“Ah , it’s so hot.”

“Don’t swear in front of Kookie.”

“What? He’s like ten, he’s old enough.”

“I’m twelve.”

Taehyung glanced at Jungkook before taking another large bite from his popsicle. “Right… I forgot.” He stared a bit too long, not realizing that the popsicle in his hand was already melting before Jimin pointed it out.

“You’re gross.” Jimin scrunched his nose, but he didn’t make an attempt to move. He just stared at Taehyung as if he’s expecting him to do something about it, which only lead to disappointment because Taehyung just stared at his hand.

Jimin sighed, as if giving up on trying to turn Taehyung into a decent human being before pulling out a newly washed handkerchief from his pocket and wiping Taehyung’s hand clean.

The taller male snorted at this. “I sure hope you didn’t sneeze into that or something.”

Jimin gave him a scandalized look but said nothing.

Jungkook watched them, holding his now empty ice cream cup. He his lower and upper lips to make sure that there are no chocolate ice cream stains left.

“Kookie, smile!” He heard Taehyung say and he automatically followed what he was told, but regretted that decision zero-point-three seconds later because the taller male started laughing so hard Jungkook was sure he’d cough up blood.

“Look at Kookie, missing his two front teeth.” He said as soon as he recovered from his laughing episode.

Jimin cooed at this. “Jungkookie is so cute.”

“Shut up.” The youngest grumbled. He recently lost his two front teeth the other day. Although he was excited about it because two teeth could only mean more money from the tooth fairy, he only got two spare changes under his pillow the following morning, and never once had he felt thisdisappointed in his whole twelve years of existence. Those two spare changes couldn’t even afford him to buy a cup of ice cream nor was it enough to cover the humiliation that he’ll receive until his teeth grows back. He doesn’t want to believe in the tooth fairy anymore, and he was now convinced it was just his older brother making fun of him.

He didn’t miss Jimin’s loud and exaggerated gasp. “You said the ‘s’ word! Taetae, I told you to stop swearing in front of him! What if Jin-hyung finds out?”

“Jiminie, he’s ten—"

“I’m twelve.”

“Alright, twelve. Honestly what difference does two years make? You’re still a fetus.”

“I’m not!”

“Whatever, the point is he’s old enough.”

The shorter male frowned. “You just called him a fetus, and now you’re saying he’s old enough? Make up your mind.”

“I’m not a fetus.”

“Kookie, he doesn’t mean it literally. It’s just a way of him saying you’re still too young.”

“But I’m old enough.”

“We’re not having this conversation. We need Jin-hyung.”

Taehyung shrugged. “Jin-hyung has summer classes. Remember? He’ll be home later.” He threw the popsicle stick into the nearby trashcan, “I’m hungry, let’s go grab something to eat. I’m sure mama baked a new batch of muffins.”

“Muffins!” Jimin yelled, running to the direction of the bakery that Taehyung’s family owns. The taller male followed after him.

Jungkook watched them for a few seconds before letting out an awkward “Muffins!” cheer, running after the two and trying to catch up to them with his short legs. Although Jimin's a bit shorter, he runs fast, and Taehyung has annoyingly long legs. He’ll run faster than those two when he grows up, he promises himself.

-x-

“Yes. Yes, thank you for informing me. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Yes, we’re sorry about the problem caused.”

Jungkook watched his mother walk back and forth in the kitchen with her mobile phone in her hand. She put it down on the table and glared at it as if it offended the new white dress that she bought the other day for a wedding ceremony (that was, by the way, cancelled).

“Mom? I’m hungry. When will dad be home?” the boy asked, sitting on one of the chairs in the dining area. His hands were properly placed on the table; his short legs swung back and forth.

His mother sighed, running her hand into her brown locks. “Oh dear, he’ll be home late. Your brother will be home late, too, and it’s seven in the evening. You haven’t eaten dinner yet, and there was an emergency at work. I need to be there.”

Her mom talks too fast, Jungkook thought as he tilts his head in confusion. He didn’t understand a single thing she said except that his father and brother will be home late.

“Do you want Seokjin to come over tonight?”

His eyes widened when he heard his hyung’s name. “Yes! Will he come over?”

“Okay, I’ll call him.”

The boy watched as his mother dialed the Kim’s phone number. A grin slowly formed in his face, perfectly revealing his two front missing teeth.

“Mrs. Kim, good evening. Is Seokjin available tonight? Yes, yes. I have to leave for work and no one would watch Jungkook… I’m worried. Thank you. I’m really grateful. Yes. Thank you again.”

His mother gave Jungkook a thumbs up and in not less than three minutes, the doorbell was heard. The boy sprinted to the front door and was greeted by Seokjin carrying a large frog stuffed toy (and wearing an oversized sweater and oversized glasses. Cute, the boy thought).

