Six Months Later

Given the number of times he had moved in his lifetime, Jungkook firmly believed that he could probably handle loading and unloading a truck with all his belongings faster than most hired movers could. Just because he was capable of it didn't mean he enjoyed taking on the task alone, though, and he had to admit there was something amusing about putting Taehyung to work this way.  They'd arrived with the truck at the apartment around noon to find Namjoon waiting in the lobby with a key.  It seemed his new roommate was returning the truck from moving his own belongings with Jin, which meant he'd started at the sort of ungodly hour Jungkook didn't want to imagine.  He only ever got up that early for rehearsals and recording sessions when Namjoon got insistent about it.

In the heat of the August sun, all of their able bodies had begun to perspire with the effort of packing box after heavy box from the truck to the elevator.  As he stood beside the truck, Jungkook heaved a deep breath into his lungs before finally lifting his shirt up over his head and wiping his neck futilely with the drenched fabric. “Yah, this is no time for you to be showing off for the neighbours!” came Taehyung's exasperated moan from inside the truck.  A hand reached out to swat at his young friend, who could only spare a grin in the other's direction.  “Just see if I ever help you move again,” he grumbled.

Before Jungkook could playfully argue, Hoseok came bounding out of the building and up the ramp of the truck bearing a fresh bottle of water for his partner.  “Now now, honey, if we never help him move again we can't guilt him into dog-sitting for our next vacation,” the elder joked as he gazed at Taehyung with the utmost affection.  

Jungkook had never seen a pairing quite like the two who leaned in for a quick kiss inside the truck.  Separately, they were both full of the kind of energy that overwhelmed everyone in their paths.  They seemed to find no lack of joy in life, and buzzed with a vitality that never seemed to stop, even when they were exhausted.  When they were together, sometimes that spirit seemed to obliterate everything in it's path, but at the end of the day they somehow seemed to ground one another.  Tae had always said something about Hoseok understanding him in a way no one else could.  That he knew where the smiles ended and the heart began, and that he was the only one who didn't need the physical evidence of his joy to feel its presence.

It wasn't until the couple separated to take either end of the mattress that Jungkook realized he'd been staring.  Shaking his head, he tossed his shirt atop the stack of boxes he'd gathered and bent to lift them to carry into the building.  Still, his mind was buzzing with the moment.  His own sinewy torso was etched in black ink over nearly every inch.  His arms swirled with words and images that had begun to appear three years earlier.  He always thought he had crystal clear image of his soulmate, and yet the other half of his heart was still woefully absent in his life.  It was difficult not to feel a twinge of jealousy over the way his best friend and his partner seemed to complement one another so perfectly.

Allowing the pair carrying his mattress to leave the elevator first, Jungkook followed with a limited line of vision into the apartment, dropping his boxes in the living room to stretch his arms before he sorted them into their appropriate locations.  As the door swung shut behind him, a low, appreciatively whistle came from the leader of the band who had been busy putting together furniture in the living room.  “Wow,” Namjoon muttered, eyes drinking in the dark marks that covered so much of the maknae's skin.  “I thought you were a late bloomer?  There's no way all those showed up in three years...” he muttered, jaw slack with awe as his eyes drank in as many details as possible.

Irritated, Jungkook was quick to grab his discarded shirt and throw it at the older man, wrinkling his nose as he lifted the first box.  “Why don't you mind your own business, hyung?” he grumbled as he moved into the room that had been designated as his, passing Taehyung and Hoseok as they left to move the truck.  He hadn't really had a choice – his roommate had taken the opportunity to claim the one with the best view with his own bed that morning – but he didn't mind it.  At the end of the day, this guy – this stranger – was doing him a favour by taking him on as a roommate at all. Jungkook couldn't even pay half the rent, but Tae had insisted it was okay.  Something about it being good for the guy.  

Hoping to avoid another incident, Jungkook grabbed his hoodie from where he'd flung it in the corner and zipped it hastily to the top. Not a moment too soon, either, as Namjoon followed him into the room, an unusually apologetic frown gracing his dimpled face.  “Sorry, kid, I didn't mean anything by it.  I just.  You're usually in long sleeves all the time and... I guess... Yeah,” he stumbled through an apology, pushing his hand back through silvery locks as he glanced around.  The younger offered little more than a curt nod as he began to search the room for the suitcase he'd packed to get through the first few nights until he was unpacked.  

“No big, hyung,” he finally managed as he tossed the black trunk on the bed and flung it open quickly grabbing a smaller bag and a set of clothes out.  “Look, I'm gonna take a shower if that's alright with you.  Thanks for helping with the furniture, I really appreciate it.  I'm sure uhm.  Jimin, right?