@hyungieyoongi WHAT IS THIS, I CANT BREATHE-

@hyungieyoongi WHAT IS THIS, I CAN’T BREATHE-

BEOMGYU ⚔ LEGEND OF K-POP

I don’t know if Beomgyu is my niche, or what…but thanks to everyone that’s read this little NYE fic! More than 100 notes in less than 3 days 🤩

Message in a Bottle

-Pairing: Beomgyu x reader

-Words: 4.8k

-Rating/Warnings: SFW, non-idol AU, rock band AU, best friends to lovers, mentions of drinking, mild cursing, fluff, angst

-Author's Note: This Taylor Swift song has been begging me to write a fic, so here we are! Beomgyu just won't leave me alone these days, so here's a New Year's Eve fic centered around the one and only Mr. Choi. Enjoy!

------------------------------

“For the fancy lady with the new job.”

You roll your eyes as your best friend exits the ice cream shop in front of you, gloved hands clutching two soft serves as he smiles at you. Eye roll aside, you take the strawberry confection out of his hands. Though it makes next to no sense in the dead of winter, a hallmark of your friendship with Beomgyu is getting ice cream together, no matter how the weather protests.

“I’m not fancy,” you finally say around a mouthful of ice cream. Beomgyu simply shakes his head, rolling his eyes back at you.

“Okay, whatever you say. Just a new job then, in a nice building downtown, with a pay raise. Not fancy at all.” He grins goofily across his cone to you as you give in and laugh. “But seriously…how do you feel about starting a new job right before the new year?” Concern laces his features-he knows that you’ve been searching for a new job for a while, but he also knows how change makes your stomach churn, which is exactly what it starts doing when you reply.

“I’m nervous. Excited, but nervous. What if everyone thinks I’m incompetent? Or just doesn’t like me?” You scuff your boot against the sidewalk, back and forth.

“Well one, you’re not incompetent because you wouldn’t have gotten the job if you were, so there’s that off the table. And if they don’t like you? I’ll come kick their asses.”

You know he’s joking, but as you look up at Beomgyu, you can’t help but notice a hint of steel behind his usual mischievousness.

“You couldn’t kick anyone’s ass if you tried,” you retort, swatting your arm towards him. You’re surprised when he catches your wrist in a tight, strong grip, the veins in his forearm standing out a little when he takes a step closer to you.

“Don’t forget I’ve been working out lately…don’t try me, or I’ll kick your ass.”

You stick your tongue out in response, which leads him to pick you up and sling you over his shoulder. You squeak out a gasp, and immediately start pounding on his back, demanding he put you down. He cackles, and doesn’t comply until he’s dropping you off at your apartment doorstep a block down from the ice cream shop.

“I told you, don’t try me. Have a great first day of work at your new job tomorrow!”

He’s gone before you can even respond.

—------------------------------

The first week and a half of your new job goes by in a blur. You’re learning new systems, new coworkers’ names, and just generally it feels like an overload of information. Even with everything happening with a learning curve, you don’t feel incompetent, and you feel well-liked to your pleasant surprise. However, what you didn’t expect was your boss to tell you about the company’s New Years’ Eve party…and how excited he was to see you and your plus one there in a few days’ time.

You don’t have a plus one.

Unless…?

“So how’s the new job going? Tell me all the juicy gossip, I want to know everything!” Beomgyu shouts into the phone over the noise of wherever he’s at.

“There’s nothing that juicy to tell, promise. I’m still learning everything, it’s been fun though. So far, so good!” You can’t help smiling as you talk, the giddy energy from your job change still coursing through you. There's silence before you continue.

“But…”

“But what? Do I need to kick someone’s ass? I told you I would,” he laughs.

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just…the company has this fancy New Years Eve party in a couple of days…”

“...so? Sounds like a good time.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But, my boss just told me about it yesterday. And he’s expecting me to bring a plus one, everyone is.”

“Okay, so ask that dude from your last job that you liked. Soobin, isn’t that his name?” Beomgyu sounds nonchalant, like nothing you’re saying should be of any concern.

“Okay, one, I would never do that. Two, Soobin isn’t even interested in me like that, he told me so when I asked him out for coffee once.”

Beomgyu sputters into something he’s drinking, you’re not sure what.

“Why am I just now hearing about this, exactly? Also, he’s completely stupid to not be interested in you, any guy would be lucky to date you,-”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Gyu, but that’s not why I called you.” You pick nervously at your nails, and though he can’t see you, he can tell that you feel uncomfortable.

“So why did you call? Are you okay? Did something else happen?” He’s soft in his response to you, and you know if he were here in person, he’d be drawing you into his side.

“I lied to my boss.” You swallow thickly, your gaze darting around your living room where you’re now pacing.

“Lied? What did you say?”

“...that I had a boyfriend?” you reply quietly.

“Okay…who? Who did you mean?”

“...you. I told him I was bringing my boyfriend, Beomgyu.”

There’s a long, long silence that hangs in the air as you wait for your friend to say something. Anything.

Suddenly, there’s a loud barking laugh from the other side of the phone.

“That’s all? Please…I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had. Your boss will be impressed because I clean up well, your coworkers will be swooning, and you’ll be the life of the party. What a fun time!”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“No, never! At least not for something like this, anyway. I’m excited! I’ve never been to a fancy New Years Eve party, this’ll be great. We should go shopping for outfits tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure. I’ll see you then, I guess,” you reply before ending the call.

What the heck had you gotten yourself into?

—--------------------------------

The next day passes in a rush of shops, suits, and sequins until the two of you settle on an outfit each for the party. You still feel guilty for lying to your boss and roping Beomgyu into pretending to be your boyfriend, but he repeatedly reminds you throughout the shopping spree that he is absolutely fine with the whole thing, citing ‘being able to practice acting’ and a love of fancy parties as reasons to not be worried about it.

However, you can’t help but worry as you slip into a bright sequined jumpsuit on New Year's Eve. It’s flashier than anything you would ever wear normally, and no matter which way you move, light dances off the silver sparkles covering your body. A small sigh escapes you as you resign yourself to the attention you’ll surely draw, and the sigh turns into exasperation as you attempt to pull the zipper of the jumpsuit fully up, only to get stuck at the middle of your back.

“...hello?” You hear Beomgyu’s voice echo down the hallway towards your room, causing you to glance over at the clock by your bedside. 6:35. Shit. You’d told him to pick you up at 6:30, and you hadn’t even heard him knock.

“You didn’t answer the door, so I just used the spare key…are you okay?” His voice sounds closer, and you hear the door to your bedroom open slowly.

“Can you…ugh…help me…with this stupid zipper?!” you exclaim, giving one last tug before letting your hands fall to your sides.

“I’ve got you.” You feel his hands sweep your hair over your shoulder so he has access to your back, and in one swift move, he’s got the zipper pulled to the top of the jumpsuit. You look up into your full length mirror to see Beomgyu gently readjusting your hair to cascade down your back again.

He then leans in over your shoulder, hands loosely covering your hips. “You look lovely,” he murmurs in your ear, the low baritone of his voice causing goosebumps to rise on your bare arms.

As he steps away from you, you can see he’s chosen to wear black dress pants with a white button down, black tie, and a black leather jacket.

He looks good. Really good. So good, you don’t realize you’ve been staring silently until he says, “Yeah, I really leaned into the whole ‘I play guitar in a band’ aesthetic. It’s not too much, is it?”

You attempt to respond only to be met with a dry throat. You cough, trying again. “No, Gyu. You look so good. Great.” A steady heat is making its way up your neck and face, which isn’t helped when Beomgyu seems like he’s suddenly getting shy, hand reaching to rub the back of his neck.

“We should head downtown, don’t want to be late!” you chirp cheerily, trying to make things less awkward. Beomgyu seems to snap out of whatever headspace he was in and his usual grin makes his way across his face.

“After you, m’lady.” You roll your eyes, and he just pokes your side as you both walk out of your apartment.

—--------------------------------

The ride downtown is comfortable, both of you having recovered from whatever had happened in your bedroom. Beomgyu parks his car in the garage of a towering skyscraper downtown, and you’re shocked to see that your company has rented out one of the most coveted views in the whole city. The two of you head inside, duck into an already crowded elevator, and head to the 15th floor.

