Yoongi stared at the open box sitting in front of him, unbridled excitement rolling off him in palpable waves.

The box itself, of course, wasn’t the important bit. It was just your average cardboard box used for shipments, and even slightly battered in some places from the delivery process. No, no. It was what was in the box that had him nearly thrumming with anticipation.

Jungkook’s gift had arrived.

❃❃❃

“I’m sorry, what?” Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows over his coffee mug. They were at Yoongi’s favorite cafe, but it was way too early in the morning for this, and Yoongi knew he shouldn't have told him. He repeated himself anyway, and rolled his eyes when Hoseok arched an eyebrow, setting the mug back down carefully.

“Yoongi. I don’t know whether to call you adorable or weird.”

“Adorable. Jungkook is going to be ecstatic .” Yoongi sipped from his own cup, the flavor of black coffee and self satisfaction pleasant on his tongue. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t proud of himself.

“I guess I don’t know him as well as you-”

“You don’t.”

“-but is he really going to, uh… enjoy that? I know you’re secretly a goof under the rough exterior, but he seems a bit too… self-conscious? For that.”

Yoongi considered this for a moment before nodding.

“You’re right, but that’s why we won’t be hanging out with any of you s on Christmas. He’s ing adorable when we’re alone.”

Hoseok chuckled, leaning back in his chair and bringing his mug with him.

“I would say he sounds like you, but you have no shame, so,” Hoseok shrugged, then giggled. “Oh god, remember that one time in high school when our whole class when out for karaoke?”

“I ing killed it with Eyes Nose Lips,” Yoongi nodded, face serious, before nearly throwing his coffee in Hoseok’s face when he had the audacity to snort.

“Renowned badass Min Yoongi sings karaoke, shocking everyone, and then when the poor saps mistook that for you being approachable, you were back to your self and told them to off,” Hoseok shook his head, sighing dramatically. Yoongi just nodded.

“Well yeah. Just because I’m comfortable with myself doesn’t mean I wanted to be friends with any of those dumbs. They were all annoying and not worth my time. I regret nothing.”

Hoseok seemed amused by this statement, and leaned forward, batting his eyelashes and making kissy faces.

“Ah, so I was worth your time, hyung?”

This time it was Yoongi’s turn to snort.

“As if. You wouldn’t leave me the alone.”

Hoseok just grinned, one of those -eating ones that stirred an age-old desire to slug it off his face, because unfortunately, Yoongi knew exactly what he was thinking about. Back in high school, Yoongi (being the kind soul that he is and was) would notice when the stupid guy that always followed him around would forget his big, obnoxious, green water bottle (honestly, it was covered in stickers and hard to miss), and Yoongi would go and get him one from the vending machine and leave it next to his things for when he was done with after school dance practice. Any decent human being would do that, and while Yoongi had his faults, he liked to think he was at least a decent human being.

“Alright, calm yourself Hoseok. And anyway, I gotta go. It’s already almost ten, and I have I need to get done before tonight. Ugh, I can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve,” Yoongi grumbled, standing and stretched his arms above his head. Hoseok followed suit. “Namjoon said six, does that mean we should actually show up at eight?”

“No, because Jin and Jimin are hosting this year, which means you should probably actually show up at five.”

Yoongi grunted. Right, it was their year to host.

“Aight, see yah.”

“Bye, hyung.”

❃❃❃

Yoongi frowned at his closet. Jin had said semi-formal, but Jimin had said classy-casual. So which the was it? And what the hell did either of those things mean anyway? Was there a difference?

To: Hottie McHotPants

What the hell does semi-formal and/or classy casual even /mean/????

From: Hottie McHotPants

Same. But Taehyung helped me figure it out. I’ll come help hold on

To: Hottie McHotPants

Oh thank god. See yah

❃❃❃

“Outfit first, then cookies, or cookies then outfit?” Jungkook asked, shrugging off his coat and stepping into his slippers before moving toward the bedroom to hang his own outfit in the closet for later.

“Outfit first, I don’t want to rush that right before we leave.” Yoongi wandered in after the younger, following him to the closet. Jungkook simply hummed in response, rifling through Yoongi’s clothes for a minute before pulling out a solid black shirt with a slight v-neck, a fitted grey blazer, and Yoongi’s nicest pair of dark jeans.

“These, your silver watch, and the black belt with the silver clasp. Oh and your black oxfords with the laces, not the boots I know you were thinking about wearing. Trust me hyung, they wouldn’t match.”

