jung hoseok is annoying.

min yoongi himself has known this ever since he first saw the former.

hoseok had transferred to hogwarts during year five directly from a private wizard school in japan. the rumour as to why he moved revolved around him somehow being the cause of an explosion in the potions room, (over there, it was called a laboratory, how fancy is that?) and resulted in him being expelled from the academy. yoongi distinctly remembers the megawatt smile on display and long legs walking up the stairs, before gracefully being seated unto the fated chair for house-sorting. yoongi swears that he saw mcgonagall's eyes twitch from the brightness of the guy's smile, but that might've just been his own. he remembers hearing a gravelly, heavily accented voice that didn't match the newcomer’s classic, elegant looks whatsoever, and a laugh so loud and unapologetic that it echoed throughout the entire crowded dining hall.

the sorting hat spoke tremendously fast once it was placed upon the his head, and the light and wonder in hoseok's eyes made the the girls coo and the professors smile, instantly taking a liking to the young man’s charm and curiosity. meanwhile, yoongi wanted to be anywhere but the great dining hall, witnessing such unimportant things.

“too bright, too bright! yet gentle, and with unyielding kindness. innocently naive, yet smarter than one would think..what’s that? oh, of course. i believe that you and i both already know where you belong."

jung hoseok was sorted into hufflepuff, and it surprised no one.

>>>

a month or so into the new school term, current sixth-year yoongi finds himself in the potions classroom grumbling in a way the can only be described as troll-like. he’s irritated beyond belief at the teen who sits across from him, glaring at him for no reason as hoseok studiously takes notes and taps his quill on the table, scribbling lightly for no reason at all.

jung hoseok is annoying , and yoongi has no idea what kind of curse was put upon him to force him to have to deal with such a person. it totally wasn't his fault for agreeing to tutor him in potions; the guy had a voice that could make anyone feel at home and brown puppy eyes. yoongi was defenseless was from the start.

so, he spends most of his free time in the cramped and heavily cluttered potions room, teaching and guiding the younger through multiple recipes. (he recalls one incident in which, in an attempt to make hair-changing potion, hoseok had accidentally ingested highly toxic belladonna and spent a week in the apothecary wing. he really does need serious help with potions.)

and although hoseok is annoying, he has a pure heart and good intentions, so yoongi can’t really bring himself to dislike the younger too much.

yoongi mostly just hates how he insists on using virtually every surface as a drum set, including multiple expensive, deeply treasured family heirlooms; why he had them in the first place, yoongi doesn’t know.

when hoseok’s mother finds out about the broken family china and shattered vanity mirror that was passed down for five generations, she sends a howler. a very, very intense howler.

everyone insists upon having permanent hearing damage from ms. jung's yelling.

<<<

as hoseok’s presence appears more frequently in yoongi’s world, they develop some type of friendship. it makes yoongi feel a bit strange, considering no one really seems to want him around, but then he’s around hoseok and it feels like a spotlight is being shone upon him constantly from the younger's caramel brown eyes. it makes him feel things that he's never experienced before, but he's not at all opposed to the flood of new emotions.

at first, everyone doubts the truthfulness of their friendship. an antisocial slytherin and a hufflepuff whose very existence rivals the brightness of the sun being friends? it might not be as uncommon as a slytherin and a gryffindor getting along, but it’s pretty damn close. not to mention that jeon jungkook and kim taehyung had long dispelled that cautionary tale between houses with how many times they were caught 'getting along' in empty corridors and the bathrooms of hogsmeade.

most in the hufflepuff house (and the entirety of hogwarts) already dislike yoongi just for being a pure-blood slytherin, and they develop an even more extensive distaste for him once they notice hoseok following him around like a lost puppy. park jimin corners him more than once, threatening that if he hurts hoseok then he will have hell to pay. (yoongi has no idea how he stopped himself from laughing in his face, because honestly, what can a hufflepuff do to give him hell?)

the compatibility between them is definitely strange, but hoseok doesn't care. he doesn't care about the glares and odd looks they receive whenever he initiates skin-ship between the two, or yells across the dining hall to the slytherin table. he doesn't care about the warning whispers from his other friends about yoongi being a bad person and telling him that he’s just a joke to his ‘best friend’- instead, he reassures yoongi that he trusts him, that he’s a great friend, and that his house and his blood do not define him. it's almost too much for yoongi to handle; he’s never been the center of so much positive attention, so much friendliness.

hoseok doesn’t care, therefore yoongi doesn’t care; and despite everyone refuting the existence of their friendship, things start to subtly add up.

-one day, a slytherin named jiho insults hoseok, calling him weak and insulting his ‘disgusting half-muggle family.” he talks about yoongi’s best friend for three days, until the fateful afternoon that jiho escorted to the nurse's wing with his tongue literally tied in a knot and a broken nose. yoongi is the only slytherin that doesn't visit him. Instead, he's helping hoseok with potions again.