As everyone piles out, your best friend reaches for your hand, which you jerk away from without thinking.

“Hey, I’m your boyfriend tonight, remember? We’ve got this.” Beomgyu reaches for your hand again, and this time you let his fingers intertwine with your own. Though the feeling is foreign, it’s comforting all at the same time. You glance over at him, clearly nervous, and he gives your hand a gentle squeeze. You steel yourself, and head into the party.

Turns out you needn’t have worried about most of the night. As predicted, your jumpsuit does garner a lot of attention, but with that attention come a lot of sincere compliments. Beomgyu is a hit with everyone-your boss is impressed with his day job, and your coworkers are fascinated with the fact that he’s in a band and he writes a lot of the music they play. You even notice a few of the women you work with giving him side glances when they think you’re not looking, which makes you laugh.

All the while, Beomgyu plays the part of the doting, attentive boyfriend. When your boss chats with him about his work, he makes sure you’re a part of the conversation. While coworkers are asking about his band, he pulls you close and keeps an arm around your waist while he’s talking, telling them all about his latest song which happens to be about you. You thought he hadn’t noticed the stares from other women, but it seems every time you catch one, he’s whispering in your ear, kissing the top of your head, or asking you to dance with him.

All of the attention feels so natural, it throws you for a loop. There’s a flush coloring your cheeks every time Beomgyu dances with you, both from the effort you’re exerting and his warm gaze that seems to travel up and down your body watching your every move. You’re enjoying what might be your tenth or twelfth trip to the dancefloor, when suddenly Beomgyu’s hands wrap around your waist, pulling you so close that you’re chest to chest.

“Hi,” he murmurs into your ear, just loud enough to hear over the music that’s shifted into a slow song.

“...hi,” you squeak out, looking up to find his deep brown eyes gazing down at you.

“Have I told you how pretty you look tonight?” he hums, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“You told me earlier before we left my apartment. And then again earlier tonight while we were talking to my coworker.” You raise an eyebrow questioningly.

“Funny, I can’t remember either of those…guess I’ll just tell you again. Silly me.” He takes your confusion as an opportunity to spin you out and back again into his arms.

“Beomgyu…what’s gotten into you? I know you’re pretending to be my boyfriend, but no one can hear us over the music right now.”

“I know. There’s just a guy over by the drinks who keeps looking over here at you, hoping I don’t notice. Except I have…and I don’t appreciate it.” You follow his glare over to one of your new coworkers, who sure enough is looking your way, though he tries to poorly cover it up once you both are staring at him.

“Are you…jealous?” You can’t believe the words that are coming out of your mouth, but you don’t know what else to call Beomgyu’s behavior other than jealousy.

“I, in fact, am not jealous, thank you for asking. I just don’t appreciate that he thinks it’s okay to openly stare at someone that for all intents and purposes has a boyfriend tonight, that’s all. C’mon, let’s go up to the roof and get away from creeper over there.”

Beomgyu laces his fingers with yours and creates a path through the partygoers, through a small door and up a staircase to the roof. You gasp as you walk up to the edge of the building, the skyline in front of you taking your breath away.

“It’s beautiful.” You can’t think of a better word to describe the scene in front of you, and you look to the man beside you to see if he agrees, only to find him staring at you instead.

“It really is.” His gaze never wavers, and he steps closer to you. “Check the time,” he whispers softly.

11:59.

“Happy New Years, lovely.” His breath fans out over your face, and you find yourself drawing closer as if by some unseen force until your lips are meeting his.

It’s not what you expected, to be kissing your best friend on New Year’s Eve. Or ever. But you can’t say you’re too upset about it. Beomgyu’s lips are soft and full, gentle with you as if you might crumble beneath him if he’s too harsh. His tongue softly prodding against your lips is what brings you back to reality, pulling away with a dazed and panicked look on your face.

You just kissed your best friend. Beomgyu just kissed you.

You clear your throat and take a step to distance yourself from him. Even though you see him try to school his features into neutrality, you know him too well-there’s a ghost of hurt flickering behind his eyes and your heart sinks into the pit of your stomach.

Before you can even say anything, he beats you to it.

“Here, you’re shivering. I’ll take you home.” He wraps his leather jacket around your shoulders and heads back down the staircase to the party, making sure you’re following him every so often.

The ride home is just as silent as the one downtown, but this time it’s not comfortable. You keep wanting to say something, but keep your mouth shut in fear of making the whole situation worse. You didn’t know how you felt, and you didn’t want to mess things up further by saying something completely stupid. Side glances at Beomgyu tell you nothing, as he’s managed to shove whatever he’s feeling so far down inside, all you can see is the neutrality he’d been attempting earlier.

Once you get to your apartment, you hand back his jacket wordlessly. As he turns to leave, you reach out and grab his arm. He looks back at you, a small flicker of hope igniting in his gaze.

“See you tomorrow?” It comes out in a small, weak voice.

Beomgyu shakes his head, trying to smile but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m leaving for our new year gigs tomorrow. I won’t be back for a week and a half, and I’ll be hard to get ahold of. I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”

You nod meekly.

“Beomgyu?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we okay?”

You see him shift his weight from foot to foot as he suddenly can’t seem to look you in the eyes.

“We will be. Take care of yourself, okay? Since I won’t be here to do it for you.” A small laugh escapes him as he turns and walks away. You stare after him long after he’s out of sight, wondering if you’ve just ruined the closest relationship you’ve ever had.

—-------------------------------

The following week drags on forever without Beomgyu. At work, it feels like you’re on autopilot, not quite paying attention to things you’re being asked. Your mind keeps wandering back to New Years Eve, and the fact that you had kissed your best friend. Obviously he must have gotten swept away in the moment, pretending to be your boyfriend? Or maybe he did have feelings for you. But where did that leave you? Did you have feelings too?

It doesn’t help that communication between the two of you is sporadic, as his signal goes in and out as he’s traveling, and when he’s in a city, he’s practicing, playing a gig, or hanging out with his bandmates. The best you can manage is texts sent that he responds to hours later, if not days. As if he knows you’re thinking about him (but when have you not been this week?), your phone pings with an incoming text message.

You (10:05 PM): Hey, hope you and the band got to your hotel safely!

Gyu (11:37 AM): Hey! Sorry it took so long to respond, but yeah we did. The gig last night was sick! :D

You don’t bother texting back since you know it’ll be another day before he responds. You sigh heavily instead and gather your belongings to head home since you only work half days on Friday. At least it’s the weekend, and Beomgyu will be home in a few days…hopefully things can go back to normal soon.

—--------------------------------

Turns out the weekend can’t even save you. As you go through the motions, you realize just how closely intertwined your life is with his. Ice cream trips. Movie nights with takeout. Walks in the park catching up on your week. Doing all of it by yourself feels wrong, like you’re cheating on your best friend by not including him. But that’s absurd. Right? You’re staring at your ceiling in bed on Sunday night, thinking about the last time you had a sleepover with Beomgyu. You had both been a little drunk, giggling over the smallest things, and even though he had been further gone than you, he helped you get ready for bed. Used a makeup wipe to gently remove your mascara, made you brush your teeth while he watched. He’d then patted you on the head once you’d crawled into your sheets, saluting you as he clumsily made his way to the couch to fall asleep himself.

You turn to face the empty side of your bed, wishing he was here beside you.

…wait.

What?

You roll back immediately to stare at your ceiling again. You wished he was here beside you? He never stayed in your bed with you, even on your drunkest of nights…he was always on the couch. So why did your brain suddenly think that? Flashes of New Years Eve come crashing back into your head, Beomgyu’s lips insistently pressed against yours, tongue seeking entrance to your mouth before you had stepped away. The memories make you feel warm and tingly all over, wishing again that he was laying beside you. And you remember how you haven’t been able to get him out of your head all week, even though he’s gone to do shows before. All of it together suddenly makes sense, and you want to hide from yourself at how stupid you’ve been.

You just might be in love with your best friend.

—-----------------------------

Your realization haunts you through the next day. You want to wait to talk to Beomgyu until he’s home, but something keeps tugging at you the whole day to reach out before then. A text seems entirely too casual, plus what would you say? ‘Hey I think I love you?’ Absolutely not. You’ll call him.