Yoongi glared at the smirk adorning the younger’s face.

“ Bull . Tae did not help you figure out anything, .”

The corner of Jungkook’s lip twitched in amusement, and he leaned in to press a teasing kiss to Yoongi’s pouting lips. Yoongi should’ve known better. Jungkook wasn’t really close enough to any of Yoongi’s friends yet to casually hang out without Yoongi instigating it.

“Yeah, I lied. Now come on, those cookies aren’t going to bake themselves.”

Yoongi huffed, but followed him back out into the kitchen. Leaning against the island, it was with mild amusement and a secret twinge of pleasure that Yoongi watched the younger moving about, pulling out mixing bowls and ingredients without having to ask where anything was. Yoongi hadn’t noticed, before, just how comfortable Jungkook had become in his apartment, and his mind began to wander further, contemplating. He considered the slippers snug on the younger’s feet, his extra toothbrush in Yoongi’s bathroom, his clothes sitting in Yoongi’s hamper from the last time he slept over, and the fresh ones hanging in the closet for the next time. The key, hanging on Jungkook’s keyring.

“Hyung, are you going to help out or just stare at me the whole time?” Jungkook interrupted his thoughts, still in the midst of tying an apron around his waist. Yoongi would think about all that later.

“What? I thought you were going to make a show of this.” Yoongi cocked an eyebrow and moved toward him, snaking his arms around the younger’s waist and smirking up at him. “No baking in just an apron or something?”

Yoongi was surprised when Jungkook pushed him up against the island, the cold edge eating into his back, but the younger’s breath hot against his ear as he leaned in.

“No,” Jungkook breathed, then giggled and pulled away, turning back to the pile of supplies on the counter. “Come on, we’re gonna make these cookies awesome . Besides, I’m pretty sure your ideas are unsanitary. Can you imagine what Jin-hyung would do if he ever found out about something like that?”

Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, throw a fit like the damn princess he is. But fine, no inappropriate cookie-making. I do insist, however, that Christmas music be blasted for the entire process.”

Jungkook placed a hand on his heart, looking scandalized.

“I can’t believe that was even in question. What kind of lowlife do you take me for?”

Yoongi dragged him in for a long kiss before going and setting up the music.

❃❃❃

Baking the cookies took maybe longer than necessary (it was totally necessary to dollop some dough on Kookie’s face and then proceed to run around the kitchen chasing each other with doughy whisks), but Yoongi enjoyed himself, belting out Christmas songs with Jungkook (his enthusiasm made up for any lacking talent) and stealing as many kisses as he could. They had debated on which cookie cutters to use before deciding to just use all of them (“Each cookie will be unique, you know? Like a snowflake. Except for the snowmen. I made like five of those.” “Hyung… why? ”), and now they were finally to the last stages of the process. Icing .

“I can make my snowman punk if I want to,” Jungkook insisted, waving the black icing around.

“I didn’t say you can’t , I said Jimin is going to kill us for not making ‘elegant’ cookies to match the theme.”

“Screw that. Let’s make all  of them punk, or goth, or, or… hippies!” Jungkook declared, a slightly wild look in his eyes.

Sometimes, he got like this. Never in public, or around Yoongi’s friends (Jungkook was just too shy for that yet), but when they were alone and Jungkook was comfortable, his internal goofy stubbornness would just sorta… roll free. Most days, he remained calm and collected and reasonable, and around most people, he remained relatively quiet, but Yoongi was well aware of Jungkook’s rebellious streak, still with him even in adulthood, and it was something that Yoongi was very much be on board with, most of the time.

Yoongi stared at him for a moment before getting on tiptoes to wrap his arms around Jungkook’s neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss, unable to contain himself. Jungkook responded with equal fervor, hands sliding into his hair, and lips parting easily. Yoongi broke away, after a second, to mouth along his jaw and down his throat.

“Did you know that I am absolutely madly in love with you?” Yoongi asked, breathless.

“Yes,” Jungkook grinned down at him, smile lopsided and toothy, and absolutely stunning. Yoongi liked how ruffled he looked. He hoped he looked the same.

“Alright, now lets make these cookies look totally badass. I want my angel to have a leather jacket, and my bell to have a peace sign.”

