Archive of Our Own ^beta

yoongi barely moves a muscle when his boss places a stack of papers on his desk. he barely even gives seokjin a glance, really, occupied by the existing work he has. not that his job is particularly difficult, but yoongi has plans to cuddle his dog on his couch when he gets home, so he wants to finish as quickly as possible. seokjin lets out a sigh and leans against the edge of yoongi's desk, then lowers his laptop screen just a little. "yoongi-ah," he says and crosses his arms when yoongi gives him a sideways glance then returns to looking at his laptop. "come to my office."

"but you're already here," yoongi points out, leaning his elbow on his desk and looking up at him properly. "what a waste of energy that would be to go all the way to your office."

"you're lucky i like you or i'd fire you for talking back to me," huffs seokjin and rolls his eyes, though a fond smile is playing at his lips. yoongi simply smirks and sits back in his chair, swiveling it to properly face him. "just come. i promise it’ll be worth your energy and your time." seokjin pats yoongi's shoulder and pushes himself off the side of his desk, walking off in the direction of his office. he stops briefly at namjoon's desk, but it doesn't look like he's asking namjoon to come to his office too. 

yoongi finishes the last of his coffee and pushes himself up, shutting his laptop and organizing the papers scattered across his desk. he picks his jacket off the back of his chair and pulls it on, adjusting his employee badge to make sure it can still be seen. as he walks across the floor to seokjin's office, he stops at namjoon's desk too, but only to drop off a small pile of papers. namjoon groans and lets his forehead fall to rest on his desk while yoongi continues into seokjin's office. 

he shuts the door and waits patiently by it—yoongi might playfully talk back to his boss, but seokjin's been very generous over the last year or so that he's worked for him. he likes staying on his boss' good side, even if they’re friendly. yoongi takes the seat across from seokjin’s desk and he won't lie, hearing seokjin ask him to come to his office is a little nerve-wracking. he has no idea what this could entail. for all he knows, all seokjin could want is to know is if yoongi wants to get a drink after they get off of work. 

"i have a new client for you," seokjin says instead, placing his glasses off to the side and turning his monitor to face yoongi, who just sort of blinks at him in mild bewilderment. "you've been working here for a year and a half. you do really good work, yoongi-ah." yoongi's ears grow hot at the compliment, ducking his head in a brief bow. "i don't know if you've noticed, but i've slowly given you more control over clients you work with under me. but... i want you to fully handle this one, if you're up to taking it."

yoongi sits up a little straighter, his eyes growing a little wider. "really?" he asks, trying not to come across as overambitious. but if yoongi is being honest, he has noticed seokjin giving him a little more leeway when it came to handling a client or dealing with communication to an outside partner for the job, whether it be the architects or people otherwise. he never really thought it would lead up to this, a promotion of sorts, but here he is getting his first client. of course, he'll probably still have to consult seokjin and his co-workers because they generally work as a team, but having majority control over a client? it's beyond exciting. 

seokjin nods and smiles in confirmation, gesturing to his monitor. yoongi allows his eyes to follow the movement of his hand, to where his index finger points at a layout of a high-class apartment. yoongi's eyebrows shoot up as he returns to looking at seokjin's face. his first job and it's something important? yoongi knows only people with money live in apartments like that. "the man who owns this apartment is named jeon jeongguk. he lives in gangnam, and tomorrow morning, you will be meeting him there to do an overview. i know you would prefer to be designing, but this is mostly a furnishing and decorating job since it's an already built apartment. also, he doesn't really have any furniture judging from his pictures."

lifting his eyebrow, yoongi takes ahold of the mouse to seokjin's monitor and scrolls through the pictures. there is alarmingly nothing in this apartment, all of the rooms completely empty, but it looks obviously lived in because there's a mattress on the floor of the master bedroom, strewn with blankets and clothes. yoongi feels mildly unimpressed that he has to work with someone like this, but it also means he can start completely from scratch. a blank canvas—he can do that. "did he call us with any ideas?" he asks and lets go of the mouse when he finishes looking. 

"not really. when you go tomorrow, ask him about what he wants. if he's not sure, then you know what to do, right?"

yoongi waves his hand in the air a little dismissively. "mood boards, paint samples, blah, blah. yes, of course, i know hyung," he says and seokjin only grins at him, clicking the send button at the bottom of his monitor, then turning it back towards himself. "in all seriousness. thank you for this opportunity, seokjin-hyung." he blushes a little when he admits, "it was definitely worth the energy and time to come all the way here."

"see? sometimes i'm right," seokjin says proudly, flashing another smile and handing yoongi a small stack of papers. "give those to namjoon on your way out."

"i think he'll combust from more paperwork, but sure," he replies and stands, giving a polite bow before he leaves the room. yoongi pauses with his back facing the door of seokjin's office, letting it sink in that he's seriously going to be the one leading a client's project for once. he tries to tone down the excitement buzzing inside him as he places more papers on namjoon's desk, watching him deflate in misery. 

namjoon turns his head from where it still lies on the desk, squishy cheek pressed against the surface. yoongi turns his head to the side to be able to look at him properly. "why do you have a better job than me?" asks namjoon and he lifts his head, sinking into his chair before pulling himself towards his desk. yoongi turns his head straight again, leaning against the desk. "i've worked here longer. and then all you young people came. and now you have my job."

"do i seriously classify as 'young people' or are you trying to sound old, hyung?" replies yoongi, watching namjoon's face scrunch up in annoyance. he picks up a few papers and hits yoongi on the arm. yoongi rubs the spot with a wince, holding his arm protectively to his chest. "okay, damn, sorry. it's not my fault. blame junghwa-noona. she's the one who's been leading the team."

"yah! min yoongi, i heard that!" 

yoongi laughs a little knowingly, sending a smug smile to junghwa on his way back to his desk across from hers. "guess what, noona," he says and props his elbows on his desk, resting his chin in both his hands. junghwa only rolls her eyes and glares at yoongi for a moment, before nodding at him to continue. "seokjin-hyung just gave me a client. for me. i get to lead this time."

"i heard," she says, and although her tone is bitter, she has a genuine smile on her face. "seokjin-ssi just sent an email. it should be fun, right? show me, what kind of house you working on?"

yoongi opens his laptop and types his password, opening the email seokjin sent him to show the photos to junghwa. "some rich guy who lives in this completely unfurnished gangnam apartment,” he says after turning his laptop around, watching her scroll through. “i’m excited to pick someone's brain apart and make their home feel like one. and i know not everyone is into the whole decorating thing, but this is kind of..."

"alarming?"

"that's what i thought." yoongi laughs a little and turns his laptop back towards himself, furrowing his eyebrows at the photos. "whatever. i'll probably get more insight later. i'm going to meet this... jeon jeongguk guy tomorrow. hopefully he's nice." he glances up at junghwa. "rich guys are generally not nice, right?"

laughing, junghwa shakes her head in answer. "in my experience, they're usually demanding," she says and spins her chair from side-to-side before adding, "and picky. just remember you can't get frustrated and start being rude to him because he's being that way to you. part of your job is to appeal to the client."

yoongi narrows his eyes a little. "yes, noona. i know how to do my job."

"i know that. but you're also unpredictable. i recommend laying off on the sarcasm too."

"rich guys can't take jokes?"

"shut up and do your work, yoongi-ah."

yoongi relents and finishes up his work for the day, managing to be done with everything by five pm, so he goes home to holly and spends his evening on the couch like he planned. halfway through dinner, he gets a text reminder from seokjin about meeting jeon jeongguk to see his apartment at ten am tomorrow. yoongi groans and shoves more rice and meat into his mouth, hands sinking into holly’s fur. somewhere in the original email from jeon jeongguk, he stated he has a busy work week, therefore requiring yoongi to sometimes work on the weekends. being an interior designer has it’s perks like the good pay from people like jeon jeongguk, but yoongi is giving up his saturday morning for this guy. 

he really hopes the sacrifice is worth it. junghwa was right earlier when she said part of the job is appealing to the client. yoongi might even say it’s the most important part of the job, but he absolutely hates clients who get mad at him simply for suggesting a design they don’t like. he’s not a mind reader. it’s even worse when the client gives him absolutely nothing to work with, tells yoongi to do whatever he wants, then gets upset when it’s not what they want. in those rare cases, seokjin will step in and take over after that, but yoongi hates it regardless. he’s only doing what he’s getting paid to do, it’s hardly his fault if the client dislikes the product even after he makes a model for them.

either way, yoongi goes to jeon jeongguk’s apartment in gangnam because he has to. he tried not dress too fancy or casual, a neutral outfit of slacks and a dark blue sweater, hoping to not come across as lesser-than in front of his client. the man clearly has money, living on the forty-seventh floor of a fifty story building. yoongi walks the halls of the floor, messenger bag across his body, phone in hand while he searches for the unit number. he’s met with the correct door, no doormat—he'll have to fix that—and calmly rings the doorbell. he takes a step back and waits patiently, sliding his phone into his front pocket. 

yoongi startles at the sound of barking through the closed door. he holds his hands behind his back, lowered chin as he waits for the door open. when it does, yoongi lifts his head and tries not to stare, because he’d built up an image of jeon jeongguk in his mind—and it certainly wasn’t this. but before yoongi really has a chance to look at him properly, a large dog sneaks past him. the dog circles yoongi while sniffing him, and yoongi simply watches before jolting in place again when the dog barks. 

“i am so sorry—bamie, no,” the man says, and yoongi assumes this is jeon jeongguk, reaching out to grab onto the collar on the dog, pulling it back inside the apartment. he lets out an exasperated breath and gestures for yoongi to come inside too, offering an apologetic smile. “he’s still young, so he gets excited easily. i hope you don’t have a problem with dogs. if you do, i can put him in his kennel.”

yoongi simply shakes his head, bowing a little once he steps inside the apartment. “no, it’s alright. i have a dog too,” he says and then sticks his right hand out for a shake. “min yoongi. i’ll be in charge of decorating your very, uh—“ he bites his tongue to stop himself from saying empty, and saves it with, “nice apartment.”