Except when you finally sit down to do so after dinner that night, it goes to voicemail. Of course it does, he has a show tonight. Nevertheless, you brace yourself to record after the beep-you’ve thought way too hard about what you need to say to chicken out now.

~Beep~

“Hey, Beomgyu, I hope your show is going really well tonight…um, I just wanted to call because-nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry about that! Anyway, I just thought it was too important to send via text so here I am, leaving a voicemail…”

You take a deep breath, realizing that you’ve started to ramble and aren’t making a ton of sense.

“-like I said, this is important. One, I am so sorry I stepped away from you on New Years Eve, I think I just freaked out? There was absolutely nothing wrong with you kissing me, at all. It was nice, actually. Two, I miss you a stupid amount. This weekend every time I did anything, I wanted you with me…which leads me to three. I realized because of how much I missed you that I want to spend time with you all the time. I found myself wishing you were sleeping next to me last night? So that was new. Anyway, all that to say-I miss you. I miss hanging out with you. I figured out I miss your lips and that kiss from New Years as well, so what I’m trying to spit out is…I think I love you, and-”

You’re suddenly cut off by the beep of his voicemail box, telling you you’ve reached the message time limit.

“Dammit!” you curse, hurling your phone against your couch. You let out a shaky breath, and pick it back up.

There’s nothing to do now but wait.

—--------------------------------

You fall asleep waiting, and wake up to a singular text from Beomgyu.

Gyu (9:59 AM): Are you coming to our homecoming show tonight?

Okay, so maybe he didn’t listen to your voicemail. That’s okay, right? You’ll just see him in person. And tell him your feelings. In person.

You (10:02 AM): Front row, wouldn’t miss it! :)

Your response seems nonchalant, but your stomach is churning and you feel like you might throw up. You decide that working from home might be the best plan for the day, and so you turn to spreadsheets, emails, and reading articles to distract you from what might be the end of your world as you know it.

Soon enough, 6:00 rolls around and you shut off your laptop as you finish off a quick dinner you had made for yourself as you finished up the day’s tasks. You decide to treat tonight as just a normal show you’re going to, throwing on a distressed band tee (Beomgyu’s band MOA, artfully bleached and torn by yours truly) with black jeans and stomper boots, accented with a red lip.

You grab your purse off the counter and quickly dash out the door to walk the few blocks to the dive bar MOA is playing, making sure to get there early so you can be front row like you promised.

Sure enough, you’re one of the first people there and it’s easy for you to choose a spot right in front of where you know Beomgyu will be playing for most of the show. Ten minutes after you arrive, he and the rest of the band walk out to tune their instruments. You give a quick wave to Yeonjun, the band’s lead vocalist, and he nudges Beomgyu, turning his attention to you. He quickly jogs across the stage, leans down and throws his legs over the edge and pulls you into a tight hug.

“Hey stranger, feels like ten years since I’ve seen you. I missed you,” he mumbles into your hair.

You pull back, attempting to fix your hair. Noticing his shaggy black hair’s gotten mussed as well, you push it off his face. Before you can draw your hand away, Beomgyu’s covered it with his own, squeezing it softly.

“You look good in my shirt.” His eyes sparkle mischievously as he motions to your band tee with his other hand, and you roll your eyes even as you can feel your cheeks color.

“Yeah, yeah…don’t you have to get ready for the show, rockstar?”

“I do,” he pouts, “but I’ll come find you later, okay?” You nod, and he stands back up and wanders over to his guitar, picking it up and making sure it’s in tune.

More and more people start to crowd around and behind you, and before you know it, the show has started. You’re scream singing the lyrics just as loudly as anyone else, cheering your heart out at the end of every song. Every so often, you catch smiles that Beomgyu is sending you, and it makes your heart feel like it’s leapt up into your throat. Even though it makes you nervous, you can’t help the smiles you send back in return.

Towards the end of the show, Beomgyu steps up to his mic, addressing the crowd.

“Hey everyone, thanks so much for coming out tonight! Our last song we’re going to play for you is an exclusive-we just workshopped this today, mostly because I just wrote it today. Let us know whether you like it!”

Cheers immediately erupt through the crowd, and simmer down once he starts strumming his guitar and steps up to the mic.

“I know that you like me

And it’s kinda frightenin’

Standing here, waitin’, waitin’

And I became hypnotized

By freckles and bright eyes

Tongue tied”

Beomgyu looks over at you and sends a cheeky wink your way. Wait a second, is he singing…about you?

“Cause you could be the one that I love

I could be the one that you dream of

Message in a bottle is all I can do

Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you

You could be the one that I keep, and I

Can be the reason you can't sleep at night

Message in a bottle is all I can do

Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you”

You feel rooted to the spot, staring at the boy in front of you as he sings, staring straight at you, no trace of embarrassment or shame on his face. You barely notice when Yeonjun takes over singing the next verse, your eyes following Beomgyu instead as he pulls his guitar strap over his head, placing the instrument onto its stand.

He walks in front of your spot in front of the stage, and sits down with his legs dangling over the edge, just as he had before the show. He reaches out toward you slowly, but with purpose, gently cupping the sides of your face. You barely register the screaming and whistling that’s happening around you as the other audience members witness the private moment between the two of you.

Beomgyu slowly slides his thumb across your cheek, his eyes glimmering with mischief and something you can’t quite place as he leans towards you.

“Is this okay?” he whispers, barely audible over the song.

You wrap your arms around his neck in response, pulling him to his feet off the stage, crashing your lips onto his. His lips are full and soft just like you remember, and that warm and tingly feeling from before is even stronger, prompting you to be the one who gently asks for entrance to his mouth with your tongue, which he eagerly grants. You’re not sure how long the two of you stand there, too wrapped up in each other to care what’s happening around you. Beomgyu finally pulls back for air, a huge smile on his face that he can’t get rid of. He leans his forehead against yours as he breathes heavily, and begins laughing. It feels contagious, and you’re so giddy you can’t help but join in.

“You are the one I dream of,” you breathe out between giggles.

“I’m glad…because you’re the one that I love. I love you too,” Beomgyu states simply, landing another kiss on your lips.

“I take it you got my voicemail?”

“Of course I did, and I saved it. Just figured I’d respond in person. With a song that I wrote for you…among the others I’ve written about you, this one just happens to be the only one that’s seen the light of day. And it’s a hit!” He gestures around you, where Yeonjun is finishing out the song and the crowd has erupted into raucous cheers.

“There’s…others?” Your eyes widen in surprise.

“Many others…I’ll play them for you if you’re lucky. I’m just glad you got my message in a bottle.”

—-------------------------------

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All I Want for Christmas is You

-Pairing: Gryffindor!Beomgyu x Hufflepuff!reader

-Words: 916

-Rating/warnings: SFW, HogwartsAU, Beomgyu is just the sweetest best boi

-Author's Note: In celebration of reaching 100 followers, here's a drabble inspired by the queen of Christmas herself! Since Loser=Lover was my highest performing fic of the year, I figured that Gryffindor Beomgyu could make his triumphant return just in time for the holidays. Enjoy!

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A gentle scratching moves up and down your arm, causing you to turn away and bury yourself further into the warmth you’re snuggled into. In your half asleep state, you have no desire to be bothered, and as the light scratching continues, you lazily swat your hand towards the source of your annoyance. You’re met with the low chuckle of your boyfriend vibrating through your chest.

You slowly open your eyes, confused as to why Beomgyu is laughing at you while you’re trying to sleep. How did he get into the girls’ dormitories in Hufflepuff?

“Hi, sleepyhead.”

You turn your face upwards, finally realizing where you are. You had been studying for your Care of Magical Creatures exam with Beomgyu in the Gryffindor common room, and had been lulled to sleep by the cozy chairs and the roaring fireplace. The warmth you had buried yourself into was your boyfriend’s cardigan, and as you turn against his side, you see his hand tracing light patterns up and down your arm. He pinches your side as you adjust, swiveling your head to look at him incredulously.

“Hey!” Beomgyu just lets out one of his signature cackling laughs, quickly rubbing his hand over where he pinched you to soothe the pain.

“Hey to you, too. I think we’re done studying for the day, don’t you?” he hums in amusement, nodding towards your disheveled appearance. Pink creeps up your cheeks as you run your hands through your hair, trying to make yourself look more put together, but it only serves to make the problem worse.

