Two days before Christmas, Park Jimin found out the true meaning of the word hectic. Of course he knew what the word meant; if Seokjin knew it, he knew it, but Jimin had never personally experienced anything hectic. He knew that, around the holidays, especially Christmas, people should be super, super happy, should be cuddled up next to lovers with hot chocolate, popcorn, zero stress thanks to no school, no work. He knew people should love their lovers and their families, should watch out for them, appreciate them. Jimin knew all about the holidays, and he planned on making this Christmas one of Jungkook's best.

This didn't go as planned, at first.

Jimin and Jungkook did everything lovers and family were supposed to do, even if they weren't lovers or family. Jungkook had been very open to falling in love with Jimin, though Jimin could tell he wasn't at that point yet. He knew what a man in love looked like; Jungkook didn't look that way. But Jungkook was giving Jimin a big chance, one that Jimin appreciated-- one that Seokjin had told him wasn't easy for a lot of people to just hand away.

Spending the beginning of Christmas break with Jungkook was fun. He and Jungkook cuddled a lot, mostly sitting on the couch under a blanket. Jungkook would sit between Jimin's legs, leaned back against his chest, with Jimin's arms around his shoulders and a cup of hot chocolate in Jimin's hands. Jimin couldn't drink the hot chocolate, so he fed it to Jungkook instead; and he would steal a tiny, harmless taste of the chocolate off the corner of Jungkook's mouth. Jungkook was a messy drinker; and he didn't mind Jimin kissing near his lips.

Two days before Christmas, Jungkook was let off of work for the same span of time as he was let off of school. It had to do with his boss liking him a lot, knowing that he needed a break. It was obvious in the way Jungkook looked that he needed a clear break; and Jimin was grateful that Jungkook's boss had given him some off time. Juggling a job, college work, and all the different dances Jungkook was learning-- the boy was overwhelming himself. Jimin didn't realize exactly how much he was overwhelming himself until that December 23rd.

Jungkook came home rubbing his eyes, yawning, backpack slung over his shoulder. He was walking slowly, something Jimin detected but didn't have an immediate chance to act upon; because Jungkook was walking over to him a few seconds after he'd closed his front door. Jungkook frowned, picked up a blanket and tried to hand it to Jimin. "Will you lock up if you're too cold? You'll stop working, won't you? You should put this blanket on--"

"It's warm enough in here, Jungkookie. Thank you." Jimin said. He stood up, pressed a little kiss to Jungkook's cheek. Jungkook was struggling to keep his eyes open, Jimin could tell. He grasped Jungkook's biceps, held him gently, and he began to move Jungkook along, "Let's get you to bed, okay? You look very, very tired. I'll make you dinner after you take a nap."

"No, I'm- I'm fine. I should... stay up. I have to go somewhere... soon." Jungkook said. He pulled himself away from Jimin's grasp, took a few steps in the direction opposite to which Jimin had been trying to take him. Jimin moved to follow as Jungkook was saying, "I'm actually... pretty hungry, hyung. Can you--"

Jungkook tried to take one more step, but his knees buckled, and he began to collapse. Jimin dove forward, just barely caught Jungkook's top half before he could smash his head against the ground. For a few minutes, Jimin wasn't even sure what happened. Why had Jungkook fallen so suddenly? Why were his eyes closed? Had he fallen asleep? But, no; Jimin realized he'd just fainted, and he gasped when this thought came upon him. What was he supposed to do? Should he take Jungkook to the hospital? Was something wrong? Had he just been tired?

It was stupid, but Jimin stood, let Jungkook rest against the floor, and he raced to the phone to call Seokjin rather than the hospital. He was halfway through dialing the number before he remembered that Seokjin had gone off to visit his mother for a few days-- just until December 26th, when he would come back, would share presents and lots of homemade cookies with Jungkook. Jimin hung up the half-dialed number and called Taehyung instead, hoped he would know what to do.

"Hello?" Taehyung was laughing. There was a lot of chatter in the background. Jimin wondered if he was at a party. He opened his mouth to say something, likely everything on his brain-- a mush of thoughts and a hell of a lot of panic, but Taehyung was speaking again before Jimin could form a coherent word. "Hey! Jungkook! Where are you? You promised me you would come to the party-- it's ing amazing!"

"Taehyung." Jimin said. Taehyung was either very confused or had noticed the worry in Jimin's voice, for he stopped laughing, serious as he asked why Jimin was calling, as he asked where Jungkook was. Jimin looked back at Jungkook, moved to make his way back over to the passed out boy as he told Taehyung what happened, "Jungkook fainted. I- he's still breathing, but he came home, and he was walking really slow and he looked really, really tired. I tried to get him to go to bed, but he just wouldn't-- and I don't know what to do. He didn't hit his head, but he fainted, and I'm-- what do I do, Taehyung?"

"Oh my-- just, um, , I don't know. Don't move him? . Just-- wait for him to wake up. Um... God, Hobi's smarter at these things. Wait. Just wait and don't touch him, okay? But stay right by him-- I'm going to bring Hobi over. Okay? We'll be right there, Jimin. Don't let him move too much if he wakes up!" Taehyung said. Jimin told him a simple "okay," and then Jimin was putting the phone down, hands on Jungkook's shoulder just to touch him. He shifted his hand to Jungkook's chest a second later, let himself feel the rise and fall of his chest.

Two minutes passed. Jimin kept his eyes trained on Jungkook, waiting, waiting, waiting.... Jungkook woke up with a groan, shifted against the ground. Jimin pressed his hand down on Jungkook's shoulder gently, remembered Taehyung's order of not letting him move too much. Jungkook tried to bat Jimin's hand away, eyes not quite open, but Jimin kept him there. Jungkook blinked his eyes open, flinched against the living room light right above him. His sight caught Jimin's soon enough, however, and he looked a little bit less confused-- but still extremely so.

"Jimin? What happened?" Jungkook asked, and he tried to sit up, but Jimin pressed him down again- gently, didn't want to be too forceful. Jungkook raised an eyebrow, "Jimin? Why are you pinning me down? I'm- the floor's uncomfortable."

"Taehyung told me not to let you move too much. I don't know what- what will happen if you move too much, so I'm not going to let you move too much." Jimin said. He wondered, briefly, why he didn't know about fainting. Had Seokjin forgotten to tell him about it? Should he know anything about fainting? Did most people know what to do with someone who had fainted? Jimin just knew it was good that he hadn't hit his head-- nothing else.

"I'm fine, Jimin. I promise. Can I- can I just sit up? I promise I won't stand." Jungkook said. Jimin nodded numbly. Jungkook pushed himself into a sitting position. Jimin tugged him into his chest just to make himself feel better, pressed Jungkook's head against his beating heart. Jungkook curled up into him easily, fingers finding the robot's, allowing his own to slip between them. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry. I'm- you scared me really, really bad. Why did you faint? Were you that tired?" Jimin asked. His fingers went automatically to Jungkook's side, running over it softly, feeling Jungkook's heavy-beating heart as his fingers got closer and closer to his chest. He rest his chin softly on top of Jungkook's head, "You have to take better care of yourself, Jungkook. Please quit your job, your parents--"

"No. No, I won't-- I'm fine. I'm fine. I think... I've been on my ankle too much, and I'm tired. I'll recover soon, I promise." Jungkook said. He shifted his head, looked up at Jimin; and he smiled, a little smile that had Jimin smiling a little bit, too. He was still worried, and very clearly, but he let himself just smile at Jungkook for the few more seconds it took for Hoseok and Taehyung to be barging into Jungkook's house- no knock to foreshadow their entrance.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung said, and he dove to the floor immediately, stole Jungkook from Jimin's arms to bring him into his own. Hoseok entrance to the living room was a little more calm, just as his entrance into the house had been. He chuckled when he saw Taehyung on the floor, when he saw the expressions on Jimin's and Jungkook's faces. Hoseok bent, got on his knees, ducked his head down to look at Jungkook.

"Hey, Kook. Are you feeling okay? Taehyung told me you fainted... though, the way he was talking, I thought you'd died." Hoseok said. He and Jungkook chuckled together; Taehyung and Jimin both widened their eyes, looked at Hoseok as if he'd said something a million times as horrible as his little joke. Hoseok went serious again, "Anyway-- I do think we should go to the hospital or at least to your doctor, just to make sure it's nothing serious."

"It could be serious?" Jimin asked, eyes wide. He remembered something Jungkook had said before-- "I'm sure if I collapsed, Jimin would know to call an ambulance."-- Should he have? Was fainting that serious? Why didn't he know anything about it. God!

"It could be. It probably isn't, but it's better safe than sorry, right?" Hoseok asked. He stood up, helped Taehyung shift Jungkook around so he could stand up, too, let Taehyung hold him on his own once he was steady. Hoseok held out a hand to help Jimin off his knees. "I'm sure it's nothing. He was probably tired, or... I don't know. Jungkook, how well have you been eating?"

Hoseok turned to look at Jungkook, as did Jimin; and Taehyung looked down at him, too. Jungkook bit the inside of his cheek. He was hoping nobody would ask him-- but of course someone would. He hadn't been eating very well at all lately. He was so busy, with his dancing and college work and his job. Jimin had been making him food, but Jungkook just never had the time to finish it all-- and he absolutely hated to eat right after he'd dance, causing him to skip dinner a lot of the time. He hated to see the worried look on Jimin's face when Jungkook told him he wanted to skip dinner, but he just-- he had a schedule to follow.

"I've... been fine." Jungkook lied. He shouldn't, he shouldn't lie-- so he switched his words quick. "I mean. No. Actually, I-I haven't been eating too much. I don't- I don't eat lunch, and... I think I've skipped dinner four times this week."

"What? You run the day on breakfast? Jungkook!" Taehyung said, and he might have punched Jungkook's shoulder if he hadn't been holding the boy. Taehyung spun on his heels and began to stomp away, loudly exclaiming, "We're going to the hospital right now, mister! And when they're done examining you, we're going to take you out for a big dinner and then you're going to sleep all day tomorrow...."

Taehyung's voice got quieter and quieter until he was by the door, likely grabbing a jacket and shoes for Jungkook, rambling a little bit faded now due to the distance. Hoseok chuckled a little, shook his head. He looked at Jimin, tried to go serious by hiding his smile. "So. We're going to take Jungkook to the hospital. Do you want to come with us?"

"Yes." Jimin said, didn't hesitate at all to follow. Jungkook was leaning up against the wall when they arrived by the door. Taehyung was still rambling on, grabbing Jungkook's coat, slipping Jungkook's shoes on for him. Jungkook looked over at Hoseok. Hoseok noticed that Jungkook had lost a little bit of weight. It wasn't a visibly unhealthy amount, but it was a fairly obvious amount; or perhaps he looked hungry because he looked so tired.

"But you'll miss your party if you take me out to dinner. Just drop me off at the hospital-- I'll be fine." Jungkook said, gaze following Taehyung as he stood full height. Taehyung went to argue, but Jungkook reached out, pressed his fingers softly onto Taehyung's lips. "You know I don't like taking other people's time, hyung. I'll be okay, I promise."

"How will you get back? I will not let you drive with a sprained ankle-- I don't care how minor it is. And Jimin can't drive you; he doesn't have a license." Taehyung said. Jungkook glanced at the ground, clearly trying to get an answer. Taehyung continued on, "And we're taking my car, and if Hoseok and I leave, we'll have to take that car--"

"I'll get a cab." Jungkook said, shrugged. "All I need is my wallet--"

"Jungkook--"

"Hyung--"

Jimin could see that sad look in Jungkook's eyes, a look that Jimin had learned meant he would be upset if things didn't go his way, that he would feel guilty if he were to take Taehyung's and Hoseok's time out of the party they were supposed to be at. So, Jimin stepped in. "I've got my wallet. I'll take care of Jungkook if you drop us both at the hospital. I'll take him out to dinner... it'll be like a date. Our first date."

Jimin was a little nervous to say the words, but the way Jungkook reacted was adorable. He jumped, winced at his ankle, but he didn't let the smile drop off his face. He looked so happy-- "Yeah! Let's go on a date, hyung! I'd love to go on a date!"

"Hospital first." Taehyung said, poking his finger into Jungkook's chest. Jungkook stuck his tongue out playfully, but he was smiling when he pulled his tongue back into his mouth, looking over at Jimin with a pretty little smile. Jimin thought Jungkook might have been hesitant; but Jimin didn't think he'd seen Jungkook so excited about anything since they'd met.

/

As it turned out, Hoseok was right; Jungkook was generally okay. He wasn't as healthy as he should be-- the doctor advised a lot of rest and a lot more food in his system, but he was let go of right after his check-up, and Jimin was even given some instructions to take care of him. Jimin promised to do so, took Jungkook's hand as they were leaving the hospital, glanced down at Jungkook's newly-wrapped ankle. The doctor told Jungkook to stay off of it, Jimin remembered.

"Hop on." Jimin said after he'd stopped Jungkook in his tracks. He crouched down in front of Jungkook, head bowed, waiting for Jungkook to get on his back. A few moments of nothing had Jimin glancing back to see what was wrong. Jungkook was biting down on his lip, looking a little hesitant. Jimin smiled, "Hop on, Kookie. The doctor told you to stay off your ankle as much as you could."

"Am I too heavy? I'm- you're shorter than me, I might--"

"I'm made out of pure steel, Jungkook, nothing's too heavy for me." Jimin said. He reached back, tapped on Jungkook's thigh. "And don't you dare talk to me about weight when you've been eating nothing but breakfast for the past week and been exercising at least four times more than usual."

"I have not-- okay." Jungkook stopped himself from arguing, and he climbed onto Jimin's back, held onto his shoulders softly. He leaned into Jimin's back, chin on his shoulder, breathing softly against his neck. Jimin held onto Jungkook's thighs and took him through the hospital, ignored the confused glances from others as they made their way out. Jimin walked down the sidewalk, over to a busy street next to the hospital. He hailed a cab, let Jungkook in first, climbed in right after.

"Where do you want to go, Kookie?" Jimin asked. It was a good thing Jungkook knew his way around, Jimin thought, because Seokjin hadn't given him many street names or directions. Jungkook told the driver an address, and they talked the whole way there-- twenty minutes to get there, most of their talk about Christmas and the light snow that had fallen onto the ground. It was beautiful, Jimin mentioned; Jungkook agreed.

"Are you cold, Kookie?" Jimin asked. They were out of the cab, had only been out of it for about ten seconds, and Jungkook was shaking.

"I'm-- just a little bit. Taehyung-hyung didn't grab my big coat... it's pretty cold." Jungkook said. He rubbed his arms. Jimin went to take off his own coat, but Jungkook rejected the effort completely, grabbing onto Jimin's hands-- "No! No, don't do that. I'm still afraid you'll lock up- and I can't have Jin-hyung come fix you yet. Nope, nope, let's just get inside quick, okay? Quick!"

"I have to carry you--"

"Quick, quick, quick," so Jimin went quick. He took Jungkook's hand, and they went into the cute little place quickly. The inside doors were lined with little ornaments and decorations for Christmas. One side of the shop was a cute little restaurant; the other side was a mix between a tiny souvenir shop and a book store. Jimin looked around the place with an excited smile; he'd never pictured a simple store could be so beautiful.

"Jin-hyung took me to this place on our first little date together." Jungkook said. Jimin looked at him, eyebrow raised. Jungkook gasped a bit-- "Oh! Not a real date. He called it a date, but he said it was just... a date for us. Like, he wanted to take me out just because he could. He always calls our little outings dates-- I think it's cute. He took me here for our first outing-- our first little date."

Jimin wondered if this was just an outing to Jungkook.

"Oh, you can't eat.... Oh, I'll feel so weird if I'm eating by myself--" Jungkook said, but Jimin cut him off-- "Nope. Nope, nope, I promise Taehyung I would make you eat. And I want to have you eat anyway-- you're going to get sick if you don't eat. And if we have to go back out in that cold without you having any food-- you'll be sure to catch a cold. I won't let you be sick over your Christmas break."

"Thanks, hyung." Jungkook said softly, blush coming to his cheeks. Jimin couldn't help but lean in and kiss his cheek. Jungkook blushed a little bit, eyes falling to the ground. Jimin noticed he was biting his bottom lip-- only the inside of it, and he thought it was the cutest thing in the world, thought about leaning in and kissing those lips--

"Let's go eat something, hyung. I'm really hungry." Jungkook said, and he reached out to grasp Jimin's hand, to tug him to the side of the little shop that they were serving food. They were brought to a table, and Jungkook ordered a small cup of hot chocolate. Jimin ordered a little cappuccino just to make it look as if he was eating too; to make them look like a normal little couple.

"I still can't wait for Christmas! And after Christmas, when Jin-hyung comes back." Jungkook said. His voice was full of enthusiasm, but Jimin noticed Jungkook's eyelids getting a little heavy again, slipping over his eyes for a moment longer than normal. Jungkook shifted, glanced around, looked back at Jimin. "Jin-hyung always brings me such nice things. I think I'll do something extra special for him this year."

"What do you have in mind, Kookie? I could help you." Jimin said. Jungkook mentioned, with a tone of insecurity, that he didn't actually have anything to give Seokjin. Jimin reached across the table to touch his hand softly, give him some reassurance and tell him that they would think of something. Through their drinks-- with Jungkook being the only one to actually drink anything-- they brainstormed some ideas.

"I could dance for him, too! Or sing for him. Hmm... maybe I'll have him over that night, and I could put on a performance for him! I could dance... and then sing... and you could cook something for us, right? We could just entertain him all day!" Jungkook said, clapping his hands together; and people were giving them some not necessarily rude glances, but they were being quite loud; Jungkook got loud when he was excited. Jimin didn't tell him to calm down, "He deserves a break, I think. Right?"

"Right." Jimin said. He gave Jungkook a smile. "You're a really good dongsaeng, you know that? Most dongsaengs don't do too much for their hyungs... it's always hyung taking care of dongsaeng."

"Well, I have to take care of Jin-hyung. He takes care of me so much." Jungkook said. He looked at Jimin with excitement. "You take care of me a lot too, hyung. What do you want for Christmas? It's your first-- it should be very special."

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Jungkook. You have to go home and rest-- don't worry about me, okay?" Jimin asked. Jungkook pouted, but Jimin didn't let him argue. Jungkook gave in after a few pouts and little whines, and Jimin chuckled. "But, don't worry, Jungkook. I'll buy you lots of presents, and I'll watch you open them up."

"No- you can't buy me lots! Then I'll feel bad for not buying you lots!" Jungkook said; Jimin hushed him again. He changed the subject back to Seokjin, and they talked about the man as Jungkook ate. Jimin had ordered a little bowl of soup, something that he spoon-fed Jungkook in-between the younger's bites of his own food. Jimin ended up doing most of the talking, constantly shoving Jungkook's face-- much too much for him to talk. Jungkook seemed pretty content, though, smiling at Jimin, blushing, taking sips of his coffee when they were offered, eating the soup when Jimin held the spoon to his face. Jungkook didn't finish off everything; only about three quarters of it. Jimin understood that after not eating a lot for a while, stomachs shrunk in, and they couldn't hold a lot of food, so he let it go.

Jimin wondered why he knew more about the way stomachs worked than he did about fainting.

"Thank you, hyung! That was really good." Jungkook said. He was heading towards the door, hand in Jimin's, but Jimin tugged him back as he reached for the handle, started to lead him over to the other side of the shop-- with cute stuffed animals and a lot of cool-looking things. Jungkook whined, tried to tug his hand away, "No, hyung, don't buy me anything. You can't-- if you buy me something, it's my Christmas gift--"

"Okay. That's fine-- pick a few things you want, okay? Merry Early Christmas." Jimin said. Jungkook pouted, but he didn't argue more as Jimin tugged him into the shop, moved around the place, picking up random little trinkets and putting them down when Jungkook showed no interest. Jimin payed close attention to Jungkook's eyes, knew he would eye things a few times if he wanted it, knew Jungkook wouldn't directly ask for it, would likely pull Jimin away from it just so he didn't buy it. He knew Jungkook's little tricks thanks to Seokjin; but he wasn't going to let Jungkook get away with them.

"Those are cute, aren't they?" Jimin said, pointing up at two little moose dolls Jungkook eyed at least four times. Both of them came with a phone case between their arms; and they were couple plushies, both saying love on the little pillow in front of the phone case. Jimin had to stand on the tips of his toes to reach the little attached dolls, but he brought them down into Jungkook's palms when he'd gotten them. "I'll buy them. It's our first couple item, Kookie."

"They're so cute." Jungkook said, smiled breaking his lips. He looked up at Jimin; and he must not have been thinking, for he leaned in, and he pressed a kiss smack to the middle of Jimin's lips. Jungkook looked back down at the plushies, blush on his cheeks again-- "Thank you, hyung. I love them."

"No problem." Jimin said. He took Jungkook around the store again, bought him a t-shirt and a book with a very pretty cover and a very interesting description-- a prologue, Jungkook told Jimin, as he read it as they were walking through the store. They left with cute little cases and Jungkook looking a bit tired. The sky was darkening; and Jimin just barely stopped a cab before it drove off.

"I had a lot of fun, hyung. Thank you so much." Jungkook said. He leaned into Jimin, but he didn't kiss him this time, instead opted for laying on Jimin's chest. Jimin told him "You're welcome," wrapped his arms around Jungkook and held him just like that. He didn't expect Jungkook to fall asleep on him, but he didn't mind when Jungkook began to snore softly. He was just glad there wasn't much snow on the ground-- he didn't want to slip as he was carrying Jungkook into the house.

<3

A/N: Sorry about the late update. It's been almost two weeks since I've update this, oh my. I've been on-and-off with my inspiration lately; not necessarily just for this story, but for writing in general. I've mostly just been lazy, though. ;;  Sorry about that. But I'll try to update a little sooner this time around! Thank you for reading! x