“Well, this is going to take a little longer than I thought.” Hoseok muttered, separating their clothes into piles based on the way they were to be washed. All of their practice gear and sweaty stuff ran in hot water, so they separated those by whites and colors, and then everyone’s nicer clothes were washed in cool water and separated by colors, lights, and whites. By the end of the sorting, they had about seven loads to complete.

    “Hyung this is impossible. How can we do this many loads with one washer!” Jimin huffed. He must have had terrible luck to pick the day to do laundry when all other washers were broken.

    “You’re being over-dramatic. Time-consuming doesn’t mean impossible. You had me scared half to death Jimin with that crap you pulled earlier. I thought someone had died.” Hoseok chastised. Jimin rolled his eyes and went to put the first load in.

    “Not someone, me. I died internally just now.” Hoseok laughed throwing a dirty pair of socks at him.

    “Now don’t you start this! I’m not having a dirty laundry fight with you in the basement.” Jimin responded, tossing the sock on his head back into the pile it came from. Turning to look at Hoseok, he found the other trying to hold in his laughter and failing at it. Jimin huffed and turned away. He was putting the first load in when he felt something slap the back of his head. Growling, Jimin gripped the edge of the washer.

    “Hobie. I’m warning you. Stop it.” Jimin threatened. He turned to grab the remaining pieces of clothing on the floor from the load he was currently washing and put it in the washing machine.

    “Ah-ah! No ‘hyung’ after that? I think Jiminnie deserves some punishment.” Hoseok sang, inching his way towards the other.

    “I think you need a good thump to the head to get your priorities straightened out.” Jimin mumbled. He was bent over, grabbing a sock on the floor when he felt a hot sting to his bum. He cried out and jumped, grabbing his-now burning- cheek in one hand while pointing the other at Hoseok.

    “Y-you!” He shouted. Hoseok only laughed and re-twirled the towel in his hand.

    “Bad dongsaengs need to learn their manners, let Hyung help?” Hoseok said. Jimin growled again and snatched another small towel from the pile beside him. He was going for blood.

    “That’s it.” He said. Hoseok made a dash for the other end just as Jimin lunged for him. The snap of his towel missed his target, but Jimin twisted it with record speed. Hoseok managed to just keep enough distance between them, even as they jerked from direction to direction while they ran around the room. Jimin was starting to get tired when Hoseok missed his step and stumbled over one of the piles. He didn’t fall, but it slowed him down enough so that Jimin’s towel would be in reach. Realizing this, Jimin made to swat his towel across the elder’s . Hoseok once again evaded this by turning and arching his body just out of reach, but he wasn’t going to be able to dodge the next one, Jimin was too close.

    “I’ve got you now Hyung!” Jimin shouted, re-twisting his towel and dashing after Hoseok. Hoseok stopped running all of a sudden, turned around, and smirked. Jimin slowed and questioned his decision for a split second. But only a second. He reached his arm out and flicked his towel across Hoseok’s stomach, expecting the elder to groan and crumple from the pain. It did not happen like this though. Instead, when Jimin flicked his towel out, Hoseok caught the end of it in his hand and yanked Jimin to him. Jimin’s body was already in motion before he realized he’d been outwitted, and nothing could stop him from being flung around and clutched as Hoseok arms wrapped around him. Jimin was caught and immobile in the other’s arms. Jimin cursed his weak frame once again for being the only reason he couldn’t break from Hoseok's arms.

    “This isn’t over.” Jimin huffed, struggling harder to break free all while Hoseok squeezed him even tighter.

    “Oh really? Well I guess I’ll need to turn it up a notch then huh?” Hoseok grunted, slipping his arms from over Jimin to under him. Jimin was confused for a brief second before the pain ensued.

    “No!” he cried just as fingers wormed their way into his armpits. He went from vengeful to pitiful in a few seconds, fidgeting and crying to be let go. His cries fell on deaf ears because Hoseok enjoyed tickling him too much to let him go. They floundered around the room like that, Jimin managing only twice to get away before the hands were back on him and penetrating as ever. Hoseok cackled like a madman as tears started forming in the corners of Jimin’s eyes.

    “Hyung, please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please, Hobie-hyung please!” Jimin begged. He was going mad, he couldn’t take it anymore. The discomfort was unbearable but Hoseok was still not being merciful. Jimin felt like he would pee his pants if this didn’t stop.

    “Ah, does it hurt Jiminnie?” Hoseok purred, earning a frantic nod from Jimin.

    “Yes!” he cried. Hoseok laughed and stopped his tormenting, laying on his side with his other arm under Jimin’s back. Jimin heaved breath after breath while wiping his eyes, still curled up next to Hoseok. He could smell the other’s body wash from his chest, which was conveniently pressed against the side of his face. It was soothing enough to calm him, but he was still a little angry about being tickled.

    “You know I hate it when you do that Hyung.” Jimin grumbled. Hoseok chuckled and used his free hand to rub Jimin’s head.

    “I know. Forgive Hyung for being mean. He just loves his dongsaeng that’s all.” Jimin pouted.

    “Correction, you love tormenting me.” Hoseok laughed again and rubbed at the younger’s lower back. Jimin stiffened at this and had to re-evaluate the situation they were in right now. It was as if Jimin just now realized he was in Hoseok’s arms, and they were wrapped rather tightly around his body. His scent was overwhelming and surrounding him, making Jimin dizzy. He could feel the definition of muscle under his cheek and along his waist, where Hoseok was touching his body. Jimin had conflicting urges to bury himself into the chest before him or shove the other away. It was confusing, to say the least.