“Turn around for me?” Though normally you wouldn’t quite trust your prankster boyfriend’s question, you oblige when you notice the soft look in his eyes. You scoot to face the side of the couch you’re on, with your back to him.

There’s silence for a moment, then you feel him gently slide his fingers into your hair, gathering the strands away from your face. You can feel Beomgyu start to slowly massage your scalp, making you release a deep breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

“That’s it, relax. I know you’re stressed about this exam, but you’re so prepared. You’re going to be the best magizoologist since Newt Scamander…I still can’t believe you ever agreed to date an idiot like me.” You laugh as he continues to work his way through your hair, leaning back and melting into his hold.

You stay like that for a good ten minutes, Beomgyu working his magic and you’re about to fall asleep again when he gently leans you forward, gathering your hair and tying it into a messy bun for you. Just as you’re about to turn around, you suddenly feel cold metal against your neck. You glance down to see a small golden disk with a flower design stamped into it.

You turn around, looking at Beomgyu questioningly.

“A violet for my Violet. Happy Christmas.” His eyes sparkle as he leans forward to capture your lips in a short but sweet kiss.

As he leans back, you find yourself simultaneously tearing up from how sweet of a gift you’ve received, and embarrassment for the gift that you have to give in return.

Beomgyu raises an eyebrow as you rifle through your bag that you’d brought to the common room, finally pulling out a poorly wrapped, lumpy bundle.

“Happy Christmas…it’s not much of anything, actually it’s kind of a joke, and I didn’t realize you’d get me such a nice gift,” you start to ramble, looking everywhere but at the boy in front of you.

Beomgyu ignores seemingly every word tumbling out of your mouth, instead looking overjoyed at the fact that you’ve given him anything, eagerly tearing through the paper to the gift inside. He pulls out a yellow sweatshirt with the word ‘Hufflepuff’ embroidered in bold black letters on the front. As he turns it around to hold it up to himself, he sees the matching black letters on the back-your last name and jersey number.

“It’s really a joke, I swear…I just thought it would be funny because I always steal your Gryffindor sweater that looks like that, I could give you one with my Quidditch team, and it was such a dumb idea, you don’t have to wear it. Ever.” You stumble through your explanation, more and more embarrassed as the words come out of your mouth.

There’s silence for a moment, then Beomgyu breaks out into a cackle.

“I love it! This is so clever, and well made…did you make this?”

You meekly nod.

“I love it, Violet. I absolutely will wear this, not just to your games. All the time…I love it. I love you.”

At that moment, you feel like you want to melt into the floor. You’ve never said ‘I love you’ to each other, but it falls so naturally off of Beomgyu’s tongue, it’s like he’s been saying it for years, and you can’t help what comes out of your mouth next.

“I-I love you too, Beomgyu.” You’ve never seen him smile wider than in that moment. “But are you sure about the sweater? Really, I can do something else, you just gave me such a nice gift…”

“You could have given me a paper sack and I would have been happy. You know why, Violet?”

“Why?”

“Because all I want for Christmas is you. That’s all I want forever.”

You lean back into his side and he wraps an arm around you.

“Me too, Gyu. Me too.”

-------------------------------------------

Taglist: @hyungieyoongi @alpacaparkaseok @derinxfam

Check out my other work here!

My first ever tumblr fic just reached 100 notes before the new year, how cool and full circle is that? 🥺 Thanks everyone for reading about little ole blueberry rockstar Koo!

Gold Rush

-Pairing: drummer!Jungkook x reader, with a side of guitarist!Jin x OC

-Premise: You were never one for rushing into relationships, but what happens when you meet a certain blue-haired drummer?

-Genre: rock band!AU, some fluff but also some angst

-Word Count: 8.1k

-Author's Note: This is based on the song 'gold rush' by the one and only Taylor Swift! It will still make sense if you don't know the song, but you'll find some fun Easter egg references if you do know it. Also, fun fact: this is the first fic I've written since high school...do with that what you will.

“Come...on!” Margot grunts as she tugs on your arm. You literally have no idea why you’ve agreed to this night out-it’s Tuesday, you have work in the morning, you’re already tired and the night hasn’t even started.

“I’m coming,” you mutter begrudgingly, as you step carefully in your heeled boots down very narrow steps into what looks like a very seedy bar. The Dynasty. You walk in the door, and instantly try to retreat-it’s tiny, the floor is sticky with who knows what, and it’s packed. More like The Die Nasty...this could not be further from your comfort zone.

Margot, meanwhile, could not look more excited. She’s been talking about this concert for weeks now. You can’t even remember the name of the band, that’s how not your scene this is. Margot steers you towards the bar. “What do you want? My treat, since I made you come out on a work night just to be my wing woman.”

You scrunch up your nose in disbelief. Her wing woman? Has she seen you? You’re the most awkward person alive around men, especially cute men. Plus, it doesn’t help that you barely had time to throw on an Eagles t-shirt with a pair of jeans, and your hair has frizzed out from the light drizzle of rain that started on the walk over. “A Malibu with coke works,” you say, adding, “And make it a double!” at her retreating back.

You turn and scour the packed room for an empty booth, table, anything. Your eyes finally land on a tiny two person booth in an awkward corner of the room. Margot may not be able to see the band perfectly from here, but at least you’ll have seats. “A drink for my best friend in the whole entire world!!” Margot smiles brightly as she brings your beverages over to the table. “Do you think Jin will notice me? I tried to look cute, but not try too hard, y’know?” She smoothes down the front of her blouse nervously. You immediately have a witty retort ready to go, but you don’t have the heart to say it when you look up and see how fidgety she is. “Mar-if he doesn’t notice you, he’s an idiot,” you smile kindly.

The show isn’t due to start for another 30-45 minutes, so you spend that time chatting with Margot about work, life, and everything in between. She’s convinced that if she can just get Jin to notice her, that she’ll be able to introduce you to one of his bandmates, and then you can go on double dates (or something like that). “Mar, do you really think tortured artists go on double dates? I really can’t see it,” you snort into your drink. Let alone a guy in a band being interested in you, you’re about as boring and straitlaced as they come. You lose track of time as you continue the conversation, and the alcohol is certainly making you less annoyed that you’re here.

“They’re starting, they’re starting!” Margot squeals, gripping your arm. “Really?” You try to twist around in your seat to see, but before you get very far, you’re being dragged out into the space right in front of the stage. You’re not quite front row, but you’re awfully close-too close for your own liking, if you’re being honest.

“Margot…” you hiss, trying to get her attention, but all hope is lost. Her eyes are glued to the small stage, waiting for the man she’s deemed to be the love of her life to walk out and pick up his guitar. You give up after a while, huffing and crossing your arms to show your displeasure. A few girls around you give you a sidelong glance, seemingly judging you for being upset at a concert. How dare you? After staring at you for what they deem to be an appropriate amount of time, they go back to their own conversations, which you’re able to overhear due to your close proximity.

“Were you at the last show? They’ve improved SO much since they started, I love them!!” one yells a little too loudly, while her friend nods enthusiastically.

“Have you heard that Jungkook dyed his hair blue?! He was hot before, but now…” the girl can’t even seem to finish her sentence, she’s so overcome by the ‘hotness’ of this Jungkook guy, whoever he is.

As soon as his name is mentioned, you suddenly seem to overhear it multiple times in the conversations surrounding you while the band’s crew finishes setting up for them. You lean over to ask Margot what the heck the deal is with Jungkook, but just as you open your mouth to begin talking, a loud strumming blasts from the speakers on the edge of the stage, and you mouth ‘nevermind’ and step back to where you were.

A tall, broad shouldered man steps out of the shadows at the back of the stage to deafening screams, his guitar already strapped across his chest. He lifts up a hand in greeting, and steps up to one of the mics set up. “Thank you all for coming out! We hope you have a great time tonight!” He blows a kiss to the crowd (to more deafening screams). Margot looks like she might faint-this must be Jin.

Next to walk out is a sullen looking guy, shorter and smaller than the first. He walks to the side of the stage opposite of you, and picks up a bass. Forget Jin, forget Jungkook (whichever one he turns out to be), you like this guy. Sure, he’s cute or whatever, but he literally looks like he wants to be anywhere but where he’s currently at. “Same, dude, same,” you mutter to yourself under your breath. One of the girls from earlier must have overheard you again, because she turns and gives you a weird look. The multiple Malibu and cokes you had earlier give you the courage to tell her to mind her own business and leave you alone, but just as you begin to lean forward, the loudest screams yet erupt from the crowd. You immediately clench your hands over your ears (which you realize looks ridiculous at a concert) and turn to look at what’s caused the reaction.

Over the heads of the people in front of you, you see a mop of almost neon blue hair making its way to the drum set, but the rest of him is obscured as he swiftly walks across the stage. This must be that Jungkook guy those girls were talking about earlier. His hair looks like a blueberry as far as you’re concerned, and you still don’t understand what the fuss is about.

He settles behind his kit, and as the people in front of you move slightly, you catch a glimpse of Jungkook. His blueberry hair falls around his face in waves, and his nose is scrunched up because of the giant grin on his face, clearly ecstatic to start the show. Okay, he was cute. Cuter than bass guy and Jin (though you’d never utter that sentence out loud to Margot for fear of losing your life). Still, he’s just another guy in a band, right?

Jin starts the opening chords to the first song to deafening cheers, bass guy starting to play shortly after, and Jungkook having the time of his life on the drums. After a long intro, you hear a smooth voice with a tinge of rasp come through the mic. It instantly feels like your bones have turned to jelly, and you want to melt into a puddle (in the best way). However, you are confused. You’re staring at Jin, who is immersed in his playing, sweat already starting to drip from his brow from being under bright lights. His mouth isn’t moving. Why? He’s the lead singer. Are you imagining the lyrics you’re hearing right now?

You lean over to Margot, who’s conveniently also looking at Jin, albeit for a completely different reason. “Why isn’t the lead singer doing anything?” you shout over the music. “Huh?” she screams back, unable to clearly make out what you’re saying. “I said, why isn’t Jin singing?!” you yell.

Margot looks over to you, mirroring the confusion on your own face. “Look!” she points towards the back of the stage. There you see Jungkook, not only playing the drums, but also singing lead vocals in one of most attractive voices you’ve ever heard. Not only that, but he’s somehow managed to keep that scrunched nose smile from earlier on his face while doing it. So THAT’S what all the fuss about Jungkook was over. Just as your brain makes the connection between it being his singing coming through the speakers, he makes eye contact with you and his smile seems to grow even bigger, his eyes sparkling with delight.

Oh, you’re in big trouble.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the concert seems to go by in a blur. You have no idea how many songs the group does, you are so caught up in watching Jungkook perform...he clearly has talent, but you can tell he’s in love with what he’s doing. Even when sweat makes his hair start to stick to his forehead, he merely gives his head a shake (sort of like a dog), and keeps going with that wide smile on his face. It certainly doesn’t help that it feels like at least every other song, he’s making eye contact with you somehow-even though you’re not front row, even though his drum kit is at the back of the stage. Surely you’re making that up. He’s just a good performer, right? He makes all the girls feel like this, like he’s performing just for them.

As Jin strums out the final notes of the last song, you shake your head to clear your thoughts. This is dumb, you had too much to drink, and you were distracted by a cute guy who has a pretty voice. That’s all.

As the song dies out, you turn to your best friend. “Margot, you ready to go? I’m tired.” What you’ve failed to notice is that your best friend has disappeared while you’ve been wrapped up in your own thoughts. Did she go to the bathroom? Had she gotten more drunk while you were busy swooning (no, NOT swooning) over a certain blue-haired drummer? Just as you’re about to start panicking, you see her as the group of fans in front of you starts to disperse...and she’s talking TO JIN.

He’s sitting on the edge of the stage, long legs dangling off the front, head tilted back laughing at something Margot has said. His laugh doesn’t quite seem to fit him-it’s loud and squeaky, kind of like a windshield wiper dragging itself across the front of a car. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out his guitar pick, and goes to hand it to your friend. Simultaneously, he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Other girls that are around you, hanging back in hopes of meeting the boys, are clearly fuming at the action and some even stomp off.

On one hand, you are excited for Margot-she’s gotten the attention of the man she’s been talking about nonstop for days. On the other hand, you also want to leave-love is gross and you have no time for it. Since you can’t abandon your friend in a seedy bar with a man she hardly knows, you settle for the next best thing-your fifth (you think?) drink of the night.

“A Malibu and coke please,” you ask the bartender while sliding cash across the counter. You know you’ll regret the alcohol running through your system in the morning, but you can’t seem to bring yourself to care enough to stop. You pick up the drink, filled to the brim, and turn quickly to go hide in your booth from the beginning of the night. Surely Margot will come find you when she’s done talking, right? Just as you turn, someone walking the opposite way bumps elbows with you with enough force to cause half your drink to slosh down the front of your shirt and onto the floor.

“Oh wow, I am so sorry! I should have been paying more attention-let me get some napkins for you!” says some unknown male voice. You’re too busy mourning over your half spilled drink that you’d just paid too much for to reply. Suddenly, there’s napkins thrust into your hand, and you look up.

It’s Jungkook.

He’s even more attractive up close, if that’s even possible. He’s sweaty, but somehow makes it look good-his longer hair is swept back into a little blue half bun, his eyeliner is smudged, and he’s down to his white undershirt with ripped jeans. The dim lights of the bar are reflecting off both his earrings and what looks like the stars in his eyes.

“Um...are you okay? I can go get you a new shirt to change into-wait here!” Before you have the chance to form any words, he jogs off towards the stage where he has a conversation with the bassist. The bassist doesn’t look happy about what Jungkook says, but Jungkook still goes to the back of the stage, and comes back with a black piece of fabric in his hands.

“Yoongi’s pissed because these aren’t even ready to be sold, but whatever. Just think of it as an exclusive sneak peek or something,” Jungkook says as he hands the shirt to you. You accidentally brush your hand across his as you take what he’s handing you, and you feel like you might burst into flames with the way your insides feel like they’ve become molten lava.

You unfold the shirt to see that it’s got song lyrics written across it in dripping graffiti font, along with their signatures. The realization suddenly hits you that you still have not said a single word to the man standing in front of you.

“Y-Yoongi?” you stammer out. You hate how much you sound like a high schooler asking their crush to prom. “Oh yeah, that’s our bassist. The one who looks like he’d literally rather be anywhere else than playing with Jin and me,” Jungkook chuckles. “He’s really a softy underneath it all, but don’t tell him I said that.”

You laugh, though you feel like it sounds a little too forced and a little too loud. Your assumption seems to be right, as you see Jungkook raise one eyebrow.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I really am sorry I made you spill your drink.” He genuinely looks worried. About you. What universe are you even living in right now?

“I’m fine, really. Thanks for the t-shirt, you didn’t have to do that,” you mumble softly.

“It’s the least I could do for a pretty girl whose Eagles tee I ruined, don’t worry about it. Yoongi will get over it.”

Jungkook smiles that same smile he seemed to throw your way throughout the concert, nose scrunching up, eyes sparkling. It feels like you’ve been thrown overboard into the ocean in the middle of a storm. You can’t get your bearings, the waves keep throwing you under, and you’re disoriented. The only light is coming from the stars in his eyes. Surely this man who could date anyone he wanted to did not just call you pretty, as casually as he might have mentioned the weather outside?

You’re shaken out of your reverie as Margot and Jin approach the two of you. “JK, my man, sorry I took so long-I was too busy being enchanted by this lovely lady,” Jin smiles, and you can see that Margot is beaming with happiness. You’re glad someone’s night has gone well.

“No problem, I was just talking to...” Jungkook suddenly looks lost, realizing he doesn’t know your name.

“Y/N.” you blurt out. Margot looks at you strangely, but is distracted once Jungkook begins talking again.

“Yeah, I bumped into her and made her spill her drink, so I gave her one of our shirts and we were just chatting.” He smiles gently at you and your heart does a somersault.

“Nice to meet you. You must be cool if you’re friends with this one,” Jin nudges Margot with his shoulder. How long have the two of them been able to talk for, for him to know you’re friends? You’ll definitely need a debrief on the walk home.

You speak to Jin with much more ease and control than you can manage with Jungkook. “I like to think I’m cool,” you grin. At this, Jungkook smirks.

