Title: Second Star To The Right

For: JiminsLongLostJams

Pairing: Hopekook

Genre: Fantasy, friendship, romance

Rating: PG

Prompt: HopeKook oneshot in a PeterPan!AU where Hoseok has been friends with Jungkook for years. Jungkook is about to turn 18 and Hoseok doesn't want him to grow up so he takes him to Neverland.

A/N: Hi, I’m hug-taehyung, and I’m the Hopekook writer! This is my first fic, and so I apologize if there are any mistakes. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy. <3
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God, his hyungs are so embarrassing.

“To Jungkook,” Yoongi bellows, and Seokjin and Namjoon echo the words in increasingly loud volumes.

They raise their cups of bubble tea and clink them together, and Jungkook basically dies inside, he’s so flustered.

They’re in one of their favorite cafes, near the university campus. It’s cozy, and there’s only a few other people inside, but they’re all staring blatantly at Jungkook and his friends now. Crawling under the table is starting to seem more and more appealing.

“Eighteen, huh?” Namjoon says, grinning at him from across the table. Yoongi cheers loudly again, making Jungkook cringe again. At least Seokjin’s mouth is too full to talk.

“Next week,” he mumbles. 

“Finally,” Yoongi crows, slapping him hard on the back. “We thought you were going to be a baby forever, Jungkook-ah! Soon you’ll be with us hyungs at college, and we can drink stuff other than this garbage.” He shakes his boba in Jungkook’s face.

“We can’t wait till you come join us here,” Seokjin says. He’s smiling fondly, and it makes Jungkook smile back, even though his face is burning.

He’s been waiting for his birthday for such a long time. Jungkook’s tired of having to live by his parents’ rules and then going to high school and having to follow more rules. He’s always been independent, and his friends know it.

They’re all older than him, but they’d become close, bonding over similar ambitions. When all of them had graduated and gone onto university, Jungkook’d been bitter, although he hates to admit it. It was just that they were all together, finding themselves, and pursuing their dreams, and he’d been stuck at home in a silly school uniform.

So yeah, you could say he’s glad to be growing up.

“Thanks, hyung,” he says, and he finds he means it. The others beam at him, and the rest of the night dissolves into loud laughter and increasingly ridiculous stories about their college antics. Seokjin tells him about a time Namjoon had broken a window while taking off his shoes, and Jungkook laughs so hard he cries.

It’s a great night.

Yoongi drives him back around midnight. They’re all still laughing over something stupid, and Jungkook feels warm all over. It’s been so long since they’ve hung out, and he’s forgotten how nice it feels to be with friends. Seokjin gives him a hug, and Yoongi and Namjoon each pat a different shoulder in goodbye, promising to drop by later in the week for his actual birthday.

Jungkook’s parents have long gone to sleep, so he unlocks the door as quietly as he can and tiptoes up the stairs to his room in the dark. After stubbing his toe on the bedroom door, he ends up flopping on his bed clumsily.

He thinks about getting to room with one of his hyungs next year in a dorm, and the thought makes him grin stupidly up at the ceiling. High school’s so lonely without them.

A small noise startles him from his thoughts. It’s a faint tapping at his window, so quiet he has to strain to hear it. After a small pause, the sound comes again, tentative. Like fingers rapping on the glass.

Crap.

He flicks the bedside lamp on immediately, tumbling off the bed in his haste to open the window. It’s dark outside, save for a streetlight, but Jungkook can’t see what he’s looking for in the dim light. It’s kinda cold for autumn too, and he’s shivering, but he still sticks his head out the window.

“Hoseok?” Jungkook says softly.

He stops, listening carefully over his heart pounding. Maybe he wasn’t loud enough. Jungkook’s opening his mouth again to call Hoseok’s name, when a sudden blur comes crashing in, knocking him to the floor.

The breath’s completely knocked out of him. Jungkook is flat on his back, panicking slightly, before he realizes the weight on top of him is a boy, trembling slightly, with his face buried in Jungkook’s chest so the only thing visible is a head of red hair.

“Hyung,” Jungkook breathes, relieved. He taps the top of Hoseok’s head, but the other boy doesn’t budge. Instead, he tightens his arms around Jungkook’s neck, clinging on for dear life. There’s a slight noise, like a small sniffle.

That’s not like Hoseok at all, and Jungkook frowns, worried. “Hyung, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

He brushes his fingers across Hoseok’s back, trying for soothing, but it only makes the boy jerk upright, looking down at him with big, betrayed eyes. When Jungkook tries to reach for his hand, Hoseok untangles himself and drifts slightly into the air. Away from Jungkook’s touch.

“Jungkook-ah,” Hoseok says, and oh God, his voice is rough and small, and Jungkook feels so, so awful. “I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

His hyung looks the same as yesterday and the countless days before that. Hoseok is dressed in a white t-shirt and ripped jeans, barefoot as always. His hair’s an alarming shade of red, but the rest of him is pale, smooth skin, with baby fat still rounding out his face. But right now, his trademark smile is missing, and his eyes are red-rimmed and avoiding Jungkook’s gaze.

“I’m so sorry,” Jungkook breathes, shifting into a sitting position. “I’m really sorry, Hoseok hyung, I hung out with my friends tonight, and we stayed out later than I thought. I didn’t forget you, how could you think that?”