Yoongi regained consciousness from his nightmare with a snap. One moment he was there, the copper scent of blood assaulting his senses and the next he was awake, taking in the dim sunlight through his eyelids. At first, he was still while he tried to gather his thoughts and orient himself. The first thing he noticed when he sat up was the pounding at the front of his skull. As he cradled his forehead with his hand, the second thing he noticed was a body laying next to him under the covers. It wasn’t until then that he noticed a voice coming from the living room.

“...where could it be?” Hoseok’s panicked tone cut through the silence and made Yoongi groan internally. He must have used the spare key he had hidden in the plant next to his front door to get in.

Yoongi cursed under his breath and looked back down at the man next to him. He didn’t remember sleeping with him, but then again he wasn’t too sure how much he’d had to drink last night either. The whole night was coming to him in flashes of images, but he couldn’t gather a coherent memory.

He suddenly realized though that he was only in his boxers. His jeans and T-shirt were strewn on the floor next to the bed and as he continued to scan the room, he noticed another pair of clothes. His heart began to race as he lifted the covers to confirm what he already knew when he heard Seokjin speak.

“Touch me and I’ll break your wrist,” he murmured. His back was to Yoongi and all the blonde could really see of the other was his hair above the white comforter covering Seokjin’s body.

“Did we…I don’t remember…”

“Did we what?”

“You know…have …”

“No,” Seokjin said, now fully awake. He turned over and took his time yawning and stretching before he looked Yoongi in the eyes. “Like I said, you’re not my type.” At that, he sat up and stretched his arms one last time, but Yoongi still felt uncomfortable.

“Yoongi, wake up I ne-” Hoseok shouted as he walked through the little apartment until he reached Yoongi’s bedroom. He was cut off by the sight in front of him. Both of the boys’ hair was disheveled and Yoongi’s cheeks were pink, partially from the almost man next to him and partially because he got caught with an almost man next to him.

Hoseok only paused for a moment to assess the situation and then said, “Where’s my watch?”

“What watch?”

“The expensive gold one I bought, I need it to go with the suit I’m wearing for a business meeting I have in a few days.” Yoongi vaguely remembered where the watch could have been. A few weeks ago, Hoseok had come over to just drink and talk and they were playing cards. Hoseok bet his watch because he’d run out of money during the game, and Yoongi won it. They passed out shortly after that, and when Hoseok left, he took his money back but forgot his watch.

Yoongi reached down and retrieved the watch from a drawer in his bedside table, tossing it to Hoseok who caught it with one hand. He lingered in the doorway though, his eyes flickering between Yoongi and Seokjin.

“It’s not what you think,” Yoongi murmured.

“Yeah it really isn’t,” Seokjin spoke up in a snooty tone. “I brought him home because he was drunk off his and he asked me to stay, so I did.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Hoseok said with a suspicious expression. “Don’t you find it a little odd to sleep in a stranger’s bed though?”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna sleep on that poor excuse of a couch.”

“Hey!” Yoongi suddenly interjected, but Seokjin just shrugged in response.

“Look, nothing happened, I was just being nice. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go home.” Just as Seokjin was getting out of bed, another voice sounded from the hallway. Yoongi’s heart sank when he heard him.

“Hoseok, I have to pee, hurry up,” Jimin whined as he appeared beside Hoseok. When he looked over, Yoongi could visibly see him freeze up. His eyes moved from Seokjin to Yoongi, and back to Seokjin.

“Jimin, it’s not what you think,” Yoongi tried to explain, but Jimin’s face was stoic as he took in the scene.

“I need to use your bathroom,” he said quietly, trying not to let his voice break.

“Down the hall…” Jimin left in a flash and Yoongi put his head in his hands, muttering curses under his breath.

“You should go,” Hoseok said in a voice that was sharp as glass, his eyes boring into Seokjin. The older was unbothered by Hoseok’s attitude and took his time getting dressed. When he walked past Hoseok, he said, “Maybe if you’d been watching your friend better, I wouldn’t have had to,” and bumped into his shoulder on his way out.

“The did you say?” Hoseok asked, whipping around and staring at Seokjin.

“I won’t repeat myself, I have better things to do than fight with you,” Seokjin replied with a dismissive wave of his hand as he grabbed his keys and shoes before leaving. Hoseok returned his attention back to Yoongi, clearly upset.