“She’s the best!” Margot chirps, clearly still a little drunk. Jin chuckles and puts an arm around her shoulders.

“Well, pretty girl, JK and I need to go help Yoongi with getting everything put up in our van. It was lovely to meet you,” he drops his arm from around her shoulders, only to pick up her hand in his and kisses her knuckles promptly. Margot giggles. “I’d love to take you out sometime.” She nods enthusiastically.

“It was nice to meet you too,” Jungkook leans in to half-whisper in your ear. When did he get that close?! You nod with a small smile in his direction-that’s all you can seem to manage when that drowning in the ocean feeling suddenly returns.

He and Jin turn to leave, and you go to your booth, making sure you didn’t leave anything behind before the whole drink-spilling fiasco happened. Seeing that you have everything, you turn to find Margot, only to see Jungkook whispering in her ear across the room and laughing.

Your heart drops. You were right all along-he does treat all the girls like this, like they’re special to him.

Margot comes up to you shortly after. “You ready to go?” you ask quietly.

“Yep!” she smiles, and drags you out of The Dynasty by the hand. The entire walk home, all she can talk about is Jin-how cute he is, how funny he is, how talented he is, and oh, did she mention how cute he is? You nod and smile in all the right places in her story. You are happy for Margot, but you can’t help comparing what she’s telling you with your interactions with Jungkook. You had acted like an idiot, and there was no way he was interested in you on any level. Plus, he clearly thought that your best friend was worth flirting with after Jin helped him escape your awkward conversation.

You shake your head to clear it as you reach your apartment building. Margot bids you farewell at the second floor, while you continue your trudge up the stairs to the fourth floor. You key into your apartment, throwing your keys into a bowl and heading for your bedroom.

Makeup off, pjs on, you’ve just finished washing your face when you look at yourself in the mirror. “Boys are dumb, and love is stupid,” you say to yourself, not sure if you actually believe what you’re saying. As you dry your face, you hear the sound of your phone receiving a text. Margot, no doubt, still waxing poetic about how she can’t believe that Jin wants to take her out on a date.

You slide into bed and turn off your lamp, grabbing your phone to set an alarm for the morning and to tell Margot that you’ll talk some more tomorrow during lunch.

Unknown Number

2:37 AM: Hey, it’s Jungkook!...I hope you don’t mind, I got your number from Margot. thanks for coming out to the show tonight, I hope you had a good time!! if you didn’t, you don’t have to wear the shirt I gave you, that would be weird for you to wear it if you hated our music…

2:41 AM: anyway, I just wanted to apologize again for making you spill your drink. Usually I’m not that clumsy, I guess I was distracted. You should come hang out with the band before our next show on Friday! only if you want. let me know...or don’t. Whatever you want.

2:45 AM: Can you tell I’m nervous? haha

2:46 AM: usually i’m not like this, but you’re really pretty and you seem cool. ANYWAY. I hope you hang out with us-bring Margot too, Jin would like that. I hope you got home safe and i hope i see you soon :)

You stare in disbelief at your phone. Jungkook just texted you. Jungkook just texted you FOUR TIMES IN A ROW. Good thing you are much less awkward via text, mostly because you have time to think out what to say. You can’t help the giant grin that forms on your face as you type out a reply.

2:50 AM: I made it home, thanks for checking in...I can’t turn down a good band shirt, so I’ll definitely be wearing it. Maybe I’ll wear it if we hang out, you’ll have to wait and see!

You place your phone on the nightstand and turn over to get comfortable. Maybe Margot wasn’t the only one who had a good night after all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days later, you’re staring at your phone sitting on your desk. “Can you not?” Margot huffs from beside you, rolling over in her desk chair. “Just freaking text JK and tell him we’re coming to hang out with the band,” she rolls her eyes and lets out a huge sigh.

“Margot, can you not? Stop being so loud, we’re at work,” you hiss. Margot looks slightly taken aback at your comment, and then swiftly rolls back to her own desk.

You’ll deal with her hurt feelings later. For now, you go back to staring at Jungkook’s text that is boring a hole in your brain...he sent it about six hours ago, and you still haven’t replied.

Jungkook

8:53 AM: Morning! I know it’s kinda early, but i figured you might be at work already. You and Margot coming by later? Jin will cook for us! i think i can manage some cookies too, just don’t judge if they don’t taste as good as jin’s cooking...i swear he was a chef in a past life. You like chocolate chip?

You’d had brief text conversations each day since you met, nothing too crazy. Even so, you still can’t help but feel like your brain is freezing over, ceasing all functioning momentarily every time a text comes in from him. Margot is right, you just need to text him back already.

3:30 PM: Make it snickerdoodle and I’m there.

Jungkook immediately sends back a reply, overeagerly filled with emojis, their apartment address, and instructions to come over at 6. For a drummer in a rock band, he is surprisingly silly, kind, and warm. You’re not sure what you expected from him, but it wasn’t this.

The rest of the work day goes quickly, your mind preoccupied with what’s in store for you at the boys’ apartment. As soon as you and Margot step outside your office, her eyes are glued to her phone. “Hey, Margot...I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. I just don’t know what this...thing...is with Jungkook, and I’m stressed. Not an excuse, but you didn’t deserve me being rude,” you say in a small voice.

“Girl, I forgave you like ten minutes after you said it, it’s whatever. Look at this!” She shoves her phone under your nose, and you examine what she’s trying to get you to look at. Pictures of food? You’re confused.

“What is it?” you ask. “Our dinner, silly! Jinnie’s making us pasta carbonara with homemade breadsticks!” Your mouth involuntarily starts watering at even the mention of food. Homemade bread? Jungkook must not have been kidding about Jin’s cooking.

“Look look look, your boyfriend is making us snickerdoodle cookies too-how sweet!” Margot gives you a sly smile, and you can immediately feel heat radiating off your cheeks.

“He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just-whatever! He’s not even interested in me like that, he hasn’t asked me out or anything. Not like someone I know,” you attempt to distract her by bringing up her date with Jin (it had literally happened the day after meeting him, and he’d set up a second one for the weekend-you couldn’t help but be impressed). Even though you’re flustered, you still can’t stop the warmth spreading through you. Yes, embarrassment. But also Jungkook was making snickerdoodle cookies like you asked.

“Boyfriend or not, we’re here!” Margot singsongs as you walk through the front doors of an apartment building, and step into an elevator, pressing the button for floor seven.

There’s a loud pinging sound as you step out, and Margot knocks on the door directly across from the elevator. You hear clanging sounds, alongside shuffling and male voices indistinctly talking. The door swings open to reveal Jin in a pink apron.

“Hey pretty girl,” his eyes light up when he sees Margot standing in the doorway, and he immediately bends down to kiss the top of her head. Margot is positively beaming, and looks up at him like he’s her entire world.

You clear your throat awkwardly. “Oh hey, y/n,” Jin smiles warmly at you. “Jungkook’s excited to see you, he hasn’t stopped talking about you coming over since he started making those cookies.” Jin winks as your eyes grow wide.

“HYUNG!!” you hear Jungkook bellow from you assume the kitchen. As you all walk into the apartment, you can see him glaring at Jin.

“What? I’m just telling the truth, nothing wrong with that-right, Margot?”

“Right,” your best friend grins.

“Not you too, M. Why do I put up with this torture?” Jungkook pouts in your direction, blue strands of hair falling messily in his face. You can see he’s also wearing an apron, black-but with lots of flour stains.

You walk closer to the kitchen and lean on the counter that separates it from the living room. You may be nervous as ever, but maybe if you fake confidence, things will feel better.

“Oh, I dunno, maybe because he’s one of your best friends and bandmates? Because maybe it is the truth?” you grin cheekily.

Jungkook’s doe eyes go even wider than you thought possible, and it looks like he may drop the mixing bowl he has in his hands.

“Weren’t you excited I was coming over, Kook? I can leave if you want…” you step into the kitchen with him, reaching forward and gently pushing a loose strand of hair out of his face. You swear he leans into your touch, and it feels like electricity is coursing through your veins.

“I-I mean, of course I was! I invited you over, didn’t I? Of course I want you here.” Jungkook has a fierce blush creeping up his neck towards his face, and he looks like he wants to sink through the floor.