“Hyung, do you know how much I love you? ”

❃❃❃

Jimin and Jin handled it pretty well, considering how much they both clearly wanted to strangle Jungkook and Yoongi for screwing up their theme. Yoongi wasn’t too concerned. Literally everything else was color-coordinated (carefully chosen decorations in gold and white, Jimin’s gold bowtie and suspenders, Jin’s white pants and pale gold cable knit sweater), they could deal with the small stain of black and rainbow colored cookies stacked on the also-color-coordinated pristine white tray with the stupid little gold finish along the edges. They at least couldn’t complain about the flavor of the cookies or the quality of the art. Jungkook was a master, and even Yoongi wasn’t terrible (Okay, he was pretty terrible at the decorating, but Jungkook had fixed things for him as they went along).

Fortunately, they hadn’t been the first (or last) to arrive. Hoseok and Namjoon had already been chatting with Jin and Jimin on the couch, their own contribution of hot buttered rum steaming in mugs on the counter (and the ingredients for abundant amounts more already waiting on the stove and in the fridge). Yoongi and Jungkook had deposited their own contribution on the counter and grabbed mugs before joining the others on the couch. The cookie situation had blown over after a few minutes.

“You’re an idiot, you know.” Hoseok murmured to Yoongi, though hiding a grin in his mug. Yoongi shrugged.

“It was Jungkook’s idea, and I fully supported it. Jin will get over it,” Yoongi said firmly, unapologetic, and even a shade proud of his boyfriend for actually going through with the whole thing at all. Hoseok glanced over at the younger.

Jungkook was quiet, as usual, and Yoongi couldn’t help but feel a touch guilty about it. It was his own fault, really. Jungkook was timid around people he didn’t know very well, but they were always so busy with work that they didn’t really hang out with the group as much as they should. Yoongi would have to fix that.

As it was right now, however, Jungkook probably looked reserved and a bit cold to the others. The knit grey turtleneck, sharp black blazer, and tight, dark jeans probably didn’t help either. He looked reserved and handsome as hell. Good thing Yoongi’s friends didn’t give two s about things like personal space or people who should probably have been intimidating (a fact that Yoongi was only now beginning to appreciate).

“So, Jungkook, how goes the go? Any weird sets recently?” Namjoon asked, leaning past Hoseok to grin at Jungkook.

“Oh, yeah! I saw those sets for Blackpink that you designed, the music video looked awesome. Any weird we should anticipate soon?” Hoseok asked, plastering on his usual grin and wiggling his eyebrows. Jungkook nodded at the couple, smiling slightly.

“Oh yeah. This new group is about to debut and you know how things are when they first start out. The company wants me to design the most ridiculous -” Jungkook was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.

“ALRIGHT LADIES, THE PARTY CAN START. I AM HERE ,” Taehyung strutted in carrying what appeared to be a stack of board games, precariously topped with three large bottles of expensive wine. Jimin jumped up to help him, grabbing the wine bottles before they could take a rather unfortunate spill. Taehyung brought the games into the living room, dropping them onto the coffee table and plopping down on the floor in front of it (and probably wrinkling his expensive suit) before grinning around at everyone. “Well well well, Merry Christmas Eve, yah filthy animals. Sorry I’m a bit late. Didja miss me? Traffic was terrible getting over here-”

“Tae, you live literally two floors down,” Jin interjected.

“-but I did bring wine and entertainment, so I like to think that more than makes up for my tardiness.”

Namjoon chuckled and Hoseok clapped his hands in delight.

“Hell yeah. I say we play Red Flags, and every time your date isn’t chosen, you have to gulp some wine.” Hoseok declared.

“Wine? Wouldn’t you normally take shots in a drinking game?” Jimin asked, taking his seat by Jin.

“Yes, but we are no longer in college and we have this nice fancy- wine that Taehyung so kindly brought along, and I say we use it. That, or you could chug your buttered rum, but that would require me turning on the stove to heat up the cider, and that sounds like an awful lot of work for refills.” Hoseok replied, already reaching for the little red box near the top of the stack.

“Fair,” Jimin grinned leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. His shirt sleeves had been rolled up to the elbows and Yoongi idly wondered if Jin would get annoyed at his husband for wrinkling the expensive fabric. Good thing Taehyung wasn’t the married one, Jin would probably have killed him by now.

“Jungkook, have you played Red Flags before?” Namjoon asked, turning to the younger. Jungkook shook his head.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll love it. Tae, explain while I go grab some wine glasses.” Jin rose and swept into the kitchen. Taehyung complied with much enthusiasm, and after Jin came back and everyone was settled with a glass of wine, they started, with Taehyung as the first designated “Single”. Yoongi was the first to lay down his chosen cards.