“jeon jeongguk,” the man says, shaking yoongi’s hand without noticing the slip up, and confirming yoongi's assumptions about his identity. “you can just call me jeongguk, i’m not really one for formalities. especially not with someone who’ll be up in my space for the next couple of months.”

for some reason, yoongi relaxes significantly at hearing that. so maybe not all rich guys are assholes. junghwa might just be having some bad luck. “okay,” he says and nods, dropping his hand back to his side. jeongguk’s dog sniffs it, brown eyes peering up at him. he reaches out before hesitantly looking over to jeongguk. “may i?”

jeongguk smiles and nods encouragingly, so yoongi gently strokes his hand along the dog’s head, right between his ears, smiling softly at him. yoongi’s never met a dog that made him feel almost as warm as holly does. “what’s his name?” he asks, dropping his hand to rub under the dog’s chin, his mouth twisting in adoration. 

“bam. he’s a baby doberman. he seems to like you.”

“well, i seem to like him too,” says yoongi, though murmured in slight distraction. he finally removes his hand, watching as bam trots back over to jeongguk and nudges at his hand instead with a soft whine. 

yoongi returns his gaze to jeongguk’s face, swallowing a little as he takes in the very protruding darkness of his eyes, bigger than yoongi has ever seen on someone before. he flashes a polite smile, not seeming distracted with the presence of his dog in the way yoongi is, hand on top of bam’s head. “my boss, kim seokjin—i believe you spoke with him on the phone?” yoongi asks, and jeongguk nods in confirmation, black uncombed hair flopping with the movement. “well, he told me you want to do your entire living space, right?”

jeongguk finally lifts his hand and crosses his arms, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling, then around the apartment space that can be seen from the front door. “yeah, i’ve been living here for a couple months, and i wanted to start fresh, so i pretty much got rid of everything from my last apartment except for my mattress and a couple of bamie’s things. but i’m a really busy person when it comes to work and i recently went on a long business trip, so when i got back, my friends pressured me into calling a decorator. and now we’re here.”

yoongi nods and puts his hands behind his back, looking around the apartment for himself. just from the foyer, he can only see a glimpse of the kitchen, but most the wide and empty expanse of a lounge space. there’s an electric fireplace, and double windowed doors the lead to a balcony. yoongi kneels and removes his shoes, placing them beside the two others already by the door with the intention of looking around. “you probably want to look around, right?” asks jeongguk, who smiles again when yoongi stands. it’s a polite smile, but all yoongi sees is his bright, shiny overbite. 

“yes, if you don’t mind. just so i can properly gauge what i’m working with. your pictures were good, but sometimes depth perception is off,” he explains and jeongguk nods, leading yoongi past the foyer and exposing the rest of the kitchen. 

it’s mostly white cabinets, with dark grey countertops and an medium-sized island counter in the center. he does a scan of the space, spotting an empty area for a dinner table, and continues to look around the rest of the apartment open floor. it’s big, and yoongi’s not sure if he’ll be able to fill it with stuff, but he supposes that all depends on jeongguk’s preferences. he figures he’ll add some things for bam in the living room, too. 

“um, we can start in here,” says jeongguk and opens a door on the left, letting bam and yoongi enter first. "this is my room. as you can see, i don't really have anything. but like i said, i've been busy."

yoongi smiles a little and nods, first curiously peeking into the walk-in closet that leads to the bathroom. it’s a little cluttered, but otherwise kept clean. he looks around a little after, noting two sinks, a tub, a separate standing shower with glass walls, and a room with a toilet. he pulls out a pad of paper and a pen from his bag, removing the cap with his teeth to jot some of his thoughts down. the light fixtures are weird, so he makes a note to ask if jeongguk would be okay with changing that. 

after finishing his notes, yoongi caps his pen and walks back through the closet, which seems to be the only space that's relatively filled, including some moving boxes piled to the side. he walks around the room and makes note of the lighting in this room too, adding it to his notepad. jeongguk and bam are just silently waiting by the door, jeongguk's curious eyes following yoongi's movement around the room. 

"do you feel like the lights are off?" asks yoongi when they're back in the living room space, and he gets a proper look at the balcony that stretches out to both ends of the apartment. "i just noticed the lights don't really match the modern look of the rest of the rooms so far, do you want to change that or no?"

"can you do that?"

yoongi laughs a little and nods, giving jeongguk a side glance in the middle of his note-taking. "i have degrees in architecture and design, so yeah. i can do that," he says, and points with his pen to the hallway. "my degrees give me the ability to do more than just decorate, if you want. if you don't like the lighting, i can change that. if you don't like your cabinets or counters or floors, or whatever interior stuff—we can change it."

when yoongi looks up again, jeongguk looks a little stunned. both his hands are resting on bam's head and his eyes are widened, mouth parted a little in surprise. he lifts one hand to run through his hair, sheepishly smiling after. "i never knew so much went into interior design. or that you had to go to school for it," he says and yoongi points at the hallway again, indicating they should continue. he doesn't mind talking—jeongguk is friendly—but he should also do his job. 

"interior decorators don't always go to school," he says and looks into the guest bathroom, noting the strange lighting once more. all the fixtures are mounted on the wall instead of the ceiling, with this dark red contrast that's so unappealing to the eye. yoongi shudders just thinking about the person who initially designed this space, and the ugly light covers. he wants to give whoever did that to this very beautiful apartment a piece of his mind. 

as they move to the second bedroom, yoongi continues to explain. "the line is thin between a designer and decorator, but i'm qualified to do both. which is why you hired my firm—is this the last room?" he asks and looks at the closet, then up at jeongguk. bam is sitting just outside the doorway. yoongi notices this room is carpeted, while the rest of the apartment has wooden floors except for the bathrooms. 

"yeah, you missed a couple of closets, though," jeongguk says and yoongi only nods, flipping the page in his notepad to write finishing touches. 

"that's fine. i don't have an interest in those if you don't," he replies, leaning against the wall for better surface support as he writes. mindlessly, he quietly adds, "left mine a long time ago," because what kind of bisexual would yoongi be if he didn't make a joke about closets when the opportunity presents itself. he pauses at the realization, a flash of junghwa telling him to avoid sarcasm in his mind, then looks up at jeongguk hesitantly. 

but jeongguk is just grinning at him instead of seeming disgusted, and he says, "that was one of the worst jokes i've heard about being closeted."

yoongi shrugs, deciding to play it off. either jeongguk is okay with the implication or he's some sort of gay himself. "there's a reason i'm not a comedian," he says instead, figuring if one bad joke made him smile like that, another wouldn't hurt. he returns to writing his notes and returns his pad to his bag, facing jeongguk once more. he lets out the softest little laugh that yoongi has ever heard, and for some reason, the sound makes yoongi blush. he has no idea why. 

they return to the kitchen and living room area, and bam retreats to lay on a pile of blankets in the corner. yoongi removes his bag and sits at the island counter, taking out a folder. jeongguk stands opposite from him, leaned forward on his forearms, curious eyes following yoongi's movement. "what's that?" he asks as yoongi opens the folder. 

"i was bored last night, so i curated some ideas for you," he says and slides it across the counter for jeongguk to look at. "i have no idea what you like, so some the varieties are kind of out there. when it comes to this stuff, the possibilities are endless. also, you said you don't really have a budget, right?"

"yeah, i don't. i can pretty much afford whatever. obviously i’d want it run by me first," says jeongguk, his head down to look at the folder of different themes and ideas that yoongi already had. a little white lie doesn't hurt. he doesn't mind seeing if a client wants to reuse an idea he made for someone else. sometimes it works, and he's seen seokjin do it plenty of times. "um... i like these two. but, like, together. if that makes sense."

when yoongi looks at what jeongguk picked, he furrows his eyebrows a little. "you have interesting taste, jeongguk-ssi," he says and glances up at him, before laughing. he can't help it anymore, the need to make fun of this is growing unbearable. "is your personality torn between being a five-year-old girl who just discovered the color pink and... an angsty teenager that's going through their emo phase?"

another soft laugh has the tips of yoongi’s ears burning. oh this is bad, he's beginning to realize. they're getting along too well.

"something like that," jeongguk says and nods, pointing to the photos of dark colors. "i dress and appear like this." he moves his finger to the collection of pinks and softer tones. "but my friends claim my personality is more like this."

"your friends seem to have a lot of input in your life," yoongi says as he jots down this information, noting to ask both seokjin and junghwa for help. this is all so new to him. "but i suppose if my friend was living in an empty apartment with just a mattress, i'd get them an interior decorator too. i don't disagree. when i first saw the pictures, i was really—well, i was kind of appalled."

jeongguk laughs and nods, running his hand through his hair again. "i can see how you thought that, yoongi-ssi. but if it's any more reassuring, i spent about a month or so abroad after buying this apartment. so... i've only been living like this for a few weeks at most."

"you didn't even bother buying a bed?"

"like i said earlier, i gave all my old furniture and other things away. i brought myself, my dog, and my stuff and that's pretty much it."

yoongi nods and puts the folder and his notepad back in his bag, folding his hands on top of the counter. "so when you say you have absolutely nothing here?" he asks with his eyebrows raised. 

jeongguk nods and smiles shyly, looking down at his own interlaced hands. "completely empty," he says and glances around the room again, then back at yoongi a little hopefully. "but. i want to make this place feel permanent. you can do that, right?"

"i can do my best. i look forward to working with you, jeongguk-ssi."

