“Jungkookie lost!”

Slaps on his arm, hard and relentless, he expects nothing less from them. Even when he’s at his lowest, they put their all into his punishment, as if all integrity would be loss if they didn’t put all their strength into hitting him. On his right, Seokjin smiles wickedly and he doesn’t even need to turn around to know that the others are mirroring the eldest’s expression. In front of them lay a pile of uno cards strewn about haphazardly, as if it were the aftermath of some war. They sit around said mess of cards in a circle (it’s more of an oval but no one really cares) on the floor of Namjoon’s apartment.

He’s really not surprised that he’s the one who lost. But it doesn’t make the sting on the skin of his arm hurt any less. It would have been bearable if they weren’t all wearing the widest, -eating grins known to man. From beside Jungkook, Jimin pulls out a piece of paper from the pad lying on the carpeted floor, and presses a pen he picked up from the coffee table to it.

“Alright boys, give me your order – drinks on Jungkook as discussed,” the bleached haired bastard says with an overwhelming amount of satisfaction, probably pleased its not him.

As they throw words at each other, Jungkook can feel his wallet lightening in his back pocket. The price of greed.

He’s escorted (pushed) out of the apartment by eager hands and rushed yelling of last minute additions with a piece of paper shoved into his coat pocket. As the door slams shut behind him, he can hear the muted, but undeniably distinct, sounds of snickering.  

The twenty-year-old is mad from the apartment all the way to the Starbucks relatively close by. He’s at least grateful that Namjoon had chosen to rent a place close to the university, meaning he wouldn’t get lost trying to navigate some foreign neighbourhood. From outside the store, he can see that its relatively quiet save for a few people here and there, and he breathes a sigh of relief. When he enters the building, his heart lurches.

Lisa is there, of course she is, looking as pretty as she did the first time he had met her. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun today, loose strands framing her round face. She looks up from behind the counter as he approaches, her face lighting up slightly and he can feel his chest tightening.

“Hello,” she beams brightly, and he doesn’t care if she gets paid to be cheerful, he’d listen to her greet him like that every day for the rest of his life. “What can I get you today?”    

He’s confused for a second, as if he doesn’t quite remember why he’s even there and he can feel his eyes widen as he stares at her. Don’t do that. Don’t be creepy, just order the drinks you weirdo.

“Uh, hi,” is all that he manages. Lisa blinks at him, tilting her head in slight confusion and he wants to kick himself.

The dark-haired man pulls out the folded note from his pocket, holding it out to her wordlessly. She takes it from him, brushing their fingers slightly and he absently notes that hers are unbelievably soft. Her brown eyes move down the piece of paper, narrowing as she reads through it.

“Wow, that’s a lot. These all for you?” She asks the question with mirth in her eyes but he doesn’t catch on.

“No - !”

He vehemently denies it, waving his hands as he attempts to explain his predicament but stops when she begins to laugh. A furious blush blooms on his cheeks and he can feel his face grow hot.

“It’s okay, I get it, I get it,” the girl gives him a knowing smile. “Jimin-oppa’s doing?”

As much as he would love to expose the demon, the punishment was actually suggested by Jungkook himself. Making the whole situation that much more embarrassing. Instead of confessing to an idiotic blunder on his part, because he’s sure as hell that he wouldn’t be able to lie to her, he changes the subject. The man leans slightly on the counter as the barista plugs in the numbers on the screen.

“How do you know hyung anyway?”

Her eyes move to his face, a warm brown and framed by long pretty lashes, as she pauses momentarily. A smile appears on her face, but its different from the obligatory one that those in retail were meant to give. This smile is soft, gentle, and sends his heart into cardiac arrest. A small twinge of jealousy accompanies his next thought, what’s her relationship with him?

“We go to the same dance studio,” Lisa answers, going back to the screen, but that same, small smile still remains on her face. “He’s someone I respect a lot.”

“You dance as well?” He asks in slight awe, no wonder she seemed exceptionally graceful even when pouring damned coffee.

Her expression brightens, “You do too?”

“Yeah, I wonder why I’ve never seen you at the studio – you go to Hoseok-hyung’s one right?”

She nods, “Mhm, oh but I usually go on Mondays and Tuesdays.”

He slides a hand through his locks, feeling its strands run through his fingers, “Ah, that explains why, I’m there Wednesdays and Fridays.”  

At this, her face falls, “Oh…”

It’s the first time he’s seen her look so disappointed and immediately, he never wants to see her with such an expression again.

“But, Hoseok-hyung is a really great teacher isn’t he?”

She nods furiously and it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

“I’m so happy you think so too! I’ve thought to myself ‘oh I’m so lucky to have such a teacher’ every time he demonstrates anything for us,” her voice has risen a little higher as she continues to speak, clearly excited to be discussing her hobby with him.