    “I guess I do. You’re just too cute. I really love Jimin-ah.” Hoseok’s mind shut off at the end of that sentence, realizing he’d said something entirely too inappropriate for the situation. He’d said it before cameras and the other members many times, but just to two of them alone made it seem so much more...intimate. Jimin must have thought this too, because his head darted up, allowing their eyes to meet. It felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of them on that basement floor. Jimin wondered once again why Hoseok’s eyes seemed so pretty up close.

    “Y-you don’t mean that.” Jimin said instead, feeling the blush creeping over his skin. He turned his head back down, hating how it felt when Hoseok looked at him like that. His words seemed like a challenge to Hoseok. Even if they were said half-heartedly, Hoseok still took offense to them.

    “Of course I do.” Hoseok responded, pulling Jimin closer to him. This forced Jimin to look up at him, otherwise, he’d get a mouth full of t-shirt. Jimin blinked, feeling the need to disagree crawling through him. No, he didn’t, Hoseok didn’t mean it.

    “You don’t, you’re just saying that.” Jimin muttered. Hoseok rolled his eyes and pulled the both of them up into a sitting position. He turned Jimin around so that his back was to Hoseok’s chest. He kept them like that and pushed his fingers between Jimin’s so he could play with his hands. Jimin responded by hanging his head down and pushing his back further into the other.

    “I do mean that Jimin. Why is that so hard to believe?” Hoseok asked, giving Jimin time to respond. Jimin felt like it was too intimate at that moment. It was like he was laying bare something he didn’t want to. Why did Hoseok always make him feel so vulnerable?

“There’s not much to love about a whiny, slow, irritating Park Jimin. Believe me, I’ve been told.” Jimin responded. He meant it to sound joking or light-hearted, but somehow it just sounded pathetic to his ears. Hoseok seemed to disagree with him.

“There’s a lot to love about Park Jimin. I love his cute laugh that always makes me smile. I love his chubby cheeks and soft skin. I love how fluffy and scented his hair is. I love how caring he is and all the nice things he does when no one is looking. I love how he’s always willing to listen to his Hyungs, even when he knows they’re being ridiculous. I love it when he tries hard and wants so badly to please everyone, even when he doesn’t need to. I love how humble he is in the face of others, or how he’s shy around new people. I love it when he tries to buy snacks for himself but sees a trainee eyeballing them and gives them away because he remembers the struggling of being on a diet himself. I love it when he writes thank you notes to the managers under his covers at night. Or when he does all the laundry for his other members, thinking that that’s just what a dongsaeng is supposed to do, but really it’s a reflection of just how lovable Park Jimin really is. I love just about everything there is to love when it comes to Park Jimin.” Hoseok finished, smiling at how red Jimin’s face was. His head was lowered, so he couldn’t look into his eyes, but he could tell how mortified he must be. He never took compliments very well.

“Hyung, why do you always make me embarrassed?” Jimin asked. Hoseok untangled their fingers and rubbed up and down his arms.

“Because it’s cute when you get flustered.” Jimin shoved his hands away and pushed himself up.

“I’m not cute.” Jimin pouted, turning to take the laundry out of the washer and put it into a basket. Hoseok laughed and pushed himself up as well.

“Sure you’re not.” He responded. Jimin told him that he would take the first load up to hang and dry while Hoseok loaded the next one. Jimin took the time to calm himself during the walk back to the elevator. Hoseok always managed to get under his skin one way or another. He was growing too attached to the elder too quickly. He was beginning to think that maybe he li-

“No. No way. Nope. Not going to go there.” Jimin put a quick lock on his thoughts for the time being. He didn’t even want to consider where his mind would have taken him if he kept those thoughts up. Placing the basket on his hip, Jimin pressed the button for the ascending elevator. He rested his head against the metal doors of the elevator, hoping its cool surface would soothe his heated face. He got so worked up about everything Hoseok said or did sometimes, and it was getting absurd. Couldn’t he just act normal around him for just one day? He was beginning to act like-

“Damn it Jimin-ah. We said we weren’t going there.” Jimin chastised. His mind was misbehaving. Just remembering all of the sweet little things Hoseok said earlier made him flush. Hoseok could be so unsettling when he was trying to be sincere. And even though Jimin still didn’t quite believe him-not entirely anyway-he wanted to. He wanted to think that he was as lovable and kind-hearted as Hoseok described, but he’d gone so long thinking he wasn’t. The majority of his life comprised of reassurances of his inadequacies and failures. One couldn’t just flip the switch. Or at least, Jimin had yet to manage so even with all of Taehyung’s badgering.

As Jimin opened the door to their dorm room and passed by the kitchen to enter the common room, he was struck by how similar Taehyung and Hoseok were to him. Much like Hoseok, Taehyung always tried to remind him of how special or talented he was. He was relentless with constant praise and admiration. It was always a litany of ‘you’re the best’ and ‘how amazing’ and ‘you’re a star’ after every dance practice or vocal rehearsal. Late nights at the cafe down the street had countless conversations between the two wishing they could steal aspects of the other for themselves. Taehyung was the person Jimin