“So he broke up with you?” Hoseok asked again, stuffing his mouth with rice.

Namjoon felt his hand itch, he really wanted to punch his best friend, “Do you need to rub it in?”

Hoseok winced, hearing the sharp tones of the blond’s voice. It was hard for him to believe that Yoongi and Namjoon would ever split, their four year relationship had gone strong. They seemed like the perfect couple, genius but disorganised nerd and the determined, free-spirited rocker.  Somehow they were a power-couple. And now they were over.

It was hard for the dark haired male to see his friend like this. Namjoon had dark circles under his eyes and he hadn’t touched any of his lunch, only sipping black coffee from the plastic cup. He hadn’t looked this bad since watching Les Miserables for the first time.

“Sorry, Joon. I don’t even know what to say,” Hoseok bit his lip, “I never saw this coming.”

“Well, neither did I,” Namjoon snapped, “but it happened anyway.”

On another thought, maybe he did see it coming but Namjoon had ignored all the signs, hoping they’d go away or that he was mistaken. After all university was a stressful time, especially for Yoongi, who was struggling in his studies, being an English major wasn’t easy.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Hoseok said, pushing his plate away and looking at Namjoon curiously. He could read his friend like an open book. Well, everyone could. Namjoon wasn’t the best at hiding how he felt, his biggest problem was not realizing these feelings.

Namjoon narrowed his eyes, sipping his coffee again, “We had .”

“Like after?”

“He came to get his stuff and he said he missed me, and I just kissed him. I wasn’t thinking straight,” the blond rambled, avoiding looking in Hoseok’s eyes.

“, Joon. When was this?”

“Last night,” Namjoon said, “Do you think there’s still a chance for us?”

Hoseok didn’t answer. He didn’t even know what he could say. He had rooted for them but he didn’t want to give Namjoon false hope. Not when it came to this.  “Did he stay the night?”

The other man shook his head. Yoongi had left moments after, making an excuse that he had lectures tomorrow. Namjoon knew that he didn’t. Yoongi knew that he knew but Namjoon didn’t try to stop him. At least he had an excuse.

The dark haired male sighed, “You have a tutoring session with Kook today. Don’t forget.”

“NOW you’re changing the subject,” Namjoon shot a pointed look to Hoseok, “I know I do, he didn’t leave my dorm until I promised to come today.”

“Wait, he was at your dorm?” Hoseok raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

Namjoon ran a hand through his hair, “We were supposed to have a tutoring session but I bailed. So he showed up with soup and tons of medicine. There was so much cough syrup, I could start my own pharmacy.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why should I? It’s none of your business,” Namjoon spat back, his cheeks going red remembering the peck Jungkook had given him. Okay, yes, there was a reason why he hadn’t told this to Hoseok. “Plus, I thought you knew.”

“It is my business if it’s my brother,” Hoseok was annoyed. Jungkook never went behind his back to do anything.

The blond rolled his eyes, “Why don’t you ask him then? It’s not even that big of a deal.”

“Does he know about Yoongi and you?” the dark haired male asked.

Namjoon shrugged, “If you’re asking if I told him, then no. I don’t think he has any business about my relationships or lack of them.”

Hoseok visibly relaxed, “Well, on another note, I landed a date with this really hot bird from the other side of the year. She’s so hot.”

“Do you even know her name, Seok?” Namjoon laughed, watching his friend squirm in his seat.

“It’s Seulgi. Or Seolhyun?”

….

Yoongi collapsed on the bench, breathing heavily. Seokjin was already there, wiping his sweat with the sleeve of his hoodie. His face was red from the exercise and his hair was sticking to his forehead. The weather was perfect for a jog. And Seokjin kept complaining about eating so much for lunch that he’ll get fat if he doesn’t burn all the calories he ate.

Personally, Yoongi didn’t think that two portions of samgyeopsal could make anyone fat. Even if eaten with kimchi on the side. But he needed to air out his head anyway. His thoughts kept  going back to Namjoon and how he left him last night. Yoongi had wanted to stay, he did. But he couldn’t. He had made a decision and Seokjin was right, it was for the best.

Seokjin hadn’t asked anything about the bruises on his skin. He didn’t have to, somehow he always knew. Yoongi was thankful for that. He didn’t want to talk about it, it was enough that the night didn’t want to leave his head.

The elder handed Yoongi the water bottle, “I won.”

Yoongi gulped down the water, “Nobody told me that I was friends with Sohn Kee-Chung.”

“I’m no Olympic runner, you’re just out of practice,” Seokjin laughed.

They had made a bet about who was going to pay for their next dinner. And obviously Yoongi couldn’t compete with the elder’s long legs.

“ you,” Yoongi said, standing up again. “Let’s go again.”

“Do you really think you can beat me this time? You’re barely standing, Yoongi,” Seokjin said but stood up from the bench nevertheless.

The grey haired male glared at him, “The loser pays for the drinks too.”

Seokjin smirked, “Where’s the finish line?”

…..

Jungkook and Namjoon had moved from the table to Jungkook’s bed, his sheets clean this time. There hadn’t been enough leg space for them both so they had decided just to move. Hoseok had claimed the sofa downstairs watching Music Bank. AOA were having a comeback and Hoseok refused to let anyone else touch the remote. Or even breathe next to him.

There were maths textbooks scattered around them as Namjoon scribbled on the paper furiously, “This is how you calculate the cosine. You just have to know the rule.”

“Okay, once again but slower this time, please,” Jungkook tried to follow Namjoon’s ramblings but it was hard, whenever the elder went into his tutoring mode, his voice sped up at least seven times.

“The rule is b squared plus c squared take away a squared over two times a times b. So if you use the information given and replace the letters with the numbers in the question, you’ll get the equation.”

Jungkook looked at the problem again, “Wait, so if I put five in the place of b and seven in c, then I can calculate it.”

“Yes! Exactly,” Namjoon smiled, “Of course, when it comes to your test, the numbers will probably be more difficult but the same rule applies.”

“Hyung, you might’ve just done the impossible and thought me trigonometry. Well, some of it,” Jungkook looked proud of himself, “Can we try another one?”

Namjoon ruffled the youngest’s hair, a wave of satisfaction coming over him. Maybe this all wasn’t in vain. “Do you want to try to do this one by yourself?”

Jungkook bit his lip, “Okay.”

He watched the younger boy work, his forehead scrunched in concentration and felt his heart warm up from the sight. Jungkook was trying so hard for the first time in his life and despite knowing the kid for just a few weeks, he felt happy to be able to help him. His happiness was contagious even now when Namjoon felt so down.

“Are you done?” The blond asked Jungkook who had slid the book over in front of Namjoon.

He nodded, “I think I am.”

“This is perfect, Jungkook. I think you'll ace this test.”

Jungkook’s eyes lit up, “You think so, hyung? I really need to pass this.”

“Unless you're an idiot and forget it all in one night then yeah,” Namjoon laughed. “Come on, let's move on to real maths now.”

“What do you mean? Was this fake maths?” Jungkook whined.

“We’ll just move on to algorithms. It’s not that bad once you get a hang of it,” Namjoon pulled the book closer flipping through pages.

Jungkook frowned, shifting closer to Namjoon to see the book, “You say that about everything.”

“That’s because it’s true. You play basketball, right?” Jungkook nodded. “You probably weren’t too good at it when you first started. But the more you practice the better you get. ”

The younger boy hummed in agreement, before letting Namjoon continue, “With maths it’s just the same. Nobody is good at first, but the more they try the easier it gets. Maths needs effort.”

“Did you need a long time to learn this?”

“No,” Namjoon broke into loud laughter, “I’m just really good at maths.”

Jungkook collapsed in his bed, his face hitting the cold pages of his maths book, “That’s not very reassuring.”