“What’s gotten into you, Yoongi?”

“Nothing, it’s not a big deal. I didn’t even sleep with him, which for me, is better than usual.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think that’s a little inappropriate?”

“Why’s that?” Yoongi was out of bed now, walking over to his own pile of clothes.

“Because you have this thing with Jimin.”

“Do I? Cause last time I remembered, we weren’t in a relationship.”

“Yeah, but you want to be, don’t you?”

“What does it ing matter, Hoseok?” Yoongi was exasperated now because he felt that Hoseok was out of line. He’d had a day yesterday and this wasn’t what he’d wanted to wake up to. Just yesterday, Hoseok was the one saying that Yoongi deserved to be with someone who could give themselves fully to him. Yoongi reminded Hoseok of this point and the other shrugged in response.

“That’s true, but you can’t tell him one thing and then act another way, it’s not fair to him.”

“And what about what’s fair to me, Hoseok, what about that?” Yoongi was out of bed now and searching the floor for his jeans from yesterday. Once he found them, he put them on as fast as he could without losing his balance or getting dizzy and tried to brush past Hoseok. He blocked him with his shoulder and eyed the blonde carefully.

“You deserve to be loved by someone, but that someone also deserves to be told the truth about what’s happening here. You need to talk to him,” he said quietly and carefully. His tone was clear as if each word held the utmost importance and that irritated Yoongi even more. He frowned in response and brushed past his shoulder just as Seokjin had done. Just then, Jimin was coming out of the bathroom and the two locked eyes. Even though he was annoyed, Yoongi knew Hoseok was right and that they should talk about where this would go. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy bed hair.

“Will you stay for a second?” Yoongi asked him. Jimin hesitated, looking at Hoseok first as if asking for permission or confirmation. Hoseok gave him an encouraging nod which Jimin mirrored to answer Yoongi.

“Make yourself at home then,” Yoongi said, gesturing to the living room. Jimin nodded again and walked past Yoongi who was heading to the bathroom himself. When he passed Hoseok, he gave him a questioning look, which was simply answered with a nod.

“Talk to him. You two need to sort this out.” He said with a finality in his voice that meant it wasn’t up for discussion. Jimin resisted his urge to pout and went to sit on Yoongi’s couch. He watched Hoseok head for the door before he finally spoke up.

“You’re gonna leave me here?”

“There’s no reason for me to stay. He’ll take you home.” And with that, he left, leaving Jimin with a knot in his chest.

When Yoongi entered the living room, his hair was combed, and his torso was covered by a black hoodie.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Yoongi offered as he gave Jimin a quick glance on his way to the kitchen.

“No, I’m okay,” he replied, turning around to watch Yoongi move throughout his kitchen. He went into his fridge and grabbed two eggs before reaching in different drawers and cabinets for the cookware and utensils. The two were silent for a while, Jimin watching the various muscles move and contract under Yoongi’s flawless skin as he made scrambled eggs. The smell wafted through the living room and for a moment, Jimin relaxed his shoulders and let the homely feel of it all sink in. This could be a reality for him, to wake up to this in the morning. He became lost in the thought of waking up next to Yoongi and seeing his gummy smile and how his hair would stick up in all directions from his restless sleep.

Yoongi finished cooking and walked to sit on the couch next to Jimin, his plate in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Jimin eyed him, curious as to what he was going to say next.

“Hoseok is right, we need to talk,” he started off. Jimin remained quiet and still while Yoongi started eating. “I’m a blunt person, so I’m gonna just say this. I don’t think you’re over Jungkook.” The comment startled Jimin, but he didn’t let it show.

“Why do you think that?”

“I see you wince when relationships are brought up. Your face falls like you’re sad, and then you smile again to try and hide it, but I see it. I see the hurt in your expression.” Jimin opened his mouth to contradict Yoongi, but he couldn’t, not without lying to both himself and Yoongi.

“If you’re not over him, that’s fine, I get it, but at least tell me the truth.” Jimin was silent at that because he genuinely didn’t know if he was over him or not. He believed that he was more in love with the idea of Jungkook and the kind of person he believed him to be in his head more than the actual person. Even in understanding that, he felt it difficult to separate the two and recognized Yoongi’s statement to be true, he did always compare the two.

