Tension hung heavy in Hoseok's car on the way back to the party Jungkook was supposed to attend. Hoseok was tempted to reach across the seats and grab Taehyung's hand, if only to calm him down a little bit, but he didn't want to risk taking his hand of the wheel; he was a very cautious driver as of recently. So he waited until they were parked outside of Donghyuk's house to comfort Taehyung.

"Jungkook's going to be okay." Hoseok said, pressing his hand to Taehyung's shoulder before the younger could move to get out of the car. Taehyung froze in his seat for a moment. Hoseok shifting his fingers so his palm was overlapping Taehyung's shoulder, and he squeezed it gently. "I can tell you're worried about him, Tae, but Jimin's got him down. He took him out for dinner and I'm sure he'll take him right home after—"

"I know he will. I'm not worried." Taehyung said, but there was so much venom in his voice that Hoseok didn't really believe that. Actually; no, he did believe Taehyung wasn't worried. He would sound a lot more... worried, if he was worried. But there was definitely something wrong; there was something wrong, but Taehyung was pushing Hoseok's hand away, was climbing out of the car before Hoseok could ask. Hoseok followed quickly, latching softly onto Taehyung's hand once the younger had moved around the car to meet him there. Taehyung smiled a little at the contact from Hoseok's palm.

"I'll watch how much I drink tonight, so that we can get home safely." Hoseok said, his thumb rubbing against the back of Taehyung's palm in a comforting way. The tension wasn't bleeding from Taehyung's shoulders as it usually would, but Taehyung gave a smile that wasn't fake— it was a genuine, grateful smile. Hoseok walked Taehyung across the street quite quickly; he knew how recklessly some people drove, especially around an area a party was taking place.

"Don't let me eat too much candy, hyung. I don't want to be throwing up candy and alcohol." Taehyung said, the grimace on his face a bit playful; and Hoseok was glad to see him smiling a little like that, was glad to see he wasn't completely miserable as he had seemed to be in the car.

"But your vomit will taste sweet if you eat a lot of candy." Hoseok said, and Taehyung's grimace turned into an expression of disgust. He let out a laugh, anyway, when Hoseok chuckled after Taehyung had hit his shoulder playfully. Hoseok reached his left hand out for the door and knocked gently, taking a step back as soon as he'd knocked; the door swung outward. Donghyuk peeked through the little curtain on the door before opening it excitedly.

"Hoseok! Taehyung! I'm glad you could make it back!" Donghyuk stepped out of the house to pull Hoseok into a hug, to move past him and pull Taehyung into a quick hug, too. Donghyuk was their party animal friend; he loved to surround himself with people, but he knew exactly where his true friends were— two of them were standing right in front of him, the other four back in the house; Hoseok could see them on the couch.

"Weren't you bringing Jungkook along?" Donghyuk asked, frowned, and he glanced around a little bit, as if Jungkook was just hiding somewhere. Hoseok eyed Taehyung carefully for a moment. He still kind of wondered what had Taehyung so upset; it must have had to do with Jungkook. It must have. But— that was so strange, too, because Hoseok had never seen Taehyung get so upset over Jungkook. He'd seen worry, yes, but never anything like this— never anger like this.

"We were, actually, but he's sick right now. He passed out a little while ago, and we took him to the hospital. That's actually why we left for a little while there— sorry about that." Hoseok said. He glanced back at Taehyung again. The boy looked a little more on the worried side, now, rather than angry, but Hoseok could still see that bit of angry fire in his eyes; and he was so curious, it was eating at his stomach.

"Oh, don't be sorry! I hope he's alright. Did he faint from fatigue, or....? I know he's been working himself recently— you can't imagine how much I've seen him hanging around the dance studio down there." Donghyuk said, and he glanced off down the street. It was a little too dark to see anything, especially since everything was shutting down pretty early for the Holidays, and all the lights were off.

"He hang out at the dance studio? I thought he danced at home." Hoseok frowned. He looked back at Taehyung. Taehyung was frowning, too— "He does dance at home. When did you see him down there? He usually doesn't like coming over here."

"He—"

Donghyuk was cut off by one of his friends shouting, sounding a bit drunk, "Hey! Dong-, close the door! It's cold in here."

"Oh, he's a jackass when he's drunk. Come in, you're probably cold standing out here." Donghyuk took a step back into the house, gesturing Taehyung and Hoseok in quickly. He wrapped his arm around Hoseok's shoulders and took him off, back into the dining room, where very few people were lingering— mostly watching something happening in the kitchen. Donghyuk smiled, "Sorry about that. But, I only saw Jungkook there probably the last week. I think... he might be taking lessons? He was dancing with the other dancers. He and I talked once in there—"

"No wonder he's skipping over dinners! He's spending all of his time dancing—" Taehyung took in a deep breath and let it out. He tugged his hand away from Hoseok, muttering, "I need a drink," and disappearing into the living room. Hoseok watched him go, wanted to run after him, but he stayed with Donghyuk for a few moments instead.

"Sorry. He's worried about Jungkook; he's been worried since Jimin called about Jungkook passing out." Hoseok said, and he almost bit off his tongue once the words were out.

"Jimin?" Donghyuk asked, tilted his head. "I've never heard you mention a Jimin before."

Hoseok didn't really have to explain that Jimin was a robot, so he didn't, explaining instead— "Ah, Jimin is one of Seokjin's friends. He's been staying with Jungkook for a little while, to, um... take care of him a little bit. Jungkook's— going through some hard times right now."

"Oh. — poor kid. Wish him best from me next time you see him, yeah?" Donghyuk asked, and Hoseok nodded. Donghyuk glanced back into the living room, smile a little sympathetic— "I imagine you want to go find Taehyung...."

"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry. Thank you for inviting us— I'll catch up with you later!" Hoseok said, waved to Donghyuk as he was moving toward the living room. He didn't immediately see Taehyung in the midst of crowded people, nor did he see any drinks apart from the ones people were holding (and spilling). Hoseok wiggled his way through the crowd, getting some alcohol on his shirt from where people were spilling it. He peeked into the kitchen; Taehyung wasn't there either, but there were drinks.... Hoseok peeked onto the back porch. The light was on, but all Hoseok saw was a couple making out, sharing a cigarette. Taehyung wouldn't stay there. Or... would he? Hoseok spun on his heel and headed for the door again, opened it quietly and peeked out. Nope, no Taehyung. Hoseok thought so. He closed the door and spun around again, walked through the living room. He went upstairs. There was spilling beer on the steps— perhaps Taehyung had dropped some? Dammit; Hoseok wished he would have followed as soon as Taehyung left.

"Taehyung?" Hoseok called gently, hoping nobody was sleeping here— hoping nobody was sleeping together up here. Taehyung was sensitive to , Hoseok had discovered a while ago, and he didn't need to hear people ing if he happened to be sitting in a room close to anyone doing just that. Hoseok pressed his ear to a few doors, making sure he didn't hear or ruffling of sheets before he opened it, peeked inside. He checked every room in the same fashion until he came to the last room at the end of the hall, one with mistletoe hanging in the doorway. Hoseok rolled his eyes at it before he pressed his ear to the door. He heard a hiccup, a crinkle of a wrapper— was that a candy wrapper? Someone sobbed, and Hoseok opened the door.

Taehyung was sitting on the floor with a cup of beer in his hand, some of it spilled over his knees. He had candy wrappers all around him, mouth stuffed full of sweets— mostly of mints. Hoseok might have laughed had Taehyung not been crying.

"You promised you wouldn't let me eat a lot of candy, hyung. You lied— you totally lied to me." Taehyung said, sobbed again. Hoseok stepped through the door, closed it softly behind him. He lowered himself to his knees in front of Taehyung, brushing away the pile of candy he had at his feet. Hoseok reached to wipe Taehyung's cheeks, all hard by the way he had a million mints stuffed into them. Hoseok sighed, cupped his hands under Taehyung's mouth, "Spit."

"But—" Taehyung said, and Hoseok knew the younger was going to argue that that was kind of gross, that Hoseok should at least grab a tissue, but Hoseok raised an eyebrow, "Taehyung. Spit them out."

Taehyung did as he was told, and Hoseok wiped a little string of spit that stuck to the bottom of his mouth. He walked to the little bathroom connecting to the room, dumped the candies into the garbage under the sink and washed his hands, wiped them quicky on a towel. He brought a fresh roll of toilet paper out to the room, shutting off the bathroom light on his way back to Taehyung. He unwrapped some toilet paper from the roll and used it to wipe Taehyung's mouth. He wiped the younger's eyes with a separate bundle of sheets of toilet paper; and he sat back on his legs when he was finished.

"Something is very emotionally wrong with you, Taehyung. What is it?" Hoseok asked, and he was very serious as he did so. Usually, in comforting Taehyung, he would at least smile, would be playful, but this wasn't a playful situation. While everything that had happened so far was kind of comical— what wasn't funny about Taehyung stuffed so full of mints that he could barely talk? But Taehyung didn't act this way on a normal day— not with tears in his eyes, at least, and certainly not with worry and Jungkook on his mind. Something was wrong; Hoseok needed to find out.

"It's really stupid, hyung. I'm really stupid— I honestly can't believe I'm acting this way." Taehyung said. Hoseok thought, for a moment, that he may have to force the answer out of Taehyung through a few more serious words, but Taehyung began to speak on his own, "I'm just.... You know how I've been waiting a long, long time for Jungkook to get a boyfriend, right? I always say he'd look so cute with a boy, even though I thought he might fall in love with a girl instead— because he's just— he seems like the kind to like girls more. But— a boyfriend would be so cute. You remember when I said that, don't you?"

"Of course. I can remember quite a few occasions you've said exactly that, in fact." Hoseok said. He watched Taehyung's face carefully— and something was very off. Taehyung's expression was one Hoseok had never seem before; he looked hurt and angry, as if someone had just stabbed him and he wanted revenge. Hoseok reached out to take Taehyung's hand, moving the drink away from his palm before wrapping his fingers up in the boy's.

"Well... I just— he would look so, so cute with a boy, wouldn't he? I always thought he would look really cute with Jin, you know, because Jin takes care of him— and I think that's where this feeling came from. But.... I don't think I want him to have a boyfriend anymore. It's so selfish but- but, hyung, my best friend is being taken away from me, and he's being stolen by a ing robot."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey." Hoseok said, and he let go of Taehyung's hand for a moment to grab his shoulder, to look at him with a serious expression. "Don't talk about Jimin like that. Jimin loves Jungkook, that's all. They're not even boyfriends yet—"

"But they will be. You don't know Jungkook like I do, Hoseok; you don't know the way Jungkook looks at Jimin." Taehyung said. "He looks at Jimin the same way he looks at Jin, but it's.... I've never seen Jungkook in love, you know? It's just so obvious. Doesn't that say something, hyung? That I can tell Jungkook's in love even though I've never even seen him look at a crush before?"

"He used to have a crush on Jin-hyung." Hoseok said, "And you've clearly seen the way he looks at Jin. If he's looking at Jimin the same way, he must feel the same for Jimin— like Jimin's a really, really good hyung. Jimin and Jin are very similar; they both take care of Jungkook, and they're both very protective, and they both love him. Jin made Jimin with himself in mind, didn't he?"

"Yes, but it's different, hyung. I'd be able to tell if Jungkook thought of Jimin the same way he thinks of Jin-hyung; and I wouldn't be so angry. But it's really, really different. Jin-hyung is like a brother to Jungkook; they're a perfect set of brothers that never, ever fight. Jimin is— he's different. Jungkook loves Jimin, and- and soon he's going to take all of Jungkook's affection and- and Jungkook won't need my anymore—"

"What makes you think that?" Hoseok asked, frowned.

"Because Jimin— Jimin is perfect. You see it, right, hyung? Jimin is absolutely perfect, because he can cook and take care of Jungkook, and he's always there. He can do everything with Jungkook, especially since he's so in-reach, and soon Jungkook will go to the movies with him and go to parties with him and I won't— I won't even matter anymore." Taehyung sniffled. "You do see it, right, hyung? I'm not being too ridiculous, right? Jimin is perfect—"

"Actually, I think you're being very ridiculous." Hoseok frowned. "Taehyung, what the Hell? You should have some faith in Jungkook, you know. You should trust that he won't just stop needing you— do you really think he's going to throw away your friendship just because he's in love now? When he isn't even in love yet?"

"I do trust Jungkook! I just.... Have you ever been in love, Hoseok? It's— all you want to do is be around that person. All you do is think about that person, and you wonder if they love you back, and they end up taking all of your thought, all of your time, all of your affection— and, before you know it, you've left all your friends lonely, and... they go and... they go and find new friends."

Hoseok and Taehyung looked at each other for a long time. Before the silence broke, Taehyung looked away, pulled his and out of Hoseok's— Hoseok honestly didn't even remember grabbing it again— and picked up his beer, took a long drink of it. Hoseok thought it would have been a good idea to push the beer away, because alcohol was not something Taehyung needed when he was in such a ridiculously emotional state, but Hoseok didn't think about that until Taehyung had downed most of the thing and picked up and mint to chew on.

"Sounds like a personal scenario, Tae." Hoseok whispered eventually. He didn't have anything else to say in response to the emotional outburst. Taehyung chewed on his mint for a few moments more, put down his beer and leaned against his knees, arms crossed beneath his chin. Hoseok almost didn't hear what Taehyung said next, because there was music blasting downstairs, people screaming, but he'd become used to Taehyung's voice by now, used to his muttering, "It is."

"How so?" Hoseok asked softly. He carded his fingers through Taehyung's hair in comfort. Taehyung didn't respond for a long time. He picked up a second mint... a third mint... a fourth— and then he picked up a candy cane and began to chew on that. Hoseok rolled his eyes, took the candy cane away from Taehyung once he'd eaten the whole top. "You'll ruin your teeth like that, Tae. Come on, talk to me— I've never heard your little love story before."

"Because it's you." Taehyung said, sniffled. Hoseok blinked a few times, didn't quite understand until Taehyung looked at him and explained, "When you love someone, Hoseok— well, when I love someone, all I do is think about them, and wonder if they love me back, and I spend all my time with this person, admiring them and longing for them, and.... I've been spending a lot of time with you, hyung."

Hoseok was shocked. Taehyung loved him? Taehyung loved him? That brought a whole new side of emotions out of Taehyung's fit of them; it was no wonder he was so affected by Jungkook's falling in love. Hoseok could only imagine Taehyung felt guilty; was that the emotion, earlier, that Hoseok hadn't been able to detect? He'd never seen Taehyung guilty before. He'd also never been very good at reading people.

Taehyung took his candy cane back from Hoseok's hand and turned his head to the side, rest his head on his arm as he began to gnaw at the minty candy again. For a few moments, all Hoseok could do was sit there, still shocked into silence and stillness, but then he stood, moved to the door. Taehyung looked up at him. He looked like a kicked puppy— abandoned and hurt. But Hoseok held out a hand, standing beneath the door-frame. "Come on, Taehyung, let's go party."

"Wha— really?" Taehyung asked, sounding a little confused, a little hopeful, a little bit in love. Hoseok nodded. Taehyung stood up, candy cane still in hand, and reached for the beer he still hadn't finished off. Hoseok snapped his fingers, shook his head when he caught Taehyung's attention. So Taehyung left the beer, and the candy wrappers, as well as all the candy that hadn't been unwrapped. He took Hoseok's outstretched hand, squeaked when Hoseok grabbed him, spun him around— and he closed the door in the same second, had Taehyung pressed back against it.

Hoseok glanced up; Taehyung's gaze followed his. Taehyung's mouth fell open slightly, and Hoseok chuckled, "Well, would you look at that? Mistletoe, Taehyung.... Guess you have to kiss me, now."

"Did you do that on purpose?" Taehyung asked gently. Hoseok almost busted out his sarcasm, but he kept it down, nodded instead— because he didn't want to mess up a moment that could be cute, didn't want to with their first kiss by being sarcastic (even if it would make it that much more memorable). Taehyung squeaked cutely, dropped his candy cane as he wrapped his arms around Hoseok, tugged him in for a kiss. Hoseok held onto his waist, and Taehyung held onto his neck, and they just held each other there for a few moments, kissing but not quite making out against the door.

"Merry Christmas. Be my boyfriend." Hoseok said; and he told himself he wouldn't make a joke of their first kiss, but he honestly couldn't help it.

"So demanding." Taehyung muttered, but he was smiling like an idiot, eyes crinkled up so much that Hoseok couldn't even see them through his eyelids. Taehyung brought Hoseok in for another kiss, this one lasting a little bit longer, also a bit softer than the first— overall more romantic, with Hoseok's hands on Taehyung's sides rather than his hips, with Taehyung moving one hand to Hoseok's cheek and the other to be resting against Hoseok's shoulder, forearm splayed down his torso.

"You didn't answer my question, Tae." Hoseok whispered, didn't bother opening his eyes as he spoke against Taehyung's lips.

"You didn't ask a question, hyung." Taehyung said, chuckling at the look on Hoseok's face as he tugged himself far away from Taehyung that he could open his eyes again— but only that far away; their noses were still quite close, and they were still breathing in each other's air.

"Oh my beautiful, beautiful Taehyung— my lovely, lovely love, please— take my hand, take my heart, accept my love—" Hoseok was cut off when Taehyung smacked his chest, laughing— "That still isn't a question, hyung! You're dumber than me!"

"When people call us dumb and dumber, I've always been dumber, Taehyung, you know that." Hoseok said, teased, but then he fell serious, brushing a bit of hair away from Taehyung's eye. He smiled through his seriousness, and he asked, gently, "Will you be my boyfriend, Taehyung?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Taehyung said, and then he nodded happily, tugged Hoseok into another kiss. Their hands, this time, traveled to one another, and they kissed over their connected palms, over their overlapping fingers. Hoseok, once again, muttered against Taehyung's lips, "We can go on double dates, now, with Jimin and Jungkook— assuming they will be boyfriend soon."

Hoseok pulled away again, squeezed Taehyung's hands, bringing them up to eye level but moving them away from their faces. "And you won't have to worry about losing your best friend. Because, as much as you convince yourself you're only good for taking care of him and driving him places when he's too hurt to walk, you mean more than that to him."

"Like what, hyung?" Taehyung asked.

"Like— you're his best friend. He can tell you anything. Does he tell Jin everything he tells you?" Hoseok asked. Taehyung shook his head. Hoseok raised an eyebrow— "Exactly. And he won't tell Jimin everything either. And I'm sure he wants you, too, doesn't just keep you around because he needs you. I'm sure he loves your company. That's what best friends are— need with that convenient want on the side."

"Hmm?" Taehyung hummed, didn't quite get the metaphor.

"Like medicine. You need medicine, even if you don't want it. Best friends aren't like that. They're like... something with health benefits that they really like. Like— food or something. You need food, and you want food, and that's kind of what best friends are."

"So I am chopped liver." Taehyung said, but he was clearly joking, big smile on his face to show just that. Hoseok rolled his eyes, grabbed Taehyung's hand— "Come on, you big goof. Let's go party— and don't you dare pick up another piece of candy, I'm not having you throw up all over me tonight."