“Alright, Tae. My date for you ‘Is a vampire, the y kind’, and has the same favorite music as you.” Yoongi winked at Taehyung, and the latter threw a hand over his heart.

“Ooh, vampire. Can you imagine those fangs in bed? Oh god, I think I’m in love. Alright, Jungkookie-ah, top that.”

“Uhm. My date for you is a famous rapper,” Jungkook laid the card down carefully. “And uh. They love children.”

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone else in the room let out a collective groan, except Taehyung, who was too busy bouncing around on the floor and squealing in excitement to care.

“Jeon Jungkook, what are you playing at?” Yoongi asked accusingly, poking his grinning boyfriend in the ribs. “Acting all innocent and shy and then pulling out this bomb. This isn’t even fair.”

Jungkook smirked, tapping under Yoongi’s chin. “I can’t help that Taehyung is the most open person I’ve ever met, and that I happened to get perfect cards.”

Jimin, who would be the one assigned to ruining Jungkook’s date, leaned forward to glare at the younger. “I will destroy you, punk. And speaking of which. Tae, my one true bestie, my brotp partner, my soulmate, my twin, the love of my life - ” Jin yelped in objection, “TaeBae. My date for you… Loves to cuddle and loves dogs. What more do you need in life?”

“Fair point,” Taehyung nodded thoughtfully, before grinning wickedly. “Except actually, what more is them loving kids and being a famous rapper. Seriously, Jimin, come on. That’s like… dream come true. The perfect man.”

Jimin groaned and shot Jungkook another death glare, and while Yoongi knew he was joking, the elder also slightly worried about his boyfriend. He noticed the way Jungkook drew into himself just slightly, even though his face remained confident and even a smudge smug. Jungkook was probably torn between wanting to feel welcome and therefore worrying about having stepped on toes, but also his inherent competitiveness. Yoongi casually put his arm around the younger, and worried a little less when Jungkook melted into his side. He wanted him to be comfortable.

“Alright, well Taehyungie, my date for you is the most physically attractive person you have ever seen, and they have the same favorite movies as you, which means endless Ghibli nights with the most attractive person you will ever find,” Jin says, clearly smug as he lays down his cards.

Taehyung had sat up straight at the mention of Ghibli, and he simply continued to do so, staring at Jin, mouth hanging slightly open, for a few seconds. He closed his mouth. Opened it again. Stuttered something incoherent.

“  ,” Jungkook whispered, clearly meaning for only himself and maybe Yoongi to hear, but it effectively broke the moment because everyone heard, which meant Hoseok, Jimin, and Taehyung were now rolling on top of their significant others (or the floor, in Taehyung’s case), laughing their asses off, and Jin was giggling in triumph. Namjoon and Yoongi were chuckling, and the latter squeezed the very red Jungkook still leaning into his side, kissing the side of his had.

After finishing up the round, it ended up being Namjoon who won. His date had been a little strange (a yoga instructor who lives off the grid), but Jungkook and Jin’s dates had ended up “kicking every animal they see” and “slept with one of your parents - recently”, respectively, which were deal breakers in Taehyung’s eyes. Namjoon’s date’s flaw had been the only one stomachable: “refusing to delete their online dating profile.” Considering their lifestyle off the grid, Taehyung figured that seemed reasonable. They probably couldn’t delete their online dating profile.

Everyone but Namjoon ended up drinking (or, that’s how it was supposed to go, but Namjoon also drank because he wasn’t really interested in dealing with his drunk friends sober), and they decided it need to be the entire wine glass, because that game took way too long.

They took things slower after the first glass (Hoseok, Taehyung, and Jungkook were already getting tipsy), but continued playing games. Yoongi watched as Jungkook seemed to grow more comfortable with everyone, a combination of the alcohol and the easy banter that came along with playing games, and it wasn’t until the younger leaned in and kissed him that Yoongi realized he had been grinning at him.

Yoongi wanted this. Wanted Jungkook to fit perfectly into his life, wanted the younger by his side for everything, big and small. Wanted his friends to love and accept Jungkook as much as they did each other. Wanted Jungkook to want to be with him, and with them, and simply in his life.

Staring at Jungkook, as the younger turned to laugh at something Taehyung had said, head falling back with the force of it, Yoongi couldn’t help but feel at ease. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just his love addled brain, but with all the Christmas lights twinkling behind him, and his head tipped back like that, Jungkook seemed to glow . He was beautiful. Radiant. And he was Yoongi’s.

author's notes: