Jungkook stares at Hoseok, wondering why it feels different than it used to.  There used to be a perpetually fuzzy feeling that rushed through his veins when Hoseok offered a smile.  However, it’s not there, warming him to the core for no reason other than happiness.

It’s the first time that Jungkook has seen Hoseok since his wedding.  Hoseok is goofing around in the practice room, throwing out a random series of dance moves to no music with his ridiculously bright smile plastered across his face.  The rest of the dancers in the room giggle at Hoseok and always asking about the honeymoon or his wife as their conversation moves from topic to topic.

Jungkook watches silently from the back wall while he stretches, mulling over how he feels.  He’s not jealous (not that he’s ever really been jealous; it wasn’t that kind of love).  However, the usual adoration that goes past looking up to Hoseok is noticeably absent from his emotional tally.

Jungkook spreads his legs apart as far as they can go, ultimately reaching for his left foot.  He doesn’t dwell on his feelings; he assumes that it means he’s finally free from unrequited love.  He almost pats himself on the back, now he can focus on what’s important: the competition.

There’s no denying that when Jungkook sets him mind to something, there’s a glimmer in his eyes.  The glimmer reveals his innermost ambitions in terms of his passion.  He’s dead-set on winning this competition, not only for the prize money, but it will prove to everyone (his parents) that he can be something.  Not that he’s only in this crew to prove his parents that not going to college despite his stellar academic record wasn’t a mistake.  Or he’ll prove it to himself that he made a good choice.

Jungkook moves to switch legs but finds a familiar pair of long legs in front of him.  Hoseok is standing in front of him with a wide smile plastered on his face. Hoseok sits right in front of Jungkook.  “How’s it?”

Jungkook nods, “It’s going fine.  Just trying to stay focused.”  He doesn’t mean for his responses to be clipped, but he’d never been particularly eloquent in front of Hoseok.

Hoseok smiles softly, “You guys are going to blow the competition away.  Besides, I helped choreograph it, so obviously you have an edge.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes as an involuntary smile stretches across his face.  Hoseok never fails to draw a smile or laugh when he aims for it. (That’s one of the reasons that Jungkook felt like his bones were made of marshmallows when Hoseok is around).  “Aren’t you a bit biased?”

Hoseok scoffs, laying a hand over his heart with a false look of offense, “I could never be biased.  I speak only the truth!” Hoseok ruffles Jungkook’s hair after his expression dissolves back into a smile, “Ready to practice?”

Jungkook nods, bringing his legs together while Hoseok stands up to offer him a hand.  Jungkook almost accepts it, but there’s Namjoon’s voice in his head prattling on about how Jungkook can’t and won’t get over Hoseok if he keeps clinging onto little bits of contact.

Jungkook stands on his own, wiping his hands off on his pants despite the fact that they aren’t dirty.  Hoseok throws an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders.  The butterflies in Jungkook’s stomach are noticeably absent.

Jungkook combs his fingers through his damp hair.  It’s wetter than usual, a result of Junhong dumping a half-full water bottle on his head after their final run through of the evening.  Jungkook can’t help but leave practice with a smile.  His crush on a (now) married man has dissolved, and their choreography is so well polished that Jungkook could do it his sleep.  It’s seamless and flows between solos and group movement with ease (somewhat attributable to Hoseok’s final touches).

Jungkook checks his phone for the time.  It’s earlier than he would have guessed.  He smiles to himself because he might even have ramen at the convenience store, having enough time for it for the first time in a long time.  He resists the urge to skip along the sidewalk as he makes his way to the convenience store.

A ding greets him as the door opens, hitting him with a blast of cool air. The old man that stands behind the counter glances up from his evening edition of the newspaper, welcoming him quietly with a subtle smile and a tip of his head.

Jungkook snakes around the stacks of snacks, heading straight for the variety of ramen cups.  A spicy chicken flavored cup of ramen calls to Jungkook’s soul, prompting the boy to look around as if he’s going to get caught (by Jimin) before he makes a grab at the Styrofoam cup.  He smiles to himself, stopping by the refrigerated cases to pick up a single bottle of banana milk as he makes his way to the counter.

The old man sets his newspaper aside to scan Jungkook’s items.  His total is higher than his usual, but Jungkook has enough money is his tattered wallet to pay for his food and drink.

He accepts his change and cheap wooden chopsticks before he makes his way to the back of the convenience store where there is a bar with three stools, a pitcher of water, and a microwave.

Jungkook tears the shrink-wrap off of the cup, peeling back the paper lid before pouring just enough water into the dry noodles to cook them the way that he likes.  He quickly sticks it in the microwave, dialing in the amount of time he wants in order to perfect his ramen.

Jungkook whips out his phone as he waits for the microwave to go off.  He takes a seat one of the stools, thumbing through various apps, ultimately landing on a celebrity gossip app and reading only the headlines:

Song Jihyo and Kang Gary (of Leessang) spotted out together with linked hands! Are they more than just the Monday couple?

Mysterious singer V is set to release a new album, when will he reveal himself? We want to see the face that belongs to the voice!

Super Junior cancels tour for reasons unknown leaving ELFs disappointed and wanting answers

Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae: Trouble in Hip-hop paradise?

The microwave emits three short beeps, keeping Jungkook from actually clicking on one of the articles (or more specifically the Big Bang articles).  He retrieves his hot cup of carbs, trying to get it to his seat at the bar without spilling any of the liquid or burning his hands.

He pulls apart his chopsticks, rubbing them against each other under the bar to keep the owner from seeing.  He peels back the lids, unleashing a column of white steam that curls off of the surface of red liquid.  As he waits for the steam to dissipate just enough, he sticks his straw through the foil lid of his banana milk.  He glances at his phone, which has been set down to the left of his cup of ramen.  He has ten minutes to eat it before his bus gets to the stop.

He shovels giant clump of steaming, spicy noodles into his mouth, beginning to chew, but almost choking when a finger pokes his cheek.  He violently coughs after roughly swallowing his half-chewed ramen, looking at the person who has interrupted him.  There’s a crinkle-eyed, smiling brighter than the midday sun Taehyung.  He’s wearing yet another beanie (making Jungkook wonder exactly how many beanies this guy owns).  This time it’s a orange beanie that matches his hair.

Taehyung waves while maintaining his smile as he assumes the stool next to Jungkook. “Hello Jungkook.”

(There is a moment where Jungkook finds that he can’t breathe right after his name rolls off of Taehyung tongue, covered in a thick layer of honey that tastes of sunshine.  It’s the very first time that the mere mention of his own name from someone else has interfered with his breathing and maybe his heart has stopped beating?  Or is it beating too quickly?  All that Jungkook knows is that it kind of, sort of feels almost exactly like… love?)  It takes Jungkook a heartbeat too long to reply to Taehyung.  “Hi.”

“So you like spicy ramen?” Taehyung inquires but continues talking without waiting for a response since it’s really kind of a statement, “I like the triangle kimbap here, but they only have rolls right now.  Hey! Do you want some?”  Taehyung sticks a single roll of pre-cut kimbap in front of Jungkook mouth, nodding as encouragement for Jungkook to eat it.

As soon as Jungkook opens his mouth to decline (because he doesn’t really know anything about Taehyung and doesn’t quite trust him yet, if he ever will), Taehyung shoves the roll past his lips, fingers accidently touching Jungkook’s mouth.  Jungkook slowly chews, covering his mouth with his hand, and Taehyung searches his face for signs of approval.  It does soothe the slight burn of his ramen, so Jungkook just nods, offering a lame thumbs-up with his free hand in attempt to gain back some of the personal space he’s lost to Taehyung.

Taehyung claps his hands like a delighted child, peering into Jungkook’s ramen cup, “Wow, you take big bites.  Or were you just really hungry?  Do mind if I try some?  I don’t think I’ve had this brand before.  I trust you though, all of my friends have good taste.”

Taehyung takes hold of Jungkook’s chopsticks before he can even respond to the question, capturing a noticeable amount of ramen for someone who says he’s never had it before.  He slurps the noodles down before Jungkook can put a word in edgewise.

Taehyung chews thoughtfully before shoving some kimbap into his mouth.  He mumbles something to Jungkook, but it’s lost to the food in his mouth.  Jungkook stares.  Taehyung swallows, clearing his throat, “That’s pretty good.”  He gives Jungkook two thumbs up before ruffling his damp hair, “You have good taste.” He adds with a proud smile.

Jungkook stammers, “Th-thanks, I guess.”  He turns back to his ramen, which is really just broth at this point.  He slurps down some of the hot (in both senses of the word) liquid, ignoring the little bits of broken apart ramen and (formerly) freeze-dried vegetables that slide past his lips because he doesn't need to chew them.

Jungkook reaches for his banana milk, taking a sip to relieve the slight burning on his taste buds. He looks up to see that Taehyung is inches from his face with a scrutinizing look aimed at him. He clears his throat, putting his banana milk next to what’s left of his ramen, “What’s up?”

“Did you drink the strawberry milk I gave you?” Taehyung’s voice and expression are epitome of seriousness as he holds his chin between a folded pointer finger and thumb from the arm whose elbow rests on the bar.

Jungkook mirrors Taehyung’s position, further closing the gap between their faces, “Yes.” He says softly.

Taehyung leans back, nodding in satisfaction.  Jungkook returns to his original position as well, accidently elbowing his phone, causing it to clatter to the floor.  Jungkook swears under his breath, hoping off of his stool to pick it up.  He sees the time, and his eyes bulge out as he sees that he has a minute to get to the bus stop.

He doesn’t even bid Taehyung farewell, dashing out of the convenience store and sprinting for the bus stop.  He arrives just as the bus pulls up.  He takes the first seat that he can find after paying his fare.  He pants as he plops down into the open seat, leaning his head against the window.

He didn’t finish his banana milk.  (He doesn’t know it, but Taehyung is sitting in the convenience store, finishing his banana milk even though he’s kind of sad that his new friend didn’t say goodbye to him before running away.)

Jungkook stares at the advertisement on the opposite side of the bus.  It’s an advertisement for a flower shop somewhere in downtown.  There’s a butterfly frozen on a beautiful flower.  Jungkook realizes that the butterflies in his stomach are back, and they’re making a lot of noise.

___

Monday is Namjoon’s favorite day of the week because he sees him on Mondays.

Namjoon frowns as he cleans up the fruit punch that some kind just dumped all over the floor.  Mondays are the absolute worst.  Namjoon swears that kid just spilled his drink all over the floor just to torture him.  Namjoon bitterly thinks that the kid should be in school or something and not in his store.

He forces the mop back and forth across the floor, grumbling to himself about needing to find a new job.  He accidentally elbows his keys off of the counter, and they fall out of sight, underneath one of the browsing racks.

He gets on the floor, getting his face as close to the wet ground as possible without pressing his cheek on the floor.  His keys are solidly under the rack, and he forcibly exhales in annoyance.  He grimaces as he reaches under the rack, not wanting to touch the freshly mopped floor or the dust bunnies beneath the display.

The bell to the shop dings crisply with Namjoon still crouched on the floor, trying to get his keys.  A pair of feet can be seen through the space beneath the rack.  Namjoon hooks his pointer finger on the key ring, glancing at the feet that have stopped on the other side of the rack.  Red high-top Chuck Taylors.  Namjoon his head to the side as he pulls his keys toward him.

He gets up on his feet, finding the person that belongs to the shoes.  His eyes first land on a pair of dark blue jeans, traveling up past the white t-shirt, finally settling on a face that is decidedly handsome.  If Namjoon could choose one single word to describe him, it would be: perfect.

Namjoon clears his throat, scratching his neck, “Can I help you?”

“I have an order to pick up.” He says with mild disinterest lacing his voice.

“Do you have an order number?” Namjoon asks.  He’s immediately given a piece of paper with a very neat order number printed across it.

Namjoon nods, going behind the counter, and flipping through the reserved vinyl records that have numbers printed above names.  He finds himself playing with his tongue piercing between his teeth as he double-checks the reference number to the once printed above the order for “Jin”.

“Aha!” Namjoon grins, pulling out the three records that have been reserved for Jin, offering a bright, dimpled smile as he slides the records towards the image of perfection.

Jin flips through the records, checking to make sure that they are what he has ordered.  He nods once, “I’ve already paid, correct?”

“Let me check.” Namjoon smiles once more because he likes the sound of Jin’s voice.  Namjoon hums along to the song playing in the store as he clicks through the store’s inventory computer, searching Jin’s order number.

Jin’s order comes up as paid and Namjoon says as much, “It’s a taken care of Mr. Jin. Have a nice day.”

Jin looks mildly alarmed that Namjoon knows his name, offering an uneasy smile as he leaves the store.

Jin comes every Monday; sometimes he returns records, but he always picks up new ones, always paying beforehand.

Namjoon really, really, really likes Mondays.

a/n: hiiiiiiiii, so after much thought, I have decided that Namjin is happening. (I was debating whether or not to actually write it out as a thing or if it would just be like snippets of their relationship as seen through the eyes of others.)  also, I reallllllllly wanted someone to have a tongue piercing, so Namjoon is our lucky volunteer (also he has an eyebrow pierced.... sorrynotsorry)
Another chapter without Yoongi, BUT  yay Jungkook is confirmed in like with tae so....
Thank you for subscribing and upvoting /inches away from tears of joy/
sorry for mistakes and missed words...
(It's not... boring is it?)
do I get points for keeping my word about the later this weeks thing?
wow this is long.... sorry again....