A deep chuckle resounds from the corner of the living room, and you turn around to see Yoongi smirking at the two of you from an armchair. “Can we eat now, please? As much as I love seeing the two of you absolutely not know how to function like normal human beings...I’m hungry.”

Jin uses this opportunity to sweep into the kitchen, grabbing his pasta off the stovetop and bringing it to the center of the dining room table. Margot brings the breadsticks over and places them down as well. You each take a seat, Yoongi sitting at one end of the table, Jin and Margot on one side, you and Jungkook on the other. Dinner unfolds in a relatively normal fashion, mostly silent because everyone is so hungry. Jungkook may have actually been underselling Jin’s cooking ability, because you’re not sure when the last time you had pasta this good was.

Just as you’re finishing up, the timer on the oven beeps, signaling that Jungkook’s cookies are done. He hops up out of his seat to grab the pan out of the oven. A few seconds later, you hear a loud expletive and a metallic clang. “Kook?” you call, already walking towards the kitchen. As you round the corner, you see him holding his hand under the faucet, water streaming over what looks like a nasty burn.

“Kook!” you exclaim, swiftly moving towards him, peeking around him to see the injury. “What happened?”

Jungkook turns around, seemingly just noticing your presence. He gives you a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing. The pan started slipping out of my hand, so I went to grab it with my other hand to steady it. I just happened to forget I was only wearing one oven mitt.” He forlornly looks behind the two of you. You follow his gaze to see that most of the cookies have fallen on the floor, save for three. “I just wanted the cookies to be perfect.” His lower lip juts out as he begins to pout, staring at the cookies littering the floor.

“Jungkook, look at me.” His eyes raise from the floor to your own. “The fact that you even made any cookies at all is very sweet-pun intended. It’s the effort that counts. That, and making sure you don’t have permanent burn damage.” You reach out for his wrist and delicately turn his hand to look at it. It’s angry looking, but you can tell it will heal pretty easily (you may have suffered several cookie-related burns yourself in your day). “Just make sure you put ointment on this a couple times a day for about a week, and you should be fine.” You shoot him a soft smile, which he returns.

“What are you, a doctor?” he asks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” you reply, grinning widely.

“Yah, why do you have to be so difficult? Here I am, trying to be nice, trying to get to know you more, and this is what I get in return,” he gripes, but there’s a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Hmm...I dunno, Kook. I think you like it when I’m contrarian,” you giggle, turning to leave the kitchen. Before you can move through the door frame, Jungkook moves in front of you. You look up at him confused. He leans in close, lips brushing against your ear as he whispers.

“...maybe I do. But next time I see you, you should actually wear the shirt I gave you.”

He winks, leaves the kitchen, and leaves you to wonder what the heck just happened.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your sporadic texts with Jungkook have turned into one long, continuous conversation over the past few weeks. It feels like you talk about everything, but also nothing. He remains somewhat a mystery, though you know this is because you’re still keeping him at arm’s length.

Jungkook is too good for you, you’ve decided. He’s cute, funny, charming, and talented. Everyone is in love with him for good reason. Every time he makes eye contact with you, his smile lights up his entire face. That smile has you falling faster than you’d like, and it isn’t a pleasant feeling. A cloudlike floating down to Earth? Try hurtling through the atmosphere like an asteroid determined to destroy the planet. You haven’t hit the ground yet, but you’re not sure if you’ll be able to properly recover once you do.

Kook

4:23 PM: Come with me to the beach this weekend! You need a break from work, and i need a break from the morons i live with...don’t tell them i said that. I need to work on song stuff too, but i’d like some company :)

Your chest constricts at his latest message. Is this a date? He hasn’t asked you on one before, but this feels suspiciously date-esque. But he’s working on band stuff, so maybe he really just wants company. You shoot off a quick text in the affirmative before you can think much harder about it. Jungkook immediately sends back a slew of emojis, as well as telling you he’ll pick you up at 8AM on Saturday to drive the two of you down to the coast.

The next two days go by in a blur. Before you know it, you’re standing in front of your closet Saturday morning, wondering what to wear on your not-date. It’s not quite summer yet, so you know the two of you aren’t wearing bathing suits (not to mention that would have been a whole other crisis to work through-being half naked in front of a very attractive man on a maybe-date? Absolutely not). You quickly put on a pair of jean shorts, and smile as you grab their band tee and slide it over your head. You still hadn’t worn it in front of Jungkook. You finish off with french tucking the shirt, sliding on sandals and wearing a simple gold necklace with your first initial on it-you didn’t want to be too fancy.

You make yourself a cup of tea to pass time waiting for Jungkook to arrive. Halfway through drinking it, there’s a knock on the door. You hastily place your mug on the coffee table, grab your bag, and open the door to find Jungkook leaning against the doorframe.

He lights up upon seeing you, his doe eyes widening when he notices your outfit. “You’re finally wearing it! I thought I was gonna have to bribe you or something,” he smiles.

“Let’s go, dork,” you reply, shutting your door behind you and making sure it’s locked.

Jungkook leads you outside to his car, opening the door for you. “After you, m’lady.” You roll your eyes, but not without laughing at his antics. He slides into the driver’s side and starts the car. “Off we go!”

The car ride is comfortably silent-probably because it’s still early in the morning, neither of you are completely coherent yet. The hum of the road beneath the car combined with the radio playing in the background puts you at ease. You can swear you keep seeing Jungkook look at you from your peripheral vision, but maybe you’re imagining things. You settle for looking out the window at the passing scenery, which honestly is beautiful-you should get out of the city more.

After about 10 minutes, you glance over to the driver’s side, only to make complete eye contact with Jungkook. “Kook, why do you keep looking at me?” His eyes widen, and now you know you weren’t imagining things earlier.

“Oh, uh...I-I’m just glad you decided to come. Yeah. And um, you look really good in my shirt.” You can see his ears reddening as he says this, and all of a sudden, you’re looking at anywhere but him.

There’s an awkward pause for a few moments, and then suddenly that molten lava feeling from a few weeks ago at the concert is back. You whip your head back towards Jungkook so fast, you think you might injure your neck. He has reached his hand across the console to where yours sits on your thigh, and as you watch, he intertwines your fingers with his. It feels like an out-of-body experience, where you’re watching yourself from above. Is this really happening? You glance up at Jungkook’s face with wild eyes, and he meets you with a steady smile. Not only is the molten lava feeling back, but it’s brought along the storm in the ocean feeling as well. Only this time, Jungkook is there to be the lighthouse that leads you back home.

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The rest of the drive is peaceful. Jungkook continues to hold your hand the rest of the way to the beach, shooting you smiles every time you look over at him. You’re so mesmerized, you don’t even realize that you’ve parked until he lets go.

He immediately rushes over to open your door after getting out of the car, and then proceeds to pop the trunk open and grabs a cooler and a picnic basket.

“Kook, what is all this?” your eyes widen in surprise.

“Please, like I was going to take you to the beach and not pack a picnic. We have to eat, don’t we? I got those weird sparkling waters you like too.”

Your response is to grab the picnic basket out of his hand and immediately intertwine your fingers again with his free hand. Jungkook looks like his face might split in half with how big his smile is.

“You like it?” he asks with a hint of uncertainty.

“I love it.”

The two of you walk hand in hand down the beach quite a ways before you find what Jungkook deems the ‘perfect spot’. “And what exactly makes it perfect?” you peer up at him.

“Easy-one, we’re snagging the last free shaded spot,” he points at the umbrella stuck in the sand, “and two-it’s far enough away from other people that I can work on songs without a ton of noise distracting me.”

“Are you sure I won’t distract you?” you frown slightly, worried that he won’t get any work done.

“You’re never a distraction, you’re an inspiration.” He winks conspiratorially at you, and chuckles at the flustered look on your face. He sets the cooler down under the umbrella and looks over at you. “There’s a blanket in the picnic basket, can you get it out? As much as I love the beach, I don’t really want to find sand in my shorts for the next month.”

You set the basket down next to the cooler, open the lid, and pull out a bright blue blanket. Jungkook takes one side, you take the other, and you unfold it and place it lightly on the sand. He immediately plops down on one side of the blanket and reaches his hand up toward you, motioning for you to take hold. As soon as you do, he yanks a little too hard, and you careen sideways onto the blanket and into his side. “Well, that’s one way to sit down I guess,” you laugh at his appalled face.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to pull that hard…” his brow furrows in worry.