“Hi, Kookie.”

“Jin-hyung!!” The younger boy beamed, letting his hyung step inside the house. The taller male handed him the big stuffed animal (it’s almost as big as Jungkook) which the younger boy hugged.

“Oh thank god, Seokjin-ah. I’m so sorry for the trouble.” Jungkook’s mother walked to the door, her purse and car keys already with her.

“It’s no problem, Mrs. Jeon. Kookie is a good child. I enjoy his company and besides, coming over here means getting away from my babysitting duties for Taehyung. He’s harder to take care of.”

Jungkook’s mother chuckled at that.

“There’s dinner in the fridge you can reheat. I’ll be going now. Bye, Kookie. Have fun with your Jin-hyung.” She placed a kiss on Jungkook’s cheeks as she made her way outside.

Seokjin closed the door gently before turning to the younger boy. “Have you eaten dinner?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Alright. Let’s reheat something for you then.” Seokjin said as he made his way to the kitchen. The older male was already familiar with the house, having spending almost eighty percent of his childhood here to play with and babysit Jungkook. It’s almost his second home.

The younger boy followed his hyung like a puppy, trying to match the taller male’s footsteps in which he was currently failing because of the huge difference in their heights. Jungkook huffed and promised himself to drink more milk so he could grow as tall, or even taller than his Jin-hyung. He would give him piggy back rides, too.

Besides being familiar with the house, Seokjin had almost claimed Jungkook’s room as his own, too. The amount of times that he slept over in the house was too many to count, but Jungkook's absolutely happy with this. There’s also an extra toothbrush in the bathroom, a super Mario cup in the kitchen, and some clothes in their house that belonged to Seokjin so that he wouldn't need to carry his things whenever when he came over.

“Jin-hyung, are you going to sleep over tonight?”

“Well, it depends on what time your parents arrive.”

Jungkook pouted. “I want to sleep with you, though.”

Seokjin laughed as he opened the fridge to find Jungkook’s dinner. “Aren’t you a little too old for that already?”

“Too old for what?”

“Sleeping with your Jin-hyung.”

Jungkook gasped at this. No way. He’ll never be too old to sleep and cuddle with his Jin-hyung. He couldn’t even imagine the day when he’ll be too old for that. Nope.

“No!”

“If you say so.”

Jungkook stared in awe as the older boy reheats his dinner in the microwave. Simple things like this amaze Jungkook so much when it’s his hyung doing it. Honestly, he could just be staring at his flip phone, typing messages and Jungkook would still find it amazing.

He sat on the dining table, watching the timer carefully. Although the older boy had told him countless times that watching something won’t make the process faster, he still couldn’t help but to do it. His large, curious eyes always observed things that he'd find interesting, and he found himself observing his Jin-hyung all the time. Well, it does make sense. His Jin-hyung is interesting. 

He honestly felt sad that his parents aren’t home and won’t be eating dinner with him but Jin-hyung is here and suddenly he doesn’t exactly mind it at all. He could get used to it. Watching his hyung’s back as he worked in the kitchen.

It made his chest feel warm and it made his stomach feel weird, like there were flying insects in it.

(He’ll have to ask his older brother later about the insect part.)

A soft ding interrupted his thoughts and he called over to the older male who was now preparing the plates. “Jin-hyung! It’s done!”

“Really?” He looked back at the microwave and murmured something along the lines of ah, I didn’t hear it. He opened it and carefully took out Jungkook’s dinner.

“What about you, Jin-hyung? Aren’t you going to eat dinner? There’s enough for three.”

“I just ate dinner. I could eat later, though.”

“Okay.” He watched the older boy’s hands as he poured the food on Jungkook’s Iron Man plate, “Jin-hyung!”

The older male hummed in response, smiling at Jungkook’s direction.

“Taetae is making fun of my teeth again!”

“Really now? What did he say?”

“He laughed at it!!” Jungkook flailed his arms in annoyance.

“Do you want me to tell you a secret? But don’t tell Taetae.”

The boy blinked, leaning closer to Seokjin.

The older boy took it as a 'yes.' “Taetae will start wearing braces tomorrow and he told me last night that he would rather have two missing front teeth than to get braces.”

Jungkook grinned, his eyes crinkling with his smile. “He’ll look funny!”

His hyung grinned back with his perfectly aligned teeth. “So don’t feel bad about your teeth now, okay? It actually looks adorable.”

Jungkook nodded his head before turning his attention to his dinner. He thought about how nice his hyung is and maybe he’s actually a tooth fairy.

It made sense. Right?

-x-

“Idiot. It’s called butterflies in your stomach. Not worms in your stomach. Though, I’m sure you have worms in there because you eat the food that falls on the ground with the reasoning of the three second rule.”