“When we kissed,” Yoongi started in a quiet tone, “that day on the ferry. You were thinking about Jungkook, weren’t you?”

“No,” Jimin said immediately because he hadn’t. At least, not in a way in which he was wishing Yoongi would have been Jungkook.

“So you’re telling me you weren’t thinking about how Jungkook used to kiss you and how much you missed it or how Jungkook used to make you feel warm inside like that? Is that what you’re saying?” Yoongi’s voice was stern now from trying to keep his anger in check.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I did that, but…”

“Then you’re not over him, Jimin.”

“I’m over Jungkook,” Jimin insisted without missing a beat. He never missed the lonely nights or the arguments or the cheating, he missed those small moments where things were okay which were far and few.

“I’m over Jungkook,” he repeated as if to solidify the thought. “But, I…I’m not the same person I used to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…that relationship kind of broke me…I guess you could say. I have a hard time trusting people and I distance myself from people that show interest and I overthink everything people do to me and what I do to other people, I’m a mess honestly.” Jimin was looking down at his hands, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves when he heard Yoongi begin to laugh. He whipped his head up, irritated that Yoongi would mock him by laughing.

“Jimin, you just described me,” Yoongi said. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t keep a close group of friends. Hoseok and Taehyung are all I have really.”

“Sure could have fooled me,” Jimin huffed, his jaw set in a line.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the guy in your bed this morning.”

“I told you, nothing happened between us. I got drunk last night, he drove me home, and apparently, I asked him to stay.”

“Why would you do that?” Jimin was genuinely confused as to why Yoongi would ask a stranger to sleep over at his place, especially while he was intoxicated. Anything could have happened and Yoongi would have been too drunk to stop it.

“Doesn’t matter,” Yoongi muttered more to himself than to Jimin. He got up to bring his empty glass and plate into the kitchen, and Jimin followed him, dissatisfied by his answer.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?”

“Because we didn’t do anything, it’s none of your business why I asked him to stay.”

“Well when you involve me in some kind of weird love triangle, it kind of does.”

“Oh please,” Yoongi scoffed as he placed his hands across the countertop and leaned forward into Jimin. “There is no love triangle, he’s just someone I met. So are you.”

That hit Jimin harder than he thought it would, but Yoongi was right, he had just met him. He was trying way too hard and forcing things to go much faster than they were supposed to be going. Yoongi hadn’t meant it to sound hurtful, but looking at Jimin’s expression, the damage had already been done.

“Jimin I didn’t mean it like that, I-”

“No, you’re right, I am someone you just met. It’s none of my business who you have over, we’re just friends, right?” Jimin’s expression was stoic, his lips set in a hard line as his gaze bore into Yoongi’s.

“Yes, but-”

“Then I don’t need to be here,” Jimin said as he turned around to start heading to the door. His feet felt heavy and his emotions ran wild. Bitterness, irritation, anger, sadness. None of them pinpointed exactly how he felt or exactly what he felt those emotions towards, whether it was Yoongi or the situation he found himself in. He didn’t even have a ride to go home, but he’d take the subway if he had to, just anything to leave.

“Why do you do that?” Yoongi asked, his voice louder than it was before.

“Do what?” Jimin whipped around.

“You just leave. You avoid situations instead of talking about them.”

“I could say the same for you. You don’t think drinking until you black out is running away from your issues?”

“I’m trying to work things out with you, Jimin, that’s not the same thing. It’s just frustrating for me.”

“Then why are you trying so hard?” Their tones were matched in volume, probably loud enough to wake Yoongi’s neighbors.

“Because I like you, Jimin, !” Yoongi shouted, throwing his hands up in an exasperated way. “You know that, and I know you have some kind of feelings for me and if we could just talk about it, that’d make everything so much easier, but it’s like you’re afraid to talk about it.” Jimin was quiet again and watched Yoongi as he began to pace between the living room and the kitchen. “I want to get to know you, I want you to trust me, I want you to feel comfortable around me. We don’t have to rush this if you don’t want, if you-”

“Yoongi-”

“-need time, I get that, but I can’t just be-

“Yoongi-”

“-left wondering about what’s happening between us or else like today is gonna happen more often and I-”

“Yoongi!” he froze, mid-pace and looked up at Jimin. “What?”

“Come visit Jungkook’s grave with me.”