It was time for dinner and Namjoon could’ve just left but there was no appeal to returning to his lukewarm dorm alone. So Jungkook’s mum took pity on him and invited him to have dinner together with their family. “Just like good old times,” she said, setting the rice in front of him.

Namjoon smiled back, his stomach grumbling. He didn’t remember the last time he had a home cooked meal. Even though he had left home on good terms, there was a hesitation to return. “Thank you,” he watched her set the rest of the table filling it with multiple side dishes.

There were only a few things better than Hoseok’s mother’s cooking. Even when she was busy at work she found a way to make a nice meal and to have her family to sit around one table. It was the way they kept such close family ties and the reason Hoseok hadn’t moved out to live in a dorm.

“It’s nice to see you again, Namjoon,” Hoseok’s father said, sitting at the table, his usual suit changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, “I haven’t seen you here since, what, you were seventeen?”

Namjoon could only chuckle, “Yeah, probably.”

The two brothers were just watching the exchange in amusement. Their father was anything but subtle and Hoseok could tell that Namjoon will regret the moment he agreed to the invitation to stay late. Or, at least, Hoseok hoped so. He needed some new blackmail material.

On the other hand, as much fun as Jungkook was having right now, he was worried about Namjoon staying. There was just something about having dinner with his parents and his first kiss at the same time. Jungkook hadn’t forgotten that night. Yes, he pretended not to remember around Namjoon but in reality, even his vodka and coke brain dizzied brain wasn’t enough to dull the sharpness of the memory of their lips pressed together.

“So how’s the tutoring going, Namjoon?” His mother asked, finally sitting at the table, a large pot of kimchi jigae in front of them.

Tutoring was the least of Jungkook’s problems at the moment but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, “Shouldn’t you be asking that to me, mum?”

She raised her eyebrow, “And then you’d lie to me about how well everything is going, just like past few years? I know you too well, Jungkook.”

He flushed as Namjoon spoke up, “Actually, it’s going very well. Jungkook’s finally catching up on maths and I think his english is getting better too.”

Jungkook’s parents smiled proudly. It was rare to hear this kind of praise from anyone if it was regarding academics. Hoseok was listening half-heartedly, stuffing his mouth with food. His mum  smacked his head, making him choke, “Shouldn’t you congratulate your brother too?”

“Am oly, wongrat s bvo,” is what he said. What he meant was, “I’m sorry, congrats, bro.” But the rice proved to be an obstacle, where speaking was concerned.

Their father cleared his throat, “So, Namjoon, you’re gay, huh?”

Namjoon choked on his soup without any additional help, sputtering over the table, “Uh-”

“Dad!” Jungkook said his cheeks red, “You can’t just ask people if they’re gay.”

“You know, it’s alright. We accept everyone as they are. Jungkook’s gay too and we accept that,” his dad said, casually continuing to eat his dinner, while Namjoon, Hoseok and Jungkook were all staring at him wide eyed.

Hoseok was in the most shock, “You’re gay too, Kook?”

“Yeah, hyung,” he couldn’t look his brother in the eye. It was something he didn’t want to tell anyone, even his parents, who had found out accidentally, stumbling upon a fan letter to Big Bang, where he had professed his love for G-Dragon. It wasn’t the most pleasant of conversations but at least they were accepting.

Namjoon had expected it. Well, rather experienced it first hand, their little rendezvous still fresh in his mind. He was more surprised to hear that Hoseok didn’t know. Especially after that spectacle in the cafeteria earlier that day. Maybe after all it wasn’t the best decision to stay for dinner.

“So, are you two dating then?” Hoseok’s dad gestured between Jungkook and Namjoon, who sputtered again, this time even without any food in his mouth. “Jungkook needs someone smart like you.”

They both frantically shook their heads, like scared chickens. “No. no. no, dad, we’re not dating,” Jungkook cried out.

“Remember, no in the house.” His dad picked up his spoon again, digging in his rice.

Hoseok was on the verge of tears.