“I’m good, weirdo. Great, even.” You reach into the cooler, pull out a sparkling water (key lime, your favorite), and pull the book you always keep in your bag out. You lay out on the blanket, propped up on your elbows, and begin to read. Jungkook lays down beside you in a similar position, pulling a small notebook out of his back pocket and starts scribbling.

You sit in this position for a couple of hours, silently working, occasionally catching each others’ eyes and smiling when you do. Suddenly there’s a loud rumbling beside you. You laugh. “Hungry, Kook?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” he laughs, sits up and reaches over to pull the picnic basket closer to the two of you.

“What’s on the menu?” you peer over as he starts to pull plastic containers out.

“Gimbap. Simple, easy, and delicious.” He hands you one of the containers as he pulls out a second for himself.

“Did you make this yourself?” you ask, mouth half-full. He nods. “Delicious,” you concede through your mouthful. He grins.

“Maybe I could actually cook for you sometime. Without burning my hand on cookies, that is.”

“I’d like that,” you shyly respond, eyes firmly locked on the plastic container of gimbap in your lap.

“It’s a date, then.” Your eyes shoot up to meet his, and you can see dimples forming alongside his smile. You can’t help but smile back.

After eating, the two of you go back to your previous positions-you reading, him working on song lyrics in his notebook. This time, though, after about 30 minutes you start to get restless. Looking over at Jungkook, you notice he keeps shoving his hair behind his ears as it falls in his face while he’s writing. You rummage through your bag for a hair tie, and scoot over closer to him. He raises an eyebrow in curiosity at you, and you just lean over and gently start pulling his hair back for him into a half bun that matches the way his hair looked the night you first met.

“Better?” you ask quietly, running your fingers absentmindedly through the hair at the nape of his neck that’s too short for the bun. He looks up at you, awestruck.

“Everything is better with you,” he whispers. You’re not sure if he knows he’s said this out loud. He suddenly sits up on the blanket, flipping through the pages of his notebook he’s been working in. He stops about halfway through. “Can you look over these lyrics? I’m not sure they’re quite right, I need a second opinion.”

You look down at the page and see lyrics scribbled in Jungkook’s messy handwriting.

“I wish you were right here, right now”

“This mad, mad love makes you come running”

“See your face, hear my voice in the dark”

Different versions of these lyrics are scattered across the page, certain words changed, scribbled out, and moved around within phrases. As your eyes scan the page, they land on one final line etched out on the bottom of the page. No scribbles, no changes-it simply reads:

“I wish you knew that I’ll never forget you as long as I live.”

“This is really good, Kook! It’s so much different than the music the band’s done before, how’d you come up with this?” You’re genuinely curious, this almost seems more like a ballad compared to the band’s usual upbeat tunes.

Jungkook looks at you warmly. “I’ve had new inspiration lately, that’s all.” You suddenly notice that he’s way closer to you than he was when you started looking over his notes...he’s sitting directly in front of you now.

You feel frozen as you see him stealing glances at your lips while his face inches closer. Is he going to kiss you? He’s going to kiss you. Oh my gosh, JUNGKOOK IS GOING TO KISS YOU.

As his lips meet your own, the molten lava turns into an erupting volcano. You feel hot and tingly all over, and Jungkook is assaulting your senses in every way possible. You can smell his cologne, feel the softness of his lips, taste his mint chapstick, hear the satisfied hum that gets caught in his throat as your lips collide. Even though your eyes are closed, the vision of Jungkook leaning in to kiss you is seared into the backs of your eyelids.

The kiss is over far sooner than you’d like. As Jungkook retreats, he doesn’t go far, instead leaning his forehead against yours, gazing at you longingly. The stars in his eyes have become a full blown galaxy, and you can’t look away. Still recovering from the kiss, Jungkook breathily laughs.

“You make me want to write all the love songs in the world.”

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Margot is tugging insistently on your arm. “Hello? HELLO? Is there anyone in there?” she taps the side of your head. When you don’t respond, she grabs you by both shoulders and gives you a shake.

The room comes back into focus and you look over at your best friend with eyes still lightly glazed over. “Huh?”

“I said, it’s intermission...are you enjoying the show? You certainly seemed distracted by Jungkook-I saw him smile at you,” she grins. “Jin made eye contact with me a couple of times, he even winked!” she gushes, continuing to talk about how hot she thinks he is.

Your stomach feels like it’s dropped completely out of your body, and your throat has gone dry.

“Hey...you okay?” Margot notices that you still seem slightly out of it.

“Yeah, yeah...I just...need another drink, that’s all,” you manage to choke out, turning on your heel and heading straight to the bar. While the bartender works on your drink, you run through everything in your head. The texts...the dinner at the boys’ apartment...the beach. The kiss. None of it was real, was it? What was wrong with you?

You take the drink that’s slid across to you and head outside to a side alley beside the bar. No one’s there, everyone has gone to the bathroom or to refill their drinks while waiting on the band to return. You let out a deep sigh, leaning against the brick wall and running your hands through your hair, making it even frizzier than when the night started. At least it isn’t raining anymore, you think to yourself.

You return to the question Margot had asked you-are you okay? You’re not sure. You’d apparently made eye contact with Jungkook, a man you had never spoken to, and imagined a whole entire relationship with him in the span of half the band’s setlist. Are you that desperate for a man? Apparently. You let out a deep sigh, replaying the scenarios you had created in your head. Once your brain reaches the kiss again, you find yourself getting teary-eyed at how sweet Jungkook had been...in your head. You feel a tear escape, and you quickly swipe it away.

Taking a steadying breath, you push yourself off the wall and move towards the door to head back into the bar. As you reach for the handle, the door swings open and hits you in the shoulder, turning you slightly to the side and spilling your drink on your shirt and the cobblestones of the alley.

“...again?!” you mutter, looking down at your ruined shirt.

“Um...are you okay? I can go get you a new shirt to change into-wait here!” you hear a male’s voice, but as you look up, the bar door is already closing again as he’s gone inside.

A minute later, the door is swinging open again to reveal none other than Jungkook-hair in a half bun, eyeliner smudged, and in a white undershirt and ripped jeans. Just like in your imagination.

He reaches out to you with a black t-shirt in his hand. “Yoongi’s pissed because these aren’t even ready to be sold, but whatever. Just think of it as an exclusive sneak peek or something,” he parrots your imagined scenario you had played in your head moments ago.

“Thanks,” you say as you take the shirt, unfolding it to see the familiar graffiti design.

“It’s the least I could do for a pretty girl whose Eagles tee I ruined, don’t worry about it. Yoongi will get over it.” Jungkook smiles at you the same way he did during the first half of the show. One thing your brain got right are the stars in his eyes sparkling at you, which makes you smile back at him.

“Hey, I need to get back to make sure we’re ready for the second half of the show, but it was nice to meet you. You should hang back after the show-Jin thinks your friend is cute, and he was talking about inviting her to come grab food with us when we’re done. Yoongi can’t come and I don’t want to be a third wheel. Come hang out with us and save me from dying of awkwardness?” he looks at you shyly, his rock star persona melting away completely.

“I’ll think about it,” you tease, turning away and heading back into The Dynasty. Jungkook is left wide eyed in your wake, smiling as he turns to head towards the backstage door.

You meet up with Margot again after changing into your new shirt. The crowd has started to gather in anticipation of the second half of the show. “Hey Mar, let’s move all the way up,” you motion at the space in front of the stage.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?” Margot gapes at you in disbelief, but follows your lead as you weave through the crowd to get to front stage center. You shrug goodnaturedly and just smile as an answer.

A moment later, Jin, Yoongi and Jungkook come from backstage to get in place for the second half of their set. You can see Jungkook scanning the crowd, brows slightly furrowed. You give a small wave, which catches his attention, and his nose scrunches in a smile as he sends an enthusiastic wave back. ‘I like your shirt’ he mouths at you as he settles behind his drum kit, winking as he does so. You can feel the heat creeping onto your cheeks as a bar employee strides across the stage to the mic and the crowd starts cheering.

“Give it up again for Gold Rush!”

Thank you for the forehead kisses it is greatly appreciated!!!!! 😘💕💕

No problem!