Feeling happy oneself was easy. Making others feel happy was even easier. However, making people fall in love was one of easiest things in the world. That´s at least if you´d asked Jung Hoseok.

Making Yoonmin fall in love had been almost useless. Ever since Jimin had joined them, no one could have missed the sizzling chemistry between then. If love at first sight existed, it would be what had happened between those two. Even fans seemed to notice how Yoongi kept looking at Jimin with an expression of pride and protectiveness, whenever he thought nobody noticed. Spending hours online, Hoseok had quickly notice that those two were one of the most shipped couples among them which, he was sure, was also inflicted by Jimin´s tendency to constantly cling to their oldest rapper. At first Hoseok had even thought that e two would be able to sort out their feelings for each other without any interference, but when they kept slowly growing apart, each being too scared of admitting their feelings, he had needed to do something. However, if he was being honest, it hadn´t really been much of a challenge. No way could he have missed the way Yoongi had knitted his eyebrows together angrily whenever the Maknae line kept clinging to each other. It was obvious that the oldest rapper´s weakness was his jealousy and noticing Jimin close to a breaking point, Hoseok decided to use it to his advantage. To his surprise it had taken even less skin ship with Jimin than he had expected for Yoongi´s jealousy to push Jimin into breaking and subsequently to confess. To be honest, he felt a little guilty for making the younger suffer like that, but every time he found those two cuddled up on Yoongi´s bed, he couldn´t bring himself to care.

Getting Taekook to fall in love had been kind of risky. When those two had met for the first time, they had been too young to even consider having feelings for each other. Hoseok wasn´t even sure if Jongkook had known about his uality by then. However, the Maknaes´ close friendship had slowly evolved into something much deeper, even though neither of the two had been ready to admit them yet. Instead, they had danced around each other, Jongkook being oblivious to Taehyung´s obvious attempts to hide his feelings by fussing over any girl group available. He knew Taehyung had had noble intentions when refusing to act on his feelings, believing Jongkook would never return his feelings and not wanting to taint the younger´s innocence. Therefore, he had decided to just let them work it out by themselves. Yet, when their stupidity had caused them to get into a serious fight during practice, Hoseok had known it was time for him to interfere. Removing the battery from the older´s phone hadn´t been too difficult, considering how distracted Taehyung had been after the fight and to his luck Jimin was as gullible as ever, immediately stealing Jongkook´s phone when he had asked him to. Locking those two in, had been the most difficult and risky part of his plan. Getting the others to leave while the two youngest stayed behind hadn´t been easy, even more so with Jin constantly fussing over their Maknae line. Luckily, the oldest had believed him when Hoseok had told him that they were staying behind for more practice. Still, he hoped Seokjin was never gonna find out that he had locked the door on purpose or else he would probably have to flee the country. However, whenever he found the two youngest in a pile on a floor laughing their asses off about something only they could understand, he knew it was worth it.

Having Namjin fall in love had been the biggest challenge. For the other two, all he had to do was to trick them into confessing. Their oldest and leader, however, had been a different case. Those two knew of their feelings for each other, probably had known about it all along. Their not so subtle flirting kept driving fans crazy and even the other members had been fangirling over them since the beginning. Still, Jin´s feelings of responsibility towards them all, had kept their Hyung from embracing his own wish for a relationship and accepting any attempt from Namjoon´s side. Therefore, Hoseok had known it would have been completely useless to make one of them confess. Instead, he had spent a few weeks trying to figure out a plan on how to make their oldest notice just how much he wanted to be with their leader. Finally, he seemed to have found the perfect plan. Jin wasn´t stupid, though, and so he had needed the other member in on the plan. To his luck, their three youngest had been completely enthusiastic about it and, after some persuading from Jimin, Yoongi had agreed as well, however, not without threatening to kill him if his plan didn´t work out. It worked flawlessly, to all their relief, and whenever he caught Namjoon wrapping Jin in a back hug while the oldest was preparing some meal, a bright smile on both their faces, Hoseok couldn´t help but feel proud of himself for coming up with that plan.

Still smiling at the mental image, Hoseok let out a loud groan as he bent down to pick up another stray controller of one of their games consoles from under the sofa. It seemed to be the X-box one this time, but he really couldn´t care any less as he blindly tried to reach it, wondering how it even got that far under there. Finally getting hold of its cable, he quickly placed it in its place on the shelf, but not without letting out an annoyed huff. Why was he even putting so much effort into tidying up? It wasn´t like the others´ dorm was probably any less of a mess. However, when he had tried to argue this to their oldest, Jin had threatened him with a cooking spoon, looking at him with that mixture of anger and disappointment that was even scarier than the wooden device in his Hyung´s hand. Considering his options, he had begrudgingly started the task of cleaning, silently curing his clean streak for causing Jin to always rely on him for the task whenever the KNK members were coming over. It didn´t mean he had to do it all alone, normally, but today they all seemed to be too occupied to even consider helping him. Yoongi was sleeping like a lock, after spending most of the night in the studio, while Jimin and Jongkook had just returned from the gym, currently fighting for the shower. Namjoon had snuck into the kitchen at some point, probably trying to taste some food, if their oldest´s sporadic scolding was anything to go by and Taehyung seemed to have vanished into air ever since breakfast.

Leaving the main room to get a laundry basket to collect the used clothes, spread all throughout their apartment, Hoseok felt a hint of annoyance creep into the back of his mind. It was their free day after all and so far he had done nothing else but cleaning up the other member´s stuff. However, he quickly pushed it back out of his mind. There was no use in getting annoyed about something simple as that. Instead, a small smile found its way onto his lips as he started gathering the clothes. To be honest, he was always looking forward to their gatherings and if it meant sacrificing a few hours of his free time ever few weeks or even months, he was at game.

Having trained with Seungjun and Inseong for some time, they had naturally grown a close friendship and even after changing companies the two of them had been visiting their dorm frequently. Not much later, after they had been chosen to be part of KNK, Jihun, Heejun and finally Youjin had slowly started to tack along and by now it had become some kind of unspoken promise for their groups to meet up whenever they were all free. If he said he didn´t enjoy it, Hoseok would be lying. In fact, those often ended up being the most enjoyable days he could think of and not only because Jin would always go beyond himself to prepare them some delicious food.

The more he thought about it, the more joyful he felt, even as he picked up a pair of briefs, that looked an awful lot like Jimin´s, from behind their sofa and that he was sure he didn´t want to know how it got there. Instead, a smile found its way onto his face as he felt his excitement grow. Hoseok loved being around people and the KNK members were good guys, having become very close friends over the time.

Picking up another shirt, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the shrill sound of their door bell. However, he didn´t even get to put down the laundry baskets before a tall, blond figure rushed past him. Hoseok had no idea where Taehyung had suddenly come from but he decided it was save enough to trust the younger to welcome their guests. Instead, he quickly grabbed one last shirt and a pair of boxers off the floor before hurrying to place the basket into the additional room, they mostly used for their laundry and storage.

Returning to the main room, he found their guest already surrounded by most of their members. Even Yoongi seemed to have awoken from the death, talking animatedly with Inseong while their three youngest where already pulling Heejun and Seungjun over to the sofa to play some games. Jihun was still placing his jacket onto the clothing rack, shaking his head over the chaos in front of him, and Hoseok couldn´t help but smile at the scene in front of him. That was until he noticed someone missing.

»Where´s Youjin? « he turned his attention towards Jihun as he tried to keep the disappointment, he suddenly felt, out of his voice.

Wrapping him in a welcoming hug, Jihun nodded towards the kitchen and Hoseok was surprised by the relief he felt nearly immediately. He couldn´t explain why, but the thought of the older not coming along had left him with a strange sadness. Both of them being friends with Zelo, they had known each other even before their groups started the regular gatherings. However, it was only then that they had really started getting to know each other, becoming good friends rather quickly. By now, it was Youjin whose presence, he always looked forward towards the most, even though he would never admit it.

Not wanting to think about it any further, he shook his head, before joining the others in the common room where the Maknae-line was already playing some racing game on the X-box, trying to distract each other as much as possible. It was quite the sight but Hoseoks thoughts kept wandering towards the man in the kitchen. It was strange for the other to not even greet him and the youngest rapper in BTS felt a hint of disappointment at that as his glance kept returning to the kitchen door, waiting for Youjin to join them. Surprisingly, the older didn´t appear any time soon, even though Jin never tolerated anyone in his kitchen when he was cooking, except for Namjoon maybe, and it made Hoseok even more curious as to what was going on with his friend today. Returning his attention back to the others, he tried not to read too much into it but the hint of disappointment just wouldn´t go away.

It was only when Jin started placing the food onto the table that Youjin reappeared from the kitchen, helping the oldest to set the table. Jumping up immediately to help out, Hoseok was met with a bright smile form the older that instantly caused his good mood to return and a bright smile to break out on his face. It didn´t take long for the others to abandon their game and join them as well and as Youjin took a seat next to him and started up a conversation as always, Hoseok couldn´t care any less about his friend’s earlier disappearance. The dinner was as enjoyable as ever and the rapper couldn´t help but laugh out loud when Youjin secretly passed him a piece of lotus and stealing him a piece of broccoli instead, earning them a suspicious glance from Jin and a knowing smirk from Jimin.

After dinner, they all piled in front of the TV, having decided to watch some kind of American romcom movie, sometime during dinner. Jin had magically retrieved some snacks from the back of the cupboard and the Maknae-line had gathered all pillows available to get them settled comfortable. Hoseok wasn´t one to pass out on a good movie, usually, but for some reason he didn´t feel like it today. So, as soon as everyone was invested in the movie, he silently made his way into the kitchen, deciding he might as well make himself useful and do the dishes.

He had just finished cleaning the first few plates when the kitchen door opened, startling him slightly. Turning around, he was met with Youjin´s bright smile.

»Hey, you need anything? « Hoseok asked his friend but he didn’t get any answer. Instead the older just shook his head, grabbing a kitchen towel and coming over to the sink.

»What are you doing? « the surprise was obvious in the younger´s voice as Youjin took one of the plates from the drying rag, wiping it clean before setting it on the table.

Bumping their shoulders Youjin let out a soft laugh that left a strange, fuzzy feeling in Hoseok´s stomach. »What does it look like? Giving a helping hand? «

»You don´t have to. You’re a guest! You should return to the others. « he tried to reach for the dish towel in the older´s hand but Youjin´s long arms kept it out of his grasp.

»It´s ok. I don´t really feel like watching a movie today. Just let me help you« the taller send him a heartening smile and Hoseok just nodded. He knew, he should probably force Youjin to go back to join the others, but as much as he didn´t feel like being surrounded by all the others, he didn´t feel like being alone either. Plus, he always enjoyed Youjin company and therefore he decided it was worth the risk of getting scolded by Jin later for letting their guest work.

They worked in silence for a while, their actions in perfect synch as they work through the mountain of dishes that were piled up on the counter top. They were about half way through when Youjin placed the towel aside and turned towards the younger.

»What´s wrong, Hoseok? « Youjin´s voice was gentle but Hoseok froze nonetheless.

»What do you mean? There is nothing wrong at all, apart from way too many dishes maybe. « he tried to play it off, but Youjin just raised his eyebrow at him.

»Come on, you are always right in the middle of everything, but today you are here, choosing to do the dishes instead. Don´t tell me there is nothing wrong « the singer sent him an encouraging smile and Hoseok let out a soft sigh before he placed the cloth at the side of the sink, putting the kettle onto the stove to make them some tea. It wasn´t like Youjin was wrong. He did feel a little troubled by the current situation in the dorms, but so far he had thought that he was quite good at hiding his feelings from other people. Not wanting to trouble anyone, especially s and fans, he always kept on a bright façade in front of everyone and so far he had thought that no one would be able to see through. However, it seemed he wasn´t as good as he thought.

He was pulled from his musing by the whistling of the kettle. Letting out another sigh, he handed the other one of the cups before leaning against the counter, eyes fixated on the steaming liquid in his hands.

»It´s probably just me being childish. «

»Well, how about you let me be the judge of that? « Youjin´s encouraging smile didn´t falter even as the younger looked at him skeptically. Instead he just continued. »We are friends, right? Sometimes it helps to talk about it. «

Hoseok just nodded at that as long silence stretched throughout the kitchen once more, only interrupted by the occasional laughing from the other members. He wasn´t sure rather he should tell the older or not. On one hand, he really felt like he needed to tell someone, but on the other hand he didn´t want to seem whiny. It had always been important to him how others saw him, but lately it seemed to have become of even more importance what Youjin thought of him. However, when the older nudged his shoulder gently, nodding at him in understanding, he was suddenly sure that the taller wouldn´t judge him for his feelings.

»It´s just them being all lovey-dovey out there. I mean, don´t get me wrong, I am glad they are finally happy with each other, but it gets me jealous sometimes. « Hoseok admitted quietly, trying to see the other´s reaction from the corner of his eye. He could see Youjin stiffen slightly and as the other spoke up, the shorter was sure to hear a hint of sadness in his voice. However, before he could get to the bottom of it, it disappeared and the older´s voice sounded as calm as ever.

»So you like one of them? «

»N..No! « Hoseok stuttered in surprise. He never even thought into that direction. »It´s not that. It´s just that when I see them together, I sometimes wish I had someone like that as well. You know, someone to cuddle, someone to listen to your troubles or to cheer you up. Or even just someone to share your day with. God, that sounds so girly! « he shook his head as if denying everything he just confessed. »I guess I am a hopeless romantic, after all… « Biting his lower lip in embarrassment, Hoseok lowered his glance once again as a light pink covered his cheeks. The short repose he had felt after admitting to his distress to someone, quickly turned into a heavy sadness he didn´t really know where it came from. He shouldn´t have said anything! Youjin probably thought he was a complete wimp now and somehow he didn´t like the thought of it at all. He wouldn´t be surprised if Youjin would start acting differently towards him from now on. However, to his utmost surprise, the older just wrapped his long arm around his shoulders and Hoseok felt himself relax almost immediately. He knew the older wasn´t really fond of skin ship, but it seemed that Youjin was going out of his way to make him feel comfortable about his confession and it caused a pleasant warmth to spread all throughout the younger´s body.

»Hey, it´s ok to feel that way. « the older was silent for a while as if considering if he should continue or not but in the end he did. »To be honest, I sometimes feel jealous of my members too, especially Seungjun! «

»Do you like him? « So far Hoseok had always thought of Youjin as being straight and his heart skipped a beat in excitement at the thought that he might have been wrong. However, the older´s next words caused disappointment, he didn´t know what to make out of, to fill his mind.

»No, it´s nothing like that. It´s just…« Youjin trailed of for a moment, placing his cup on the counter behind him. He didn´t really seem to know how to explain himself, and so Hoseok just smiled at him encouragingly. Letting out a deep sigh the older took another moment before he finally continued. »It´s just that they are so affectionate with each other, especially Seungjun. I wish, I could show my affection like that, at least once in a while. I guess I am just not used to it, but I feel bad for not being able to tell people how much I care about them. «

The taller´s sudden confession left the rapper speechless in surprise. He had never thought Youjin would feel that way. The other always seemed like he was comfortable keeping his distance to others but it appeared that the older was as good at fooling people about his true feelings as Hoseok was himself. What astonished the younger the most, though, was the amount of sadness in the older´s voice. It made his heart clench and without giving it much thought, he did what he always did to comfort others, he wrapped his arm around the other man. Immediately, he felt Youjin stiffen next to him and he internally scolded himself for being so thoughtless. However, just when he was about to pull back, the taller man´s hand was placed over his own, holding his arm in place. Slowly, the younger felt the singer relax, tightening his own arm around the rapper´s shoulders. The action brought a smile to Hoseok´s face and his heart started beating faster once again. It seemed that Youjin wasn´t too indisposed to skin ship with him and that thought made him feel all special and giggly inside.

After that, no other words were passed between them as they stayed like that for a while, a comfortable silence filling the room. It was only when the other members next door started to get louder, seemingly having finished the movie, that they broke apart before returning to the task of cleaning the dishes.

After that day, things between them changed. Maybe it was because neither of them was one to share their true feelings with others, but having confessed some of their most personal worries towards each other, that lead to a strong bond between them. Whatever it was, it didn´t really matter when Hoseok found himself at the KNK dorms not 3 weeks later, stretched out on the couch, his head resting on Youjin´s lap and some comedy drama running on TV. How they had ended up like that - he didn´t know. After their little conversation the other night, their interaction had become a lot more frequently. Not that they didn´t talk between their gatherings before, but after that day they kept in constant contact, sending messages about everything and nothing whenever they could find the time between their schedules. However, so far, with all their busy schedules, they hadn´t gotten a chance meet up again. That was until, after today´s schedules, Jin had decided that he needed to meet up with Seungjun, dragging Hoseok, who had been on the same schedule, along. If he was honest with himself, he had hoped that Youjin would be there as well and when the older had opened the door, a strange feeling of contentment had washed over him. He had no idea what was happening to him, but he couldn´t deny the fact that the older was becoming more and more important to him. In the back of his mind there was a little voice hinting him why that was the case, but he ignored it the best he could.

Still, it kept getting louder and louder by the minute and Hoseok was about to jump up and do something to get it to shut up when Youjin´s finger started to slowly comp through his hair. He didn´t know if the older did it consciously or not, but he immediately felt himself relax into the others touch. The pleasant, prickly feeling running from the top of his head, down his spine, to his toes, caused Hoseok to almost let out a purr and he had to bite his lips to prevent a satisfied sigh from escaping.

They stayed like that for a while, the only sound filling the room being the voices from the television and Youjin´s sporadic laughter when the main character did something stupid again. It wasn´t uncomfortable. In fact, Hoseok felt as relaxed as he hadn´t felt in a while. Yet, the homey feeling of the situation unsettled an uneasiness in his stomach and he tried to think of anything to say to distract himself from those feelings. However, all thoughts seemed to vanish from his mind as Youjin´s fingers started to scratch the base of his head gently, causing the rapper to melt just a little more into the older´s touch as he watched the main character´s friend failing to set her up with her crush. A laugh bubbled up inside his chest as he thought about how much effort he himself had put into setting up s. However, it stayed stuck in his throat when the other man suddenly spoke up, a soft laughter leaving his lips.

»That didn´t go all too well. She should have asked you for advice. «

»What do you mean? « the younger sat up abruptly starring at Youjin in shock. He had a faint idea what the singer was talking about.

»I mean you playing cupid for your members. « The older send him a mischievous smile, but Hoseok just stared at him in disbelieve.

»How…How do you know? « No one was supposed to know about what he had done for s.

»Jin told me«

»Jin told you?!? « Their oldest was the last one who was supposed to know. If Jin knew, he was definitely in for a hell of a scolding later. »Great, I am so dead! « Hoseok muttered to himself causing the older to let out a deep laugh that immediately made the expected confrontation with Jin seem a lot less scary.

»Don´t worry, I think Namjoon will be able to keep him from killing you. They need you after all. And…« Youjin let out another laugh, winking at the younger before continuing. »…if he isn´t, I promise to protect you. I am taller after all. «

It was probably meant to be a joke and Hoseok had no idea if it was the hint of seriousness in the other´s voice or the way the older was looking at him, but there was an abrupt shift in the atmosphere between them - the little hint of playfulness from before suddenly gone. Instead he felt himself melting into the deep chocolate brown of Youjin´s eyes as their gaze locked.

What happened next, seemed to happen in slow motion. The next moment Youjin´s long, strong fingers were on his cheeks, each contact sending waves of shivers down his spine. He didn´t know who was the first one to move but suddenly their faces were coming closer and Hoseok´s eyes closed on their own accord. Seconds later, the older´s soft, warm lips met his own and the rapper felt as if fireworks were going off in his mind, warming every part of his body. His heart was suddenly beating like it was about to jump from his chest, and everything he had been denying so far was becoming clear as daylight. Letting out a little breath, he didn´t know he was holding, his hand went to search for the other´s free one. Before he had found it, however, realization of what he was doing settled into his muzzy mind and he quickly pulled back, eyes wide in shock. For a second Youjin only stared at him, surprise just as evident, before quickly lowering his head, a bright red covering his cheeks.

»I…I am sorry. « the older´s voice was nothing more than a whisper and Hoseok had to stain to even hear. He opened his mouth to tell Youjin that there was nothing to be sorry for but the singer had already jumped up, muttering something about needing to go to the bathroom before disappearing into the hallway.

As soon as he was left alone, Hoseok´s fingers wandered up to his mouth, mindlessly touching his lips that were still tingling pleasantly. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm his wildly beating heart, but it was to no avail. It kept beating as if he had just finished a marathon in record time even as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. Letting his hand fall from his lips in frustration, he let out a deep sigh as he stared down the hallway, hoping for Youjin to come back so they could talk about it, but the older didn´t seem to plan on seeing him again. Instead, Jin appeared not too much later, telling him that their manager was waiting to pick them up downstairs. However, Hoseok couldn´t bring his feet to move even an inch as he slowly felt his heart getting heavy at the thought of not being able to settle whatever had happened between them and he suddenly felt close to tears. What if he had messed everything up? What if Youjin was disgusted by him now? What if he didn´t want to talk to him ever again? His mind was running a hundred mile per hour and the thoughts send a searing pain through his heart, causing him to nearly double over. Through his dazed mind, he heard Jin calling his name a few time before nearly dragging him out the dorm, but he couldn´t really bring himself to care as his mind was stuck with the man that was just down the hallway probably hiding until he was finally gone.