++

normally, yoongi’s first order of business has nothing to do with furniture in scenarios where the client doesn’t have much. instead, he first focuses on walls, flooring, kitchen counters, etcetera. but the thing is, under normal circumstances, the client would at least have a bed. yoongi doesn’t know how comfortable it is sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but he can’t imagine it’s that great. so even if jeongguk does want to end up painting his bedroom, yoongi wants to get him a bed frame and a better mattress, probably one of those adjustable ones with a remote. yoongi has one. it saved his life. 

communicating with jeongguk is easy enough. over the work week, yoongi scours for bed frames and emails him a collection of different variety and build, generally all around a king bed size. the mattress on jeongguk’s floor looked to be a queen, but if he has the money, then yoongi believes he should simply go for it. in yoongi’s opinion, he thinks that the bigger the bed, the more comfortable it is—although, he also thinks that it depends on quality of the mattress so there’s a divide there. jeongguk gets back to him with an indecisive choice between three different models, so yoongi simply chooses for him. he agrees after that. 

they schedule a time to be able to go mattress shopping. yoongi gets an email from a name he doesn’t recognize, but after reading the actual email, he learns that it’s from jeongguk’s secretary. he wonders what exactly jeongguk does that requires him to have a secretary. regardless, all the email basically gives is jeongguk’s schedule, and yoongi sends back the times that he has available that lines up with the empty slots. they decide on thursday morning, and yoongi is glad that at least it’s not a weekend again. 

so yoongi arrives early to the mattress store—it’s not open yet, it opens at ten, but it’s still quarter til then. he sits in his car as he waits, scrolling through his phone and answering emails his co-workers send about their own clients. since yoongi has a degree in architecture while others don’t, most people approach him for design work regarding the structuring for a client's home or apartment. their team is very interwoven; yoongi knows he’ll have to ask junghwa or namjoon, or someone else about their professional opinion on something eventually. but for right now, he can do this on his own. 

when it gets closer to ten, yoongi climbs out of his car and slings his bag over his body, phone in his pocket, coffee cup in his right hand. he waits patiently in front of the door, bowing politely to the owner when she comes to unlock the door. yoongi checks his watch for a moment, sighing, but looks up when he hears two conversing voices. he turns his head to the left, spotting jeongguk with another man, shorter and younger. he looks about yoongi’s age, maybe even a little older than him. he’s very pretty, probably model or idol worthy beauty. it’s not the first time yoongi has seen this in someone, not when his boss is kim seokjin. 

“hi min yoongi-ssi!” jeongguk says upon meeting yoongi, sounding excited, eyes bright. yoongi smiles a little and bows towards the man beside jeongguk, who politely bows back. “this is park jimin, he’s one of the friends who pressured me into this. he wanted to join and help choose for the guest bedroom. even though i want to figure out how i want it to look first, i thought i should choose now so we don’t have to go again.” he pauses and his smile falls, expression replaced by a frown. “is that okay? i probably should have asked first.”

yoongi shakes his head and grabs ahold of the door, opening it. “whatever works for you, jeongguk-ssi. we can pick out both right now if you want to. let’s have a look first.”

he nods and steps into the shop, his friend jimin following with another polite bow towards yoongi. yoongi lets the door fall shut behind him, watching jeongguk’s very curious eyes roam around the room. “how do i even pick,” he mumbles and yoongi just laughs a little, gesturing over to the back of the room. yoongi pretends he doesn’t see jimin elbow jeongguk and whisper something to him; pretends he’s not curious about it. 

they reach the back of the store, and yoongi faces jeongguk again, pointing out a few different mattresses to him. “if you’re also looking for your guest bedroom, then i’d recommend looking for something queen sized. i already ordered the frame we decided on earlier this week, by the way,” he says and watches as jeongguk flings his body into one of them, landing on his arm. he’s dressed down in something comfortable, a simple black hoodie and black pants, though his friend jimin is dressed more formally which only pushes that idol or model idea in yoongi’s mind. “for your bedroom, you’re mostly looking for level of comfort. think about your back while you’re trying these out.”

“i always tell him that,” says jimin, his voice timid and quiet, though yoongi doesn’t need to strain to hear him because the shop is still empty except for them. “hyung sits all day for work, so i worry about him and his back.”

“what about pillows?” asks jeongguk, seemingly distracted as he drops his head onto one of the pillows. “the one i have right now is kind of squishy and lifeless. does nothing for my neck.”

yoongi slides his tongue over his teeth and simply calls over a shop employee, because he doesn’t actually know much about pillows. he steps back to let the employee take reigns, watching as jeongguk nods and listens attentively to everything the woman says. yoongi turns his head towards jimin standing a few feet away and tentatively asks, “um, jimin-ssi, would you like me to help you with the guest bedroom one while jeongguk-ssi is busy?”

with a gentle smile, jimin nods his head and yoongi leads him a couple rows away to the queen beds. like with jeongguk, he points out the best mattresses to jimin, watching as he flops back on one of them, then makes himself comfortable. yoongi sits on the edge of the one beside it, taking a momentary glance towards jeongguk then back to jimin. “you look really young,” jimin says, stretching his arms into the air, the sleeves of his shirt slipping down toned arms. “how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“twenty-six,” says yoongi, taking a long sip of his coffee, licking his lips after. 

“wow. and you’re already doing something this big for jeongguk-hyung?”

yoongi crosses his ankles, stretching his legs out. “it’s my first big job, honestly,” he admits and watches jimin get up to flop onto the second bed yoongi had pointed out to him. “the firm i work for, we’re very team based. as are most jobs, but each of us generally has a specialized field. this job doesn’t particularly require my specialization because jeongguk is unsure if he wants to change any of the actual design. but i’m still leading the whole thing.”

jimin sits up on his elbows and nods in understanding, rubbing his chin. “i like this one,” he says and yoongi takes out his phone to write it down. he gets up when jimin does, following him to the next one. “so it’s your first big job, that’s probably exciting to you, right?”

“i mean…” yoongi trails off, a little flustered that someone could pinpoint that so easily, but tries to play it off with a casual shrug. “yeah. i’d be lying if i was saying i wasn’t. but it’s not like i’m completely inexperienced. i was interning when i was still in school, and i pretty much immediately starting working for the firm i’m currently working for after graduation. so, there’s nothing to worry about there. i know what i’m doing.”

“i wasn’t doubting that,” says jimin and pushes himself off the bed, shaking his head in distaste. yoongi turns to face him again as he lies across the last one. “a man at your firm, kim namjoon?” yoongi nods in confirmation—of course he knows who namjoon is. he got yoongi his job. “he helped me with my home a while ago, so i figured that anyone else coming from there would be doing good work. and you have confidence when you talk, so even if you didn’t know what you’re talking about, i would definitely believe you.”

flustered again, yoongi only murmurs a thank you and notes down when jimin tells him that he likes the last mattress as well. they both return to where jeongguk is lying on a mattress, feet hanging off the edge and his eyes shut. jimin lies on his stomach beside him, head turned towards him and talking softly. yoongi busies himself by talking to the employee he left with jeongguk, writing down which ones he’d said he liked. he stays off to the side while jeongguk and jimin talk to each other, not wanting to interrupt them or accidentally eavesdrop. 

instead, he takes out his phone and sits on a far enough bed to answer the messages in his groupchat with namjoon and junghwa, then some private ones with hoseok about dinner. yoongi scrolls through his emails again, but there’s nothing new since he checked in the car, so he slips it back into the pocket of his jacket. he waits with his coffee cup in his lap, staring into a corner and wondering how holly is doing without him. after a minute, he starts missing holly even more, and even though he hasn’t been gone from his apartment for long, he takes out his phone to look at pictures of him. 

a few pictures later, jeongguk draws yoongi’s attention again by saying, “yoongi-ssi, i think i’ve picked which ones i want.”

“okay,” yoongi says and puts his phone away again, standing to face jeongguk, chin tilted to look up at him. “for the guest bed, i think there’s the option to have them hold it at a warehouse for a certain amount of time so you don’t need to receive it immediately. if we get started on that room first, it should be done by then—what do you think?”

“works for me. jimin said he liked the first one he tried the most, and i liked the third one i tried,” he says and yoongi nods, walking with the two to the sales counter. “if i order mine now, will it just come straight to my apartment?”

yoongi lifts his eyes to look at jeongguk’s confused expression, lips turned down into a small pout. the expression makes him look a little younger, eyes popping out more. “yes, unless you don’t want it to,” answers yoongi, nodding politely at the employee that joins them at the counter. 

he explains to her which two mattresses they want to order, which one to place on hold and which one to mail to jeongguk. jeongguk cuts in at the very end to add which pillows he wants with his mattress, and to save the same kind for the guest mattress as well. yoongi watches him pay with a sleek black card, only looking with his peripheral when he sees jeongguk pull it out of his wallet. who the hell actually has one of those? jeongguk’s apartment is small considering the building he lives in, but does he possibly make even more money than he shows?

they exit together and split off with polite goodbyes and bows, jeongguk thanking him for yoongi’s help before leaving the direction he came with jimin. yoongi watches curiously from the storefront as jeongguk climbs into the driver’s seat of a fancy black car, then heads to his own less-fancy blue car before he could be caught staring.

the rest of the day passes at a relatively boring and slow rate. both namjoon and seokjin are out working today, so the office is quiet, except for whenever junghwa throws a paper ball over her monitor to get yoongi’s attention. yoongi doesn’t mind the environment at work. it tends to be fun and lighthearted unless the clientele is high and everyone is particularly swamped with work, but that has rarely happened in yoongi’s experience. even when it does, seokjin makes sure everyone’s health is intact. yoongi feels he’s probably really lucky to have a boss like seokjin. 

when yoongi gets home from work around six, he throws his dirty clothes in the washing machine and rushes around his little apartment to make sure hoseok won’t scold him for leaving it messy. hoseok’s not much a scolder anyway, but cleanliness has always been a very serious topic for him. yoongi feeds holly once he deems his space clean enough, and orders dinner for the restaurant they planned. right after hits the order button, hoseok texts him that he’s on his way up. 

roughly a minute later, as yoongi lies on his couch now with holly perched on his stomach, he hears the familiar sounds of someone unlocking the door. it swings open with hoseok walking in after, and yoongi gives him a lazy wave as a greeting before returning to giving love to his dog. 

“how was work?” asks hoseok, throwing his jacket onto yoongi’s bed before draping himself on top, the springs squeaking. yoongi laughs a little at the slight irony considering what he did today. 

“i went mattress shopping this morning,” he says and pouts as he watches holly hop off of him to drink some water. he rolls over to his stomach so he can face hoseok. “otherwise boring as fuck. you?”

hoseok smiles tiredly, but nevertheless warm. “it was… good.” he shrugs and rolls onto his back, arm behind his head. “but mattress shopping? why does that sound kind of like, sexy or something?”

yoongi rolls his eyes and joins him on the bed, grinning a little when holly returns to him, snuggling up between him and hoseok. “it really wasn’t. luckily the client wasn’t weird about it.”

“is this the one you accidentally made the closet joke in front of?”

“it was a good joke,” whines yoongi as hoseok laughs at him. his left hand brushes over holly’s fur, watching him slowly start to fall asleep. “my client brought a friend along. that’s a first for me. i’ve done couples, but i can usual tell what's romantic and platonic, and they didn’t seem like a couple. the friend was nice though. had a model face, i honestly thought he might have been one.”

hoseok sighs and settles back down after his little laughing fit, one of his knees bending to stick up, eyes falling shut. “wouldn’t put it past some random rich guy to have a model friend,” he says through a yawn.

yoongi hums in agreement, his own eyes closing. “his name was park jimin,” he says and doesn’t expect to be suffocated by a pillow seconds later. he manages to push the pillow off of him, just for hoseok to hit him three more times with it. “hyung! what?”

“min! yoongi! you fucking met park jimin?” he asks in a little shriek, smacking yoongi in the head with the pillow again. “do you even know who he is?”

“no? am i supposed to?”

another smack to the head and yoongi simply falls back against the bed, defeated. “he’s one of the biggest contemporary dancers in east asia. i can’t believe you met him and you don’t even know who he is. ungrateful little brat.”

yoongi laughs a little and looks up at hoseok, reaching up to push his forehead away with his index finger. “i can’t be ungrateful if there’s nothing to be grateful for, hyung. he was just a normal person. and if you’re mad at me, you should take things up with namjoon-hyung because apparently he designed park jimin’s home.”

“i hate both of you. he wouldn’t know park jimin either. why do i have to have two interior designer friends?”

“hey. your two interior designer friends buy you food constantly. aren’t you my hyung? you’re supposed to be feeding me.”

“ungrateful!” hoseok shrieks and smothers yoongi with the pillow again. 

yoongi fights it, squirming and pushing hoseok away until he manages to stumble off his bed. holly barks a couple of times, jumping off yoongi's bed and onto the carpet. he barks again, then pants directly in yoongi's face. "come on," he groans and hauls himself to sit up. "you woke him up, hoseok-hyung. he just fell asleep."

"he's on my side," says hoseok, finally abandoning the pillow and sitting criss-cross on yoongi's bed. "and you're the one who was being a little brat. maybe holly feels the same way."

pouting, yoongi scoops holly into his arms and makes kissing faces at him. "you don't think that, hm? do you?" he asks in a baby-voice, just to get a smack to his head with the pillow again. holly barks and pads away after wiggling out of his arms to curl up in his own bed. yoongi falls back to the floor and looks up at hoseok with barely open eyes. "hyung. look at this. you killed me."

"you're such a big baby," hoseok laughs and sticks his arm out to help yoongi back fo his feet. "seriously though. park jimin. he's gone viral so many times for his routines, how do you not know him?"

"i'm not a dancer," yoongi deadpans in response, placing his pillow back at the head of the bed. "have you ever seen me dance, hyung? i'd rather die than humiliate myself like that."

hoseok pats his thigh, looking at yoongi with sympathy. "it's okay to feel that way. some just people aren't talented, yoongi-ah," he says, and yoongi pushes hoseok away while he bursts into laughter, arms crossed as he stands and walks over to the kitchen. 

yoongi yawns and grabs a beer from the fridge, using a bottle opener to pop it. he takes a few sips, looking at hoseok from across the room. "why do you look so out of it, hyung?" he asks as he watches hoseok's expression return to the solemn one he was wearing when he first walked in. "is everything okay?"

"don't worry about me, yoongi," says hoseok as he lies on yoongi's bed again, stretching his legs. 

"ha. like that'll stop me." yoongi scoffs a little and softens his tone as he asks, "seriously, hyung. what's up?"

"just work, yoongi-ah. okay?" hoseok smiles from across the room, an attempt to be reassuring, but yoongi sees right through him. 

yoongi sulks a little and gets another beer, bringing it over to hoseok. he places it on his nightstand and drinks more from his own bottle, lying beside his friend. he curls up a little out of habit, letting hoseok tuck him into his chest. yoongi is used to hoseok being physically affectionate with him—after so many years, it never quite felt wrong the way it sometimes did with other people. hoseok is yoongi's safe place, being the younger one and all, but he also hopes hoseok knows he can be there for him too. 

but he also doesn't want to push. instead, yoongi just waits in hoseok's arms for the food to arrive, hoping that will be enough to make him feel better. his mind drifts off to how it's been working with jeongguk this last week or so. yoongi wasn't really expecting jeongguk to be nice and polite, yet mostly indifferent about the things that he's suggested to do with the empty space so far. he seems excited to be able to create comfort in his home, but unsure when it comes to the direct decision making. it looked like the only thing the was decisive about what the mattress he picked. all yoongi hopes is that jeongguk won’t be upset with the outcome later on. his biggest fear is failing at his job.

yoongi can’t mess this up. he won’t mess this up.

++

yoongi flips open a large binder of paint color samples, sliding it across the counter so it’s in front of jeongguk’s wide eyes. “i know it can be overwhelming to look at, but don’t worry. i’ve narrowed it down based on what you told me when we first met. this isn’t what we’re looking at,” he says and hears jeongguk let out a relieved breath, nodding along to yoongi’s words. 

they’re seated at jeongguk’s kitchen island, side-by-side, peering into the binder together. yoongi uses one of the tabs he placed inside of it to turn the pages over, left arm resting on the counter, using his right hand to point. "okay, so here's my idea. you want both really contrasting aesthetics, right?" jeongguk nods, but he's looking kind of lost, so yoongi continues, "i don't know how often you have guests over, but we can lean towards this for the living room space so you're not overwhelming them with bold colors."

yoongi points to a grid of softer colors, a palette of baby pinks and blues, some yellow and one light red. personally, he really likes this color scheme, so by default, he hopes that jeongguk does too. "it'll bring life to the room, you know? and you can restrict the... moodier colors to your bedroom, that way you can make guests comfortable in your space. because if i'm honest, what you chose clashes a lot."

"i mean... i explained myself, right?" jeongguk furrows his eyebrows a little, then sits back with a sigh. his eyes fall shut, bangs spreading across his forehead. "why am i stressed about this?"

mildly concerned, yoongi angles the spinning chair towards jeongguk, resting his elbow on the counter. "it shouldn't stress you out, jeongguk-ssi," he says and watches jeongguk opens his eyes, then look at him. yoongi is, once again, struck with how fucking massive his irises are. "you're probably worried about something underlying that's stressing you out. i'm doing my best to keep this stress-free."

jeongguk shakes his head and rubs his face, leaning back over the binder to look at the two color schemes that yoongi put together. "okay, so what about the guest bedroom?" he asks instead of explaining himself, eyebrows pinched together. 

"same deal as out here," says yoongi, not shifting from his position as he talks. instead, he faces jeongguk's side-profile, a few moles dotting his cheek, silver earrings clinking together when he nods. today he looks extra disheveled, hair a mess and practically looking like he just rolled out of bed. which is shocking, because it's three in the afternoon. but it's not yoongi's job to question that. "less of an in-your-face aesthetic. when someone stays over, you want them to relax. for example, if your friend jimin slept over for whatever reason, you'd want him to be comfortable here, right?"

"right," says jeongguk, slow. he doesn't seem to be understanding anything that yoongi is saying today. yoongi decides that maybe he should just leave and come back when jeongguk is feeling better. 

sighing a little, yoongi simply shakes his head and reaches to shut the binder. "you seem off. of course we've only met a few times, but all those times you were more excited. i'm sorry to point this out, but you look really tired, jeongguk-ssi."

a small smile appears on jeongguk's face, not much of anything, but there's an effort behind it. "ah, is it really that obvious?" he asks and rubs his eyes with the heel of his palms. yoongi watches him, the concern for him growing a little. "i was hoping this would distract me from work, but i guess not. i'm sorry, yoongi-ssi. i feel like i'm wasting your time."

yoongi shakes his head in denial. he does feel a little like jeongguk is wasting his time, but he's not rude enough to tell him that. jeongguk seems genuinely sorry about this, but yoongi also didn't really have much to do on his sunday afternoon anyway. yoongi feels that jeongguk just needs some sort of break from his work, whatever that is, so an idea pops into his mind. he slides off the chair and shoves his binder back into his bag, jeongguk's eyes trained on him. 

"would you like to go to paint store, jeongguk-ssi?" yoongi asks and jeongguk's eyes grow wide, nodding without much question. "great. we can pick out the color for the guest bedroom. getting out of your house will help you feel more distracted from whatever is on your mind." he pauses and uses his pen to point at jeongguk's bedroom door. "i recommend getting dressed first though."

"i wasn't going to go out in my pajamas, yoongi-ssi."

"how am i supposed to know that? you let me see you in your pajamas."

