emotionally comforting at this point.
“You literally denied being tired for two hours,” you remind him.
“I wasn’t tired.”
“You were snoring.”
“I do not snore.”
“You do actually. A little.”
Jungkook looks genuinely offended.
“You could’ve lied.”
“I considered it.”
“That’s evil.”
You grin softly. “You’ll survive.”
His mouth twitches slightly at the corners before his expression softens again.
“You’re in a better mood now.”
The comment catches you off guard a little.
Not because he said it.
Because he noticed.
Again.
And suddenly you become painfully aware of how naturally Jungkook pays attention to you. Like it isn’t effort for him. Like caring comes as easily as breathing.
The way he notices when your smile starts looking forced before anyone else does.
The way he already knows you’re overwhelmed whenever you start picking at your sleeves absentmindedly.
The way he always reaches to take things out of your hands before you even ask him to.
Small things.
Except somehow, with Jungkook, they never feel small.
“Yeah,” you admit quietly. “I am.”
Something warm flashes briefly across his expression at that.
Not smug.
Not teasing.
Just pleased.
Like he’s genuinely happy he managed to make your day feel a little lighter.
Jungkook pays for the snacks before you can argue about splitting it, grabbing the plastic bag from the counter while you mutter a quiet complaint under your breath that he completely ignores.
Then the two of you head back outside together.
The cold hits immediately.
You barely have time to react before Jungkook reaches over and tugs the sleeve of your hoodie down over your hand absentmindedly.
“Your hands are freezing,” he mutters.
The movement is so casual it almost feels practiced.
Your heart stumbles embarrassingly hard in your chest.
Jungkook seems to realize what he did a second later because his hand stills briefly around your wrist before he lets go.
Neither of you speak for a moment afterward.
Cars pass slowly down the street nearby, headlights sliding across the pavement in soft streaks of white and gold.
And for the first time tonight, Jungkook goes strangely quiet beside you.
Not awkward quiet.
Thinking quiet.
You glance at him while the two of you wait for the crosswalk light to change.
“What?” you ask finally.
“Hm?”
“You’re doing the thing.”
A faint smile pulls at his mouth. “What thing?”
“The overthinking thing.”
He lets out a soft breath through his nose, looking down briefly at the plastic bag swinging lightly from his hand.
“You know me too well.”
The words come out quieter than expected.
Something about the way he says it makes your stomach twist softly.
Because it doesn’t sound like a complaint.
It sounds like realization.
The walk back to your apartment is slower than usual after that.
Not because either of you says much.
Mostly because neither of you seems in a hurry for the night to end.
The city feels softer this late. Streetlights glowing against the sidewalks. Quiet conversations drifting out from restaurants that haven’t closed yet. Cold air leaving a faint sting against your cheeks.
Jungkook walks close enough beside you that your shoulders bump occasionally.
Neither of you move away when it happens.
By the time you reach your apartment building, your fingers are cold again despite being shoved deep into your sleeves.
Jungkook notices immediately.
Of course he does.
Without saying anything, he switches the convenience store bag to his other hand before gently wrapping his fingers around your wrist for a second, tugging you a little closer to his side away from the wind cutting down the street corner.
The gesture feels terrifyingly natural.
Like he’s done it a hundred times before.
Maybe he has.
Your chest feels strangely tight by the time the elevator doors close behind the two of you.
The ride upstairs is quiet.
Not uncomfortable.
Just full.
Like something is sitting between the two of you now neither of you knows how to name yet.
The apartment door clicks shut softly behind you once you step inside.
Warmth immediately settles around your skin again after the cold outside.
You slip your shoes off near the entrance while Jungkook sets the convenience store bag down on the kitchen counter.
“You know,” you say casually, “you really didn’t have to come all the way out just because I wanted snacks.”
“I know.”
His answer comes too quickly.
You glance back at him.
Jungkook’s standing there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie again, watching you with an unreadable expression.
Then he says quietly:
“But I wanted to.”
The air changes a little.