His older brother informed him the following morning, after Seokjin left the house.

“I have butterflies in my… stomach?” Jungkook felt alarmed by this brand new information. He clutched his stomach in panic, “I don’t remember eating any butterflies!!”

“Of course you didn’t eat any butterflies. I don’t mean it literally. You feel like there’s some weird in your stomach when you see a certain person and it translates to… wait what the this is Seokjin’s pokemon—I can’t believe he named it pinky peach.” he pauses, looking up from his black Nintendo 3DS XL, “...you like her.”

“I like...?”

“Yeah. Like... like. As in like. You’re attracted to her and you want to kiss her and do gross stuff. Oh , are you undergoing puberty? Next time you’ll look ugly with pimples. So who’s the girl? Is it your classmate? Oh it must be the girl from two blocks away, I’ve always thought she’s cute. I don’t mean it in a e way by the way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, hyung.”

“You like a girl?”

“No.” He’s pretty sure Jin-hyung isn’t a girl. 

“Who the hell are you looking at to feel weird in your stomach and ? You sure you don’t have diarrhea?”

Jungkook frowned. He’s not entirely sure what diarrhea means but he’s sure that’s not the main cause.

“Jin-hyung.”

“Of course it has to be him. You have this creepy admiration—wait. Who? Seokjin? Kim Seokjin? The guy I just had a Pokemon battle with? The one with a Pokemon named Pinky Peach?”

“My chest feels warm and there are… butterflies in my stomach when I see him?”

The older male stared at Jungkook with his mouth open, and Jungkook could hear the neglected Pokemon battle sounds in his console, “Hyung?”

“…have you told mom and dad about this already?” The tone of his voice dropped, as if to make sure no one would hear them even though no one was in the house besides them, and this made Jungkook nervous.

“No… should I? Am I sick? Do I need to go to the hospital? Is this not normal?” Panic started to bubble in Jungkook’s stomach, which was not as good as the feeling of having butterflies.

“No. You’re okay. Don’t. Don’t tell it to anyone. Seriously. If you do, you’ll have thirteen years of bad luck. And you won’t grow tall.” The older boy clicked his tongue and murmured under his breath. “Maybe that’s a phase...”

“What’s a phase?”

“Never mind.” He said, going back to his game. “Don’t tell anyone, I’m serious about the bad luck.”

“...okay… but I told you. Does it count?” He asked curiously. If telling it to other people means bad luck does this mean he’ll have bad luck because he told his brother?

“No. I’m safe, I’m your safe big bro. Got that? Just trust me on this, alright?”

“Mhm, yeah. Okay. Can I go out and play with Taetae and Jiminie today? They’ll be waiting for me outside.”

“Huh, yeah sure. Be back before six.”

“Are you going out today, hyung?”

“Yeah, I have classes with Seokjin today. But don’t tell mom I skipped the first class.”

 -x-

“Does it hurt?” Jimin asked Taehyung as he inspected the braces on the latter’s teeth.

“It... it hurts. Like aliens are invading my mouth.” Taehyung closed his mouth to a thin line.

“You look stupid.” Jungkook scoffed.

He did look stupid, with those metal things on his teeth and green looking rubber bands around it. He’d seen a lot of other kids with braces and they are usually made fun of, and he hoped no one would make fun of Taetae. If someone does, he’d definitely punch them in the face. He won’t say that out loud to Taetae, though. Maybe he could tell that to Jiminie instead.

“I think it’s cute.” Jimin smiled.

“Everything is cute to you.” Jungkook murmured as he throws another pebble into the lake, accidentally scaring all the ducks away.

“Why did you do that? We’re going to feed them!!” Taehyung made an attempt to dive into the lake and chase the ducks back but the grip on his shirt (courtesy of Park Jimin) was tight.

“Idiot! If you dive in, you’ll get sick!”

 “Is Jin-hyung rubbing onto you now? You sound like him.”

“Ugh, Taehyung. Why are you always looking for trouble? It’s not a good influence to Kookie.”

“He’s ten—"

“I’m twelve!”

“--and he’s spent his whole life with us. I honestly think it’s too late to be saying that. Remember that time we got chased by Mr. Lee’s dog because we were trying to bury tennis balls in his backyard?”

Jimin remained quiet for a moment, observing Jungkook’s annoyed expression. “You have a point. I guess...”

“Now our plan to feed the ducks are forever ruined.” Taehyung groaned.

“You’re exaggerating.” Jimin answered.

“Exaggerating.” Jungkook repeats with a look of satisfaction on his face.

“Exaggerating.” Taehyung followed, blank expression on his face.

Jungkook didn’t even know what 'exaggerating' means. “What does that word mean?”