-during a semifinal quidditch match, a gryffindor beater named mingyu hits hoseok in the face with his bludger. it’s obviously a foul, but nothing happens, and mingyu laughs tauntingly in hoseok’s currently-bleeding face. the next thing mingyu knows, he’s on the ground and his bludger is beating its owner by itself. no one notices yoongi whispering under his slytherin-themed scarf. (it’s truly a hilarious sight to behold, and hoseok’s smile is still just as breathtaking, even though his mouth is full of blood and his pointed nose is beginning to bruise and swell.)

-moonbyul's potion to make hoseok fall in love her is ‘accidentally’ given to yongsun, who spends the next week following her around. everyone thinks they look cute together, except for moonbyul.

yoongi doesn't like to talk about that last one too much.

kim namjoon, a studious ravenclaw as well as the clumsiest person at hogwarts, is the closest person to a best friend yoongi has other than hoseok, and is coincidentally the first person to catch on.

“you like him, don't you?” namjoon asks one night. they’re sitting in one of the many hidden catacombs within the walls of hogwarts, studying together and simply enjoying the tranquility of the other’s presence. they never have time to hang out during the day, and if yoongi goes anywhere near the ravenclaw dormitory, a literal raven flies at him and attacks. it's a new low when even animals are trained to hate you.

“like who?” yoongi replies offhandedly. he’s concentrating on finishing up an essay on muggle communication systems, and the topic is actually a bit interesting. maybe he could talk to hoseok about it; he has first-hand experience, after all. yoongi also has to focus on not smearing ink all over his palm and the paper, ruining his hard work. being left handed is a horrible fate to be sentenced to, only adding to the luggage of ‘bad ’ that he’s been carrying around since birth.

namjoon rolls his eyes and gently closes his novel, (history and physiology of mermaids, the title reads. yoongi sighs, because of course namjoon is obsessed with mermaids now. he can already hear the multiple lectures and speeches he’s going to receive on the subject from his friend.)

“oh, i don't know,” the ravenclaw retorts sarcastically, “maybe the only other person you actually talk to other than me?”

“nina the house elf? that's a bit of a stretch, even for someone as single as me,” yoongi says. he ignores the real question, the real answer that swirls around in his mind, begging to be spat out in the form of a whispered confession under the cover of darkness.

namjoon sighs. his friend can’t help that he’s stubborn, he knows that, but everything would be a whole lot easier if he could just accept his own emotions.

“why dont you just tell him?”

it's quiet for a few minutes while yoongi thinks over his words, thinks about hoseok.

hoseok.

those simple characters that name the person whose smile can knock down his brick wall of a personality, a name that captures what makes yoongi’s world go round.

he thinks of hushed laughter in the library, as they sneak into the forbidden section and read conspiracy theories of secret, controversial relationships between previous headmasters of the school that are so beyond ridiculous that they can't handle it. he thinks of his best friend rambling for extended periods of time about his love for plants and nature, and voluntarily working long hours in the greenhouse with only yoongi’s presence and a comfortable silence to keep him company. late night confessions in the astronomy tower of their greatest fears and most embarrassing stories. bright smiles and brighter eyes, a gaze that he can immediately feel and connect with across any hallway and any room, no matter how big or crowded the space between them is.

he admires that hoseok isn't ashamed of his emotions, how he's brave enough to smile when situations turn sour and strong enough to know when he needs to lay down his defenses and cry things out. he likes his optimism and the little notes of pretty cursive he sticks on yoongi’s forehead before he leaves to his own dorm. yoongi keeps every single note, no matter how silly or dumb the message is. he cherishes everything’; every waking moment with hoseok is a reminder that he's not a terrible person, that’s he's not a bother or too stoic to be around.

he likes, no, he treasures hoseok and the way in which he makes yoongi feel more alive, more accepted, and happier than he's ever felt before.

“it's just...i do like him. there’s truly no point in lying about it anymore. i really, really ing like him. he's so bright and lovely and wonderful and i don't want to ruin what we already have. i don't want him to find a reason to hate me. he hasn't so far, and i don't intend on him ever doing so.”

namjoon nods in understanding, and his dimples show as he gives a sympathetic smile in his friend’s direction.

“i get that, but what if you keeping this from him makes him find a reason? hoseok isn’t the type of person to hate you for being interested in him the way you are. he’d probably like you back, or in the very least stick around.”

“because he actually likes me, or because he feels bad that no one else does?” yoongi questions, his voice quieter than the drafts of air that sweep through the large corridors of the castle during the night.

the space between them is tense with the pressure of an unanswered question, the weight of an impossible response. hooting can be heard from the mail room, along with the whispers of the characters in the paintings saying ‘good night’ and bidding each other goodbye until the morrow.

yoongi rolls up his scroll of parchment, the concluding statement of the essay unfinished and his mind in a whirlwind. he stands and ruffles a sullen, confused looking namjoon’s hair.

“i’m going to bed. see you tomorrow, joon.”

namjoon waves half-heartedly, and wishes for his friend to just allow himself to be happy.