Subtle.
But enough that you feel it immediately.
Your heartbeat suddenly feels too loud in the silence.
Jungkook notices too apparently, because he runs one hand back through his hair before looking away briefly with a quiet laugh under his breath.
“I think I’m realizing something kind of embarrassing right now.”
Your stomach flips.
“What?”
He looks at you again then.
And this time there’s no teasing left in his expression at all.
Just honesty.
Soft and startled and terrifyingly real.
“I don’t think normal friends leave their apartment at midnight just because someone said they had a bad day and wanted snacks”
You stare at him.
Jungkook huffs another quiet laugh, almost disbelieving at himself now.
“And I don’t think normal friends do this either,” he says softly, glancing at you for a second before looking away again. “The way I am with you.”
Your chest tightens instantly.
Because he doesn’t elaborate.
Doesn’t need to.
The late-night calls.
The showing up without being asked twice.
The instinctive touches.
The way he notices everything.
Like somewhere along the way, caring about you stopped being something he thought about and just became part of him naturally.
Jungkook runs one hand slowly through his hair, laughing quietly under his breath again like he still can’t fully believe his own realization.
“I think I fell in love with you before I even noticed I was doing it.”
The room goes completely still.
You don’t even realize you’re smiling until Jungkook’s eyes flick down toward your mouth for half a second.
Almost shyly.
Which somehow makes this feel even more real.
“You know,” you say softly, stepping a little closer to him, “you’re actually kind of late to that realization.”
His eyebrows lift slightly. “Oh?”
You nod once.
“Yeah.” Your fingers brush lightly against the sleeve of his hoodie. “I think I noticed before you did.”
For a second, Jungkook just stares at you.
Then he laughs quietly, the sound warm and disbelieving all over again as one hand comes up to cover part of his face.
“That’s so embarrassing for me.”
You laugh too this time, the sound softer than before.
“Little bit.”
“Wow.”
“But kinda cute.”
Jungkook drops his hand slowly, eyes still fixed on you.
And something shifts again.
Gentler this time.
Like the two of you finally stopped pretending not to see something that had been there all along.
“You know what the worst part is?” he says quietly.
“What?”
“I genuinely thought I was being subtle.”
You actually laugh at that.
“Jungkook, you literally show up at my apartment with medicine and snacks whenever I have a bad day.”
“That could mean anything.”
“It absolutely could not.”
A grin finally breaks properly across his face then, soft and boyish and unfairly pretty.
And suddenly you understand why people write love stories at all.
Because sometimes it really is this simple.
Not huge dramatic moments.
Not fireworks.
Just someone who knows how you take your coffee and notices when your hands are cold.
Someone who shows up.
Someone who stays.
Jungkook steps closer then, close enough now that you can feel warmth radiating from him after standing outside in the cold.
“Can I do something?” he asks quietly.
Your heartbeat stutters a little. “Depends.”
A tiny smile tugs at his mouth.
“Can I kiss you?”
The question settles softly into the space between you.
Gentle.
Patient.
Very him.
And maybe that’s what finally does it.
Not the confession.
Not the realization.
Just the fact he’s looking at you like this even now, careful with your feelings like they’re something precious to him.
You nod once.
Jungkook kisses you carefully at first.
Like he’s still trying to figure out if this is real.
Warm hands brushing lightly against your waist. Soft breath mixing with yours. The familiar scent of laundry detergent and cold night air still clinging faintly to his hoodie.
And somehow, even this feels like something the two of you have been slowly making your way toward for a long time now.
When he pulls back slightly, his forehead rests briefly against yours.
A quiet laugh escapes him.
“I can’t believe you knew before me.”
You smile, fingers curling lightly into the sleeve of his hoodie.
“You’re not always as subtle as you think you are.”
Jungkook groans softly. “This is gonna keep me awake tonight.”
“Good.”
He looks at you for another second before smiling again.
Soft.
Fond.
Entirely gone for you.
And honestly?
You think maybe he has been for a while.