"that's because you're just you."

yoongi's professionalism rips away like a bandaid. "i have no clue what that means. am i supposed to be offended by that?" he asks, eyebrow lifting a little in question. jeongguk smiles, rolls his eyes playfully, gets out of his seat without anymore fuss, then disappears behind his bedroom door. yoongi exhales and presses his hand over his chest. were they flirting? it certainly felt like flirting. maybe yoongi is reading into it too much. he shouldn’t be flirting with clients. especially ones that look like jeongguk, and have as much money as him. junghwa appears in his mind once again. 

regardless of any flirting, five minutes later, yoongi finds himself seated in his car with jeongguk in the passenger seat, fully dressed to go to the hardware store. it's the same way he's dressed the last few times, baggier brand name clothes, combed down hair, a couple different rings on his fingers. yoongi keeps his attention on the road, hands holding the steering wheel tighter than when he was taking his driver's test. something about having jeongguk in his car sends yoongi's thoughts in a frenzy. 

which doesn't even make sense, because jeongguk's not even doing anything for yoongi to react like this. jeongguk is just sitting idly, chin tilted a little upwards to look out of the windshield, expression blank. he looks completely checked out, as if someone pressed the power-down button on his brain and he's waiting for someone to turn it back on. yoongi pays no mind to it; it’s not my business, he keeps telling himself. but he really can’t help it, either. being curious is just a little bit of his nature—he’s never straightforward or obvious about it, but yoongi is always wanting to know a little more. 

when they reach the hardware store closest to jeongguk’s apartment, roughly a ten minute drive, yoongi parks out front in a space on the curb. he climbs out with his bag, making sure to leave the massive binder in the backseat, but not before grabbing the two color palettes he made. 

they enter the store, and jeongguk’s expression returns to that of being in awe, eyes wandering around. yoongi grabs onto his sleeve when he starts going in one direction, letting go to be able to point in the opposite way. “let’s not get too distracted,” he says, a teasingly tilt to his tone. jeongguk nods and puts his hand behind his back, cheeks a little pink as he follows yoongi to the paints.

“okay, let’s see…” yoongi says and pulls the palette of light colors from his bag, looking around for the different options amongst the wall of interior paint colors. he picks a cream color from a high-end brand he knows is good quality—no chipping, certainly lasts. yoongi knows his stuff. as he searches for another color (there’s an accent wall in his mind), jeongguk follows him around, not unlike a lost puppy. yoongi hopes this is providing a good distraction, and starts to feel a little guilty for thinking that jeongguk is wasting his time. they still found a way to be productive. 

after some searching, yoongi shows a gray-ish blue to jeongguk as an idea. “it would go on the wall behind the bed. it gives depth,” he explains in the simplest worst, careful to not overwhelm. but jeongguk just nods and that brightness of excitement returns to his eyes. 

yoongi calls over an employee for the store to the counter, talking while jeongguk wanders around. he watches as the paint get made right in front of him, then asks the employee to wait while he retrieves jeongguk. he goes off in the direction he saw jeongguk go in, crossing a couple of aisles before finding him in an aisle with paint canvases. yoongi tilts his head to the side, tentatively touching his arm. “jeongguk-ssi,” he says and jeongguk jolts a little, then exhales with his hand over his chest. “sorry. i didn’t mean to scare you. i need you and your wallet.”

“my wallet?” jeongguk asks quizzically, seeming confused.

“for the paint?”

“right.” he laughs, breathless like he forgot, and combs his fingers through his hair before following yoongi back to the paints. 

a quick transaction later, yoongi carries the two paint cans back to his car. they also ended up buying paint rollers, paint brushes and a handful of other supplies needed for interior painting. carefully, he places them in the trunk, shutting it after. “i’m thinking we’ll get painters to do it. unless you don’t want to spend the money, i can do it myself. or you can do it yourself. whichever you prefer. it’s all up to you, jeongguk-ssi.”

jeongguk is quiet, a pondering look on his face as yoongi squints while looking up at him. the sun is angled in a weird way that shines right over jeongguk’s face, making him glow in a ethereal way. his skin is tan and sun-kissed, at least in comparison to yoongi. his brown eyes remain dark, only sparkling in the light, glinting in a mysterious way. jeongguk licks his lips and makes a thinking sound, head falling to the side. the sun reflects off his shiny hair, and yoongi is already blinded by its brightness, but looking at jeongguk like this might just be a little worse.

“would it be too bizarre to ask if you helped me?” he finally asks, hands in the pockets of his jacket. yoongi tilts his head in question. “i mean, right now. if we take all this stuff back to my apartment, will you paint the walls with me? i have busy friends, and my schedule is empty for the rest of the day. if you don’t have any plans, then i would really appreciate your help.”

“um,” he says and quickly clears his throat, scratching the back of his head. “okay. sure. i can help you.”

giving up his evening too feels a little worth it when they’re back in jeongguk’s apartment, bam unfortunately away in jeongguk's bedroom. yoongi finds himself rambling about the first time he ever painted for a job as they tape the molding and power sockets. he explains to jeongguk that he mixed up the paints, and completely flipped around which color the accent wall was supposed to be. when he’d realized he messed up, he was already done with painting the room—yoongi ended up having the repaint the entire room because of his mistake. at least the story has jeongguk laughing his ass off. he must be completely distracted by now.

yoongi realizes he probably shouldn’t be painting anything in what he considers his work clothes and excuses himself to go down to his car for a change of clothes. luckily, there’s a bag in there with paint clothes and a headband from the last time he did a paint job for a client. so yoongi changes into his stained t-shirt and jeans in jeongguk’s guest bathroom before joining him back in the room. he shows jeongguk the most best way to get the paint strokes smooth and effectively cover the existing color on the walls.

once they’re actually working, silence falls into the room. they work side-by-side, yoongi occasionally stealing glances at jeongguk while he works. while yoongi got changed, he’d put on a cap backwards to keep his own hair back. and it’s not helping yoongi focus on working, because all he can see is jeongguk’s forehead and the wisps of hair sticking out the hole of his hat. he’s careful not to mess up like his first time, though. first big job, yoongi keeps reminding himself. 

“can i play some music?” asks jeongguk and effectively startling yoongi out of his thoughts. he grabs his arm to steady it, then lowers the paint roller into the tray. “i know it’s my apartment, but i don’t want to disturb you.”

“i don’t mind if you play music. i usually do this with my earbuds in anyway,” yoongi says and nods, simply turning back towards the wall to continue working. jeongguk leaves the room after putting his paint roller down.

a couple minutes later, jeongguk returns with a bluetooth speaker in one hand, placing it on the floor behind them. “do you have a preference?” he asks and yoongi simply shakes his head, indicating jeongguk can play whatever he wants. yoongi will never pass up an opportunity to listen to music, anyway. 

in the corner of his eye, he watches as jeongguk bites his lip while staring at his phone, then slips it into his pocket after pressing a button. immediately, there is music filtering through the speaker, loud but low enough that yoongi could hear him if he says anything.

a few songs pass, and yoongi has switched to the next wall with the window, painting quietly but diligently. “do you do anything outside of work?” jeongguk asks suddenly, yoongi’s head turning slightly to be able to look at him. jeongguk is focused on painting—there are a few specks of paint on his clothes and arms, a couple on his cheek too. “i can’t imagine that all you do is work. you’re young, so i’m guessing you have a hobby or something.”

“a hobby?” yoongi asks and pauses to think of something that doesn’t sound completely and utterly lame. he shouldn’t tell jeongguk that his favorite thing to do is spend time with holly on his couch while listening to music. “basketball, i suppose. recreationally at the park, about once or twice a month i’ll go. i played in high school, then a little in university before i stopped.”

jeongguk hums a little. “why’d you stop?”

“i had a bad accident that messed up my shoulder and i wasn’t allowed to play competitively after that,” he explains and sighs a little, placing the roller down to touch the injured shoulder. he got surgery for it, but there’s still that phantom pain when he thinks about it. he picks the roller back up after a breather, pressing it up against the wall smoothly, watching the paint stick to the surface. “can i ask you something? it’s been on my mind since we met.”

“sure.”

“what exactly do you do?” yoongi asks and winces, hoping it doesn’t come across as demanding or invasive. but they’re making small talk, so he might as well get the answers to some of the questions that have been floating through his mind. “i mean, your job. you live in this expensive apartment and you work constantly. i’ve ruled out being a businessman, because you don’t really act or dress like other rich people i’ve done work for.”

jeongguk laughs, sounding genuine, a little high pitched. “you’re funny,” he says softly, and yoongi’s not sure if he was supposed to hear that over the music, so he pretends he didn’t. “about… eleven years ago, i started building a video game. i had just started university, for graphic design, but i already knew a lot about it from high school and experimenting on my own with design stuff. i finished the game by the end of my second year of university. then it blew up. to the point where the site i built collapsed on itself and i was working all night with my other design major friends to fix it. and after that, i got offers from big entertainment companies to buy it. i said no and i started my own company instead. added business to my major. worked my way up from there.”

yoongi blinks a little at the story, taking it in. so he was wrong about business, but he was right about him not being the conventional businessman. in a way, he’s sort of glad. “so…” yoongi says, setting the roller down again to wring out his hands. “you own a video game company?”

“yes. and i’m a video game developer.”

“wow.” yoongi turns around a little to look at jeongguk, suddenly struck with how much older jeongguk is than him. 

here is a man who built something completely with his own hands, created it raw from his brain, and shared it with the world. either the game is genuinely good, or just out of sheer luck, jeongguk’s game got popular and he had the opportunity of letting someone take control of it. but he persisted instead, pushing away the help of people with money and decided to make his own. that’s beyond admirable. in yoongi’s line of work, people need years of practice before they can open their own firm or start their own company. 

he counts forward in his head from the approximate age first year university students are after their military service to figure out how old jeongguk really is. it falls out of yoongi's mouth before he can really stop himself. "you're thirty-two?" he asks, then widens his eyes as jeongguk turns his head to look at him. yoongi bows a little as he quickly apologizes, turning back towards the wall to continue painting. 

"i am," jeongguk says and laughs again, still genuine, not a trace of malice in it. "half the time i don't feel it. sometimes i feel like i'm still twenty-two and some days i feel like i'm like, sixty. but never thirty-two."

after the embarrassment, yoongi doesn't trust himself to respond this time. he silently continues to work, taking occasional breaks to rest his sore arms and hands. he looks to the side a little when jeongguk joins him on the window wall, determined expression as he paints below the window sill. there's dry paint on his nose and yoongi laughs a little when he notices, then wonders if he has any paint on his own face. 

"shit, why's this so tiring?" jeongguk murmurs after a bit, sitting on the floor, removing his hat to push his hair back under it. yoongi watches the motion so closely he almost forgets about the dripping paint brush he's holding. he carefully props it against the corner of the tray, wiping his hands on his shirt before sitting too. jeongguk looks at him and smiles a little. "do you drink, yoongi-ssi?"

yoongi furrows his eyebrows and nods a little, confused by the question. jeongguk stands and gestures for yoongi to stay, then leaves the room. in the meantime, yoongi takes out his phone from his back pocket, responding to the texts in his inbox. he only replies to one from his mother, then a text from namjoon about some music he's been experimenting with for fun. 

he puts his phone down when jeongguk returns with two small glasses and a bottle of soju. "okay, i only have green-apple for some reason, so i hope you like that," he says and sits criss-cross in the same spot as before. 

yoongi sits up a little and takes the bottle when jeongguk sets it down, pouring the alcohol into the two glasses. he accepts one of the glasses from jeongguk, then faces away to drink it in one go. he feels his mouth twist up at the sour taste, coughing a little as he faces forward again. "thank you," yoongi says quietly, sitting with his legs folded underneath him. 

in response, jeongguk only smiles and nods, his hands placed in his lap. "i'm sorry for telling you my whole life story. i know you didn't really ask that."

"i didn't mind," yoongi says and faintly smiles back. why is his heart beating so loud? "it's cool, i guess, that you were able to do something like that."

"are you calling me cool?" jeongguk asks and he leans back on his palms, smirking a little. 

"no." yoongi is flat with his answer, but can't help his teasing smile. "i said what you did was cool. not you."

jeongguk grins and shakes his head, his cap loosening when it down. it slowly slides off the back of his head, hair falling dramatically across his forehead. "you think i'm cool," he says and sits up, pouring out two more drinks. "you might as well call me hyung, then."

taken aback, yoongi opens his mouth to reply, then shuts it again. "um," he says quietly, unsure of himself. he's really not usually one to deny someone older than him, but he's trying to maintain a professional relationship with jeongguk. shoving a casual honorific in there could potentially throw that off-balance. "are you sure that's appropriate? i mean, i'm your interior designer."

jeongguk shrugs. "i told you from the start that i don't care for formalities."

"yes. you did."

"you just effectively distracted from work stress for two hours. you saw me in my pajamas. we're sitting on my floor and drinking together. i think we've already crossed the line between professional and not. just call me hyung."

hesitantly, yoongi simply nods. jeongguk makes a fair point with that. he knows it's only been a few weeks since they began to work together, but yoongi figures they'll continue to work this closely, so he just relents, nods and says, "okay, hyung." 

jeongguk smiles and it feels like just that one thing lights up the entire room. 

++

they change the light fixtures. 

it didn't take much convincing on jeongguk's part, because when yoongi explained to him why the lights were unfitting, jeongguk stated that he just found them flat out ugly. yoongi is glad they're on the same page with that. he finds a company that will install new lights at a decent price and sets up a time where jeongguk is present while it happens. at the last minute, jeongguk emails yoongi saying he suddenly has a day full of meetings and that he’ll be sending jimin and one of his other friends in his place. 

when the day comes, a tuesday morning, yoongi arrives before the installation company is scheduled to work. he rings the now familiar doorbell, bam barking somewhere behind the door. it opens and in all his very beautiful glory, stands park jimin with bam’s head poking out between his legs. bam wiggles past jimin to approach yoongi, nudging against his hand, brown eyes peering up at him. yoongi can’t help but grin, adjusting his bag as he bends down, rubbing both his hands against bam’s face like he’s done the last few of times he’s come to jeongguk’s apartment. 

“he likes you,” says jimin, when yoongi has entered the apartment, kneeling to untie his shoes. “bamie, i mean. i’m surprised. he’s excitable, but shy when it comes to new people.”

“really?” asks yoongi, tucking his socks into his shoes to place off to the side. he stands with a sigh, petting bam again with a softer smile. “he warmed up to me quickly, then. i’m afraid we will have to keep him in a different room whenever the lights are going to be installed, though. which is unfortunate, but jeongguk-hyung said he’ll be okay.”

there’s a lull in the conversation, and yoongi lifts his eyes from bam to jimin, confused by his silence. “did i say something wrong?” he asks hesitantly, feeling uneasy by jimin’s neutral expression. 

“you didn’t, sorry yoongi-ssi,” jimin says quickly and flashes a polite smile, gesturing with his hand further into the apartment. yoongi follows him with bam at his heels, glancing around the space as if he hasn’t already memorized what the entire apartment looks like. “min yoongi-ssi, do you know of kim taehyung?”

“the actor? yes, i recently saw his latest movie with my friend.”

yoongi looks away from where he was distracted by analyzing the natural light filtering through the balcony doors, thinking of how he could do something with that. he feels heart drop into his stomach, twisting into knots, and he’s kind of frozen in place. maybe he’s a little starstruck, seeing an actor just casually sitting at jeongguk’s island counter. he’s quick to come to his senses, bending into a ninety degree bow before stiffening again. his hands curl around the strap of his bag across his chest, silently watching jimin and taehyung. 

after a minute passes, yoongi feels something bump against the back of his knees. he turns around and drops his hands, letting bam wedge his body between his legs. he looks back to taehyung, who seems to be silently judging him, and he shifts uncomfortably under his intense gaze. behind him, jimin sits while on his phone, already having moved past the fact that yoongi has arrived. yoongi feels weird being here without jeongguk, given that this is where he lives, but if jeongguk trusts his two friends, then he doesn’t mind all that much. and at least he’s met jimin once before, so that’s not too weird or awkward.

finally, something in yoongi switches back to work-mode and he pats bam’s head before moving away from him. he goes around to the other side of the island so he’s properly facing jimin and taehyung, placing his bag onto the counter. he takes out a couple of catalogs and a pen, clicking it as he flips to the first page. yoongi figures he might as well pick out some more furniture for the guest bedroom. it’s coming together well ever since he and jeongguk painted the walls. they’re going to remove the carpeting too, just so the floor can feel complete with the rest of the apartment. 

yoongi works quietly, crossing off absolute no’s and circling the possible yes’s for decorative items; bedding, lamps, dressers, whatever he comes across, really. there’s movement across from him, but yoongi simply continues to work until he’s done with the first one. he glances to his right when he feels someone standing beside him, body clamming up when taehyung’s stands beside him. how does someone just look that good, all the time? and his eyes are so dark, studying yoongi closely like he’s going to do something he shouldn’t. instead of worrying about it, yoongi continues his process with the second catalog. 

eventually, taehyung asks, “what’re you doing?”

“i’m looking for guest bedroom decor options,” he says and feels his breath hitch when taehyung moves closer, then lean on his forearms to get a better look at the catalogue. he taps the back of his pen against the page, scanning it slowly. “i narrow it down now, and show it to hyung later so he can decide.”

“ohhh, i see,” says taehyung, fingering at the edge of the page, expensive watch clicking against the counter as his hand moves. “he’s not very decisive, though.”

yoongi nods in agreement. “i noticed. if he can’t choose from what i’ve picked, then i narrow it even more to make it easier on him,” he explains and taehyung simply nods his head, lacing his fingers together as yoongi circles a potential bed before flipping the page. “i don’t know jeongguk-hyung as well as you probably do, so if you see anything he would like and i skip over, please let me know.”

silence falls over them again and every once in a while, taehyung will simply point to something in the magazine, and yoongi will circle it for later. he’s not sure how much time has passed when he finishes, and he checks his watch after putting the two catalogues away. “the installers should be here soon,” he announces, running his right hand through his hair, pulling out his phone to briefly check his messages.

“i noticed you call jeongguk as your hyung,” taehyung says, and yoongi places his phone face down to look at him. taehyung’s face is expressionless, quite literally void of emotion. yoongi isn’t surprised he can keep a good straight face, especially as an actor. that fact only make it that much more intimidating.

“he asked me to.” yoongi can feel the heat climbing to his cheeks and ears. maybe jeongguk asking yoongi to call him hyung is a bigger deal than he thought it was. “he makes it difficult to maintain professionalism with him when he’s so laid back about everything. i’m slowly giving into it. i feel weird calling him hyung, but i don’t want to be disrespectful.”

taehyung nods and breaks into a smile, teeth showing. “i think you’re growing on him as more than his interior designer,” he says and drums his fingers on the counter, looking in jimin’s direction, then back to yoongi. “he probably sees you as his friend that just so happens to also know a lot about design and decorating.”

yoongi’s blush worsens and he ducks his head, suddenly shy. “i suppose,” he says softly and his hands are suddenly hot and clammy, so he subtly pulls them off the counter to wipe them on the back of his pants. “it was like that from the first time i met him. is he always so… carefree, i guess?”

“definitely,” jimin says, joining the conversation, cheek placed in his hand while his elbow rests on the counter. “we first met him when we were in school, on the off chance that we took the same art class. hyung pretty much immediately asked me to not be formal with him. well—actually, we were both really shy at first. if it weren’t for taehyungie, then i don’t think i would have talked to him."

yoongi nods his head a little, placing his forearms on the counter, leaning forward against it. everyone is quiet, because yoongi doesn't really know what to say to that, but he's saved by the doorbell. he excuses himself, relieved for the out, and lets the lighting installers into the apartment. there are only four workers, and yoongi first shows them each spot they'll install the new lights. luckily the fixtures in some rooms like the kitchen and second bedroom are normal, so they only need to work on the bathrooms, jeongguk's bedroom, and the living room. 

at first, yoongi lingers around them for about an hour to watch as they work, arms crossed, not really asking any questions. once he realizes that they're doing their job correctly, he retreats back to the kitchen to sit in one of the chairs. taehyung sits beside him, while jimin occupies bam on the living room floor. they sit in silence as yoongi works on something for one of junghwa's clients, only the noise of the lights being installed into the ceiling filling the apartment. 

when the time nears closer to one pm, almost two hours since the light installers arrived, meaning over two hours of yoongi working, someone walks through the front door. yoongi leans to the right a little, catching a glimpse of jeongguk taking off his shoes near the entrance. bam bounds over from the living room, and yoongi faintly hears jeongguk talking to him, then him calling out a greeting to jimin. 

"oh, yoongi-ah. you're still here," jeongguk says upon walking into the kitchen, bam following him around. "i hope jimin and taehyung have been hospitable."

yoongi nods and folds his fingers together, leaning on his forearms. "they have. you have nice friends, hyung."

jeongguk grins at him after getting a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a sip from it. yoongi finds himself low-key checking out jeongguk, because today he actually looks rich. fitted black button and dress pants—pushed back hair, usually dangling earrings exchanged for shiny studs that glint in the overhead lighting. he looks away before jeongguk or someone else catches him staring, focusing down at his unlocked phone in front of him instead.

"can you tell me what they're doing?" jeongguk asks, standing diagonal to yoongi. 

"yeah, sure," yoongi says with a nod and slides off his chair, taking his phone with him. 

he walks to jeongguk's bedroom and points to the spots in his bathroom and then the ones on his bedroom ceiling, explaining what exactly they have done and what they still need to do. jeongguk follows him around, listening and nodding along, only interrupting once to ask how much longer it will take. they talk briefly to the leader of the installation team, then yoongi returns to his seat. 

"hyung," jimin says and yoongi doesn't lift his head, but doesn't make an effort to ignore them. "let's order food, i'm hungry. and i'm sure yoongi-ssi is too, he's been here and working for the last few hours."

"yoongi-ah, can i treat you to a meal?"

yoongi lifts his head and touches his ears nervously, and they feel cold, undoubtedly red in embarrassment. jeongguk is looking at him expectantly, eyebrows a little furrowed, one hand fiddling with his ear the same way yoongi is. suddenly self-conscious, yoongi drops his hand and simply nods because he knows if he tries to say something, he might sound like a complete fool. 

so yoongi sits quietly as jimin, taehyung, and jeongguk argue about where to order food from, sitting off to the side to continue to try and get more work done. he jumps a little when someone places their hand on his shoulder, but relaxes when it's only jimin. "yoongi-ssi, we ordered on behalf of you, i hope you don't mind," he says and smiles kindly.

"oh. thank you," yoongi says and bows his head a little, moving his hands into his lap a little timidly. he is so very unused to clients and their friends being so nice. he doesn't know what pushed him into accepting a meal from jeongguk and his friends. it's unusual, but he also feels like he shouldn't be complaining about it. "you didn't have to."

"we don't mind."

"at least let me pay you back?" he offers, despite knowing he should shut up and accept because he's younger. 

jimin shakes his head and his smile grows wider. taehyung appears behind him, chin hooked over his shoulder. "we're happy to treat you, yoongi-ssi. you've been working nonstop since you got here. you're allowed to take breaks," he says and he smiles too, just as kind as jimin is. "you're so serious."

yoongi just stares at them, dumbfounded, until jeongguk is pushing the two other men out of the way, replacing the spot jimin was standing in. "as much as i don't think they should be pressuring you, i partially agree," he says and yoongi drops his shoulders a little. it's certainly not the first time he's heard that he works too much. it makes him feel bad that even a client can notice that. jeongguk smiles, softer than the ones the other two had. something tugs at his heart. "when we painted the guest room last week, i liked that you were able to relax around me. you seem so pent-up all the time."

"i... don't try to appear that way," he says slowly, his voice barely loud enough over the noise. 

"you work too much, yoongi-ah."

"but you hired me. you're literally paying me to work."

jeongguk shrugs a little, still holding his easy smile. "i have the money to keep paying you if you take a short break." he grabs a hold of yoongi's wrist and lightly tugs him. "come. we're sitting on the floor while we wait."

yoongi knows better than to deny them again, so he picks up his phone with his other hand, letting jeongguk pull him to the empty space on the floor. he sits across from taehyung and jimin, who have their shoulders and legs pressed together, both looking down at the same phone. jimin keeps laughing and pushing his body deeper into taehyung's side, who has a cheesy smile on his face. yoongi misses when he had more time to do that kind of thing with his friends. 

"surely you have another hobby besides basketball, right?" asks jeongguk, drawing yoongi's attention once again. he smiles a little, one knee to his chest, the other leg folded in front of it. yoongi notices he's back in his regular loose, black attire. he tries not to feel disappointed, because he was really enjoying the view. "you said you only go a couple times a month, so what about the rest of the time you're not working?"

sighing, yoongi decides to give in and be honest. "i'm usually with my dog, holly," he says and cracks his knuckles in his lap. "i take him to the park sometimes, since i live in a pretty small apartment and he gets restless. when i'm not working, i'm just with him. don't see my friends much anymore." he turns his head towards jimin and taehyung, who are still laughing about whatever they're watching. "which reminds me that one of my friends is a fan of jimin's work."

"oh. yeah, jiminie is really talented. he's on vacation right now, and same with tae. unfortunately i do not get the same luxury," says jeongguk, laughing a little. he shifts positions, sitting on his knees with his feet pillowed beneath him. "you mentioned having a dog before too, when we first met. can i see him?"

instantly, yoongi nods enthusiastically and unlocks his phone, opening the folder he has just photos of holly. "i've had him for a year and a half or so now," he says and really can't help but smile widely, playing a video for jeongguk to watch. "ah, just thinking about him makes me excited." he laughs embarrassedly. "i'm really not an animal person, but i have a massive soft spot for him."

jeongguk looks at him and smiles, then back down at yoongi's phone. "he's adorable," he says and yoongi nods in agreement, looking at a few pictures himself before setting his phone down. "his name is holly?"

"don't ask where it came from."

"okay," laughs jeongguk, nodding. "tell me more about him. where does he like to go? what do you guys do?"

happily, yoongi complies. he's not entirely sure if it's because holly is the topic, or because jeongguk is asking. 

++

"yoongi?" someone calls, and yoongi barely wakes up, shifting his head for comfort to fall back asleep. "yoongi-ah. did you sleep here?" the person shakes his shoulder and the more yoongi wakes up, the more it sounds like namjoon. he pushes the hand away and turns his head, just to be met with something completely solid. he lifts his head a little, blinking slow as his desk comes into view, then namjoon when he looks up even more. he feels so disoriented. “you slept here.”

yoongi blinks slowly again. "i... didn't mean to," he murmurs and rubs his eyes, looking at the scattered papers on his desk, trying to gather them through his sleepy mind. "just tired lately. a lot to do—for my client." 

he tries to get up, but namjoon pushes him back into his chair before crossing his arms. “you’re smarter than this,” namjoon says and yoongi sighs, sinking back into his chair, rubbing his burning eyes. “you of all people—you don’t overwork yourself like this. what’s going on?”

“nothing is going on, hyung,” says yoongi, brushing it off and tries to stand again. namjoon pushes him back down again, this time with more threatening force. 

yoongi peers up at him, his expression etched with disappointment, mouth twisted into a frown. yoongi sighs quietly, knowing that this will reach seokjin whether he likes it or not. he knows seokjin won’t take lightly to this either—it wasn’t like he was trying to fall asleep at the office. it just sort of happened because he was too tired to drive himself home, and thought taking a short nap would help. clearly that nap turned out to be longer than he anticipating, and it’s worse that he actually slept through the entire night for the first time in a while.

“bullshit,” says namjoon and shakes his head. he pulls over a chair from a nearby desk and sits down in front of yoongi’s, elbows on the arm rests. “come on, what is it?”

“nothing.”

“funny. i don’t believe you.”

rolling his eyes, yoongi rolls his chair out of namjoon’s reach and stands, grabbing his bag to shove his things inside. “you better be doing that so you can leave,” says namjoon, standing now too, his arms crossed again. “i’m telling seokjin-hyung about this. and you know him, he’s going to make you take time off work. at least the rest of the week.” yoongi doesn’t respond and continues to pack up his things, feeling the hostility rising inside him. he’ll blow up if namjoon doesn’t stop pressing him, especially right after waking up. his back fucking hurts, too. “min yoongi. fucking stop for a minute.”

yoongi shoves namjoon’s hand off when he touches his arm, glaring his way. “fine. i’ll take the rest of the week off,” he snaps and pulls on his bag, shoving his chair into his desk. the table shakes. “does that make you happy?”

“yes, actually. go home. i’ll see you on saturday.”

he rolls his eyes again and snatches his keys off his desk, trudging out of the office. he walks down the steps and to his car in the parking lot, sitting in the driver’s seat to take himself home. lately yoongi has been feeling weird about things. nothing in specific, just life in general feels sort of out of place. it’s been building for a couple of weeks now, and yoongi isn’t sure how to make it go away. the feeling is one of uneasiness; the rocking of a boat on unsteady waters, or a rough game of tug of war. back and forth, back and forth—yoongi can’t seem to find the root of the problem to get rid of it. 

it’s the forth out of the back and forth that’s the problem. something keeps tugging on yoongi’s heartstrings, trying to claw it’s way into his mind and heart. this one isn’t a particularly bad feeling. in fact, it's completely unlike the one he feels right now. it’s similar; it gets his blood pumping, head spinning, heart beating in a frenzy. all of that is there, but instead of some foul feeling brewing inside of him, it’s something warm. it's cozy and comfortable, the way yoongi feels when he snuggles up to holly at the end of a long day. that feeling will sit inside of him for a day, maybe three if he’s lucky. 

then yoongi will crash, flip in the opposite direction. it’s usually during the week, buried in his work, trying to get things together for jeongguk. that’s not the unusual part—yoongi is known to be diligent and concentrated when it comes to work—it’s the fact that comes and goes all of a sudden. there hasn’t been a pattern. or if there is a pattern, yoongi doesn’t know where it’s coming from. one moment he’ll be completely irritable, speaking sarcastically to anyone in the office who approaches him, and the next moment, he’ll be fine and smiling. it’s already annoying to yoongi, so he can’t imagine what it’s like for his co-workers to be caught in the middle.

yoongi didn’t mean to be so frank with namjoon, especially knowing that namjoon only has his best interest in mind. he knows that because they’ve known each other since yoongi was in his first year of university, namjoon feels like he has some obligation to take care of yoongi sometimes. yoongi appreciates it under normal circumstances, when he can actually pinpoint what the hell is going on inside his head. normally yoongi can figure it out in a matter of days at most. but before these strange feelings are arising in him, ones he associates with his affection for holly. 

as yoongi climbs the stairwell of his apartment complex, he ends up slipping forward because it rained overnight and his shoes got wet while walking from his car to the front door. he catches himself on his palms, frustrated as he hauls himself back to his feet, stomping the rest of the way with his hand on the railing. it’s just his luck that he feels like shit and his morning already isn’t going well, with snapping at namjoon and now nearly falling down a flight of stairs when he slipped. what kind of shitty luck is he having today? or maybe is it just his general life that’s been having bad luck lately?

the first thing yoongi does when he gets inside his apartment is clip on holly’s leash and switch his shoes for some dry ones. he takes holly back down to use the bathroom, and is extra careful of where he steps when returning to his apartment. he feeds holly and takes a quick shower, dries his hair lazily, and crawls into bed with the intention of not moving for two days. yoongi’s eyes droop shut for a moment, prepared to slip back into sleep, but they fly open when he remembers that he was supposed to meet jeongguk today to do some in-person furniture shopping.

groaning, he picks up his phone and drafts an email, carefully composing it with a brief explanation of why he won’t be able to meet, and that he’ll be taking the rest of the week off, including the weekend. yoongi feels kind of bad about it, since they’ve made significant progress after finishing the major details of the guest bedroom. but even if he wanted to go today, he’s not sure he would be in a nice enough mood for be walking around with a generally excited guy like jeongguk. so he sends the email after a couple rereads, and deposits his phone back onto his nightstand.

he’s so close to falling asleep again when his phone pings. “are you fucking kidding me,” yoongi grumbles and grabs his phone off his nightstand again, checking who it is. 

surprisingly, the notification is a response to the email he just sent to jeongguk. it’s short and concise, only stating that yoongi should rest if he needs and to let jeongguk know if he can do anything. despite feeling awful, a burst of warmth spreads through yoongi’s stomach and up to his chest, curling around his heart for a quick squeeze. yoongi notices at the end of his email, he left his phone number and yoongi just stares, wondering if that had been intentional or not.

a new email under the same thread appears, from jeongguk, saying to please text him. yoongi carefully copies the phone number and pastes it into a new contact, labelling it with jeongguk’s full name. his thumbs hover over the keyboard for a moment, before simply sending a message stating who he is. jeongguk responds immediately with a smiley emoticon and tells yoongi to go get some sleep, yoongi-ah. you deserve it. yoongi shuts his phone and puts it back, curling up with holly and finally, finally, falls asleep. 

when yoongi wakes up, though, there’s someone in his apartment. he squints a little at the movement, and his alarm clock is telling him it’s been a couple hours, so he sits up with the intention of getting out of bed. “hoseokie-hyung?” he calls groggily, craning his neck to see if it really is hoseok in his kitchen. 

“namjoon texted me. you idiot—sleeping at the office?” hoseok makes a tsk noise with his mouth, walking over and sitting on the edge of yoongi’s bed. yoongi turns his body away, hands reaching out for holly to bring him into his lap. he ignores hoseok sitting beside him, simply playing with holly’s adorable poodle ears, scratching his head for sitting so still while being in yoongi's lap. 

“yoongi,” hoseok says softly, a careful tone, like yoongi might explode if he speaks any louder.

“what?”

“why’re you acting weird? i haven’t seen you in a while, too.” hoseok sighs and grabs yoongi’s shoulders, turning his body forward again. “we’re worried about you. do you know how many times you’ve flaked on hanging out with me, simply because you said you’re working or otherwise?”

this time, yoongi doesn’t feel so angry. he just feels a little sad, slumping his shoulders and keeping his eyes on holly in his lap. “i know exactly how many,” he whispers softly and sniffs a little as guilty tears poke at his eyes. “it’s been five different times, just in the last two weeks. because—because i am overworking myself to escape whatever shit is going on in my head. and it’s not bad, what’s happening up there, i just don’t think i’m fully understanding it. i mean, i do, but if i admit it, then it becomes real.”

“um…” hoseok goes quiet then says, “i don’t follow.”

yoongi wipes his cheeks and lifts his head, tilting his head back as if that’s make the tears go back inside his eyes. all it really does it make his vision blurry. “i mean, i think i fucking like someone.”

“wh—really?” asks hoseok, seeming less concerned about yoongi crying, and more about the fact that he might have a festering crush on someone. “who? is it someone i know?”

“it’s so bad, hyung.” yoongi wipes his face again and luckily he’s not really crying anymore, that it only was a few tears, because crying over this feels so stupid. “hyung, i think i like my client.”

hoseok goes quiet and shakes his head a little, shifting his seat on yoongi’s bed. “your client—the rich one, right? the guy who’s friends with park jimin.”

yoongi laughs weakly, wiping his nose with his hand, sniffling. “yes. that’s the one.”

"oh," hoseok says and places his hand on yoongi's knee through the blanket, squeezing it gently. "you're fucked."

"thank you. i fucking know."

holly whimpers and paws at yoongi's chest, so yoongi picks him up to carefully cradle him. he presses kisses on holly's fur, giggling quietly when he licks up the leftover tears. "i don't know what to do," he says quietly, looking at hoseok again. "i can't give up the job. but i can't do anything about the feelings i have either. i've only known him for a month too, so maybe it'll go away."

"but?"

"but what if i don't want it to?"

sighing, hoseok reaches out and catches the back of yoongi's head, pulling his head against his shoulder. "then don't make it go away," he says in yoongi's ear. yoongi presses his face deeper, letting holly out of his arms to scoot closer to hoseok. "yoongi, you can push through this without overworking yourself. come to terms with it, accept the fact you like him. is it affecting how you work?"

"i mean, not really... i'm good at keeping myself professional."

"that's good—"

"but he's not. he's so unprofessional, it's baffling. i should hate him for it, but i don't," yoongi says and pulls away, shaking his head. he lets out a soft laugh just thinking about the way jeongguk has treated him over the last month or so. "god, i mean. i already drank with him. and he treated me to lunch last week. fuck, he asked me to call him hyung too. i couldn't exactly say no!"

hoseok grabs yoongi's face, pressing his cheeks together. "stop freaking out," he says and yoongi only nods, face too squished to be able to respond coherently. "listen to me. all that stuff is fine—not ideal, but fine. just accept the fact that you like him, yoongi-ah. that's the first step. if you accept it, you can slow down and focus properly. you don't want your work to come out sloppy, right?"

"are you implying i have the ability to be sloppy?" yoongi asks through hoseok pressing his face in. 

"yes, yoongi-ah," sighs hoseok. "we all do."

"hyung!" yoongi pushes hoseok away and crosses his arms, picking up holly again to holding him close. "i never do sloppy work, ever. and yes, okay, maybe i like my client. maybe i think he's super cute and i like how he acts really sweet with me. maybe... maybe i like how he smiles." his heart beats faster, slightly smiling as he looks down at holly. "maybe i like that he asks questions about me, that he's genuinely interested in my life. and i maybe or maybe not want to get in bed with him, both literally and figuratively."

hoseok sighs and lifts yoongi's chin, placing both hands on his shoulder. "you're fucked. you can push through this, but you're still fucked."

yoongi shrugs a little, small smile not fading when he drops his chin again. "that's okay, i think. i'll survive."

++

yoongi lies back with a sigh, shutting his eyes as holly settles on his stomach. the weather is particularly nice today, a small breeze making the leaves flutter and ruffling yoongi's very messy hair. he wanted to get out of the house since he shut himself in on wednesday, save for taking holly on walks in the evening before sunset. he could tell that holly was getting restless being locked in the apartment all day, so yoongi took him out to the park to run around and play. 

after some exhausting catch, he decided to rest a little, and holly seemed to have a similar idea. yoongi opens his eyes for a moment, clipping on holly's leash, then loops it into his belt so holly can't run away in case he tries. he lies down again, placing one hand on holly's head, gently stroking it. in the back of yoongi's mind, he knows he's going to have to face jeongguk when he goes to work tomorrow. they haven't texted much—yoongi only sent a message yesterday, asking if he could reschedule their furniture shopping. jeongguk agreed all day on monday would work. 

but what's really getting yoongi is the fact that he's actually self-accepted the fact that he might like jeongguk. it's not bad thing—or at least it doesn't have to mean something bad. instead, yoongi is trying to embrace it the best he can. he hasn't really been in a relationship since university, which had last been a casual thing with a girl who didn't get the memo about yoongi calling them casual. yoongi felt bad, honestly, but he did tell her that he wasn't looking for something serious. he didn't even do anything special as her boyfriend, yet she still sort of fell