Jungkook agrees, no one could possibly replace Hoseok, not only is he extremely talented, he’s a teacher who doesn’t hesitate to push you to your limits, to make sure that you’re doing the absolute best you can. As someone who constantly strives for perfection, he can identify with this need to put everything you have into something. The feeling one gets when their hard work pays off, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“It was because of hyung that I started dancing,” Jungkook says softly, he’s looking at his hands on the counter, long fingers tapping absentmindedly on smooth wood.

When he looks back up, she’s smiling at him. The small, gentle smile that she had when they were talking about Jimin.

“I can see why,” a twinkly laugh escapes her lips. “He’s amazing.”

“Can I ask what made you begin dancing?” He’s genuinely curious, not just asking it to continue the conversation. He wants to know more about her, more about this pretty barista with blonde hair and a round face.

Her eyes soften, fingers pause on the screen in front of her, hovering over the glass.

“My sister did, she doesn’t dance anymore but,” she hides behind her hand while laughing cutely. “It’s kind of embarrassing but when I saw her dancing I thought, ‘wow, so cool’­”

“That…that’s not too different from what happened with Hoseok-hyung,” he moans, putting both his own hands to his face.

“Huh?” Immediately, her face changes, a bright eager Lisa leans over towards him with a great big smile and wide eyes. “Tell me, tell me!”

“No, it’s too embarrassing – wh-why are you looking at me like that? Okay fine,” if it were Taehyung giving him those big puppy dog eyes he would have snorted in return but he didn’t, probably would never, have it in him to deny her. “He was dancing of course, and wearing these shorts and well, I walked in on Hoseok-hyung for the first time and the first thing I said was ‘wow, thighs.’”

She grins. Snorts. And bursts out laughing.

And the fact that he’s not annoyed in the slightest says a lot.

When he returns to Namjoon’s apartment, the living room is dark and tv loud, playing some drama he had never heard of. Seven Starbucks drinks, in drink trays of course – he’s not an idiot, are balanced precariously in his arms. The only person who gets up from the very crowded couch to help him is Jimin and he wants to laugh at the irony.

“You’re smiling weird,” Jimin says as he takes a cardboard drink tray from his arms and places it on the kitchen counter.

“Just take your drink and go.”

jisoo taehyung-ssi where are you?

taehyung just call me taehyung

taehyung im almost there gimme like 5 minutes, im outside the grocery store near campus

jisoo you have one

taehyung but

jisoo o n e

He’s whipped, so of course he’s out of breath by the time he sees her, panting as he takes a moment to replenish himself. A cool water bottle touches his cheek and the man looks up to see a literal angel. An angel who is too busy laughing at him to formulate words. She stands under a tree, shaded from the blinding sun as he bends over, light hair illuminated by its rays.

“You didn’t actually have to get here in one minute,” is the first sentence that comes out of Jisoo’s mouth.

“You challenged me,” a huff. A wheeze. “And I’m not the type to go down without a fight!”

“Taehyung, you were like three blocks away.”

“I know, oh god this was such a mistake,” she grabs onto his arm before he falls over, gently leading him to a bench under the tree.

The twenty-two-year-old can feel her small hand rub soothing circles on his back as he gulps down the water like he’s been lost in the desert for hours. Even though he’s in pain and can barely breathe, the sensation of her gentle ministrations makes all of this much less unpleasant.

“So, did she ask?” He questions, tilting his head.

Jisoo nods in response, taking her water bottle back from him, “Yeah, Lisa asked me to come with her on the double date this morning. Was really weird about it though, what did you do?”

“Nothing really, so I just have to ask Jungkookie now,” Taehyung pulls out his smartphone, ignoring her raised eyebrow at the multiple cracks on his screen and quickly taps on the contacts app. He scrolls through until he finds ‘kookie’ which he promptly dials.

A tired and wary voice greets him and he silently curses, it would be tough to convince a sceptical Jungkook. Even though it was all for his sake, so that he could finally start dating again. He’s sure that without prodding, the younger boy wouldn’t be able to ask someone out, he just wasn’t interested, or that’s what he says anyway.

Excuses. Taehyung knows better.

“What do you want hyung?”

“Kookie-ah, I need a favour,” he says, in the sweetest, cutest voice he can muster. The maknae can’t resist it, shouldn’t be able to –

“No.”

Next to him, Jisoo bites back a chuckle at his incredulous expression.

“What do you mean no? I’m your hyung! I’ve done everything for you!”

A pause. His face brightens, maybe he’s seen the error of his ways finally and –

“No, I don’t want to.”  

“Jungkook you brat – “

“If that’s all I’m going to hang up.”

Desperate consumes his body then, maybe it’s the endorphins being pumped to his brain from his impromptu sprint but all of a sudden he bursts out, “I’ll buy you lunch for a week!”

A pause. Hook, line and sinker.

“One month.”

His eye twitches. “Two weeks.”

“…fine,” comes the exasperated voice from the other end of the phone.

Taehyung gives Jisoo a thumbs up, he mouths ‘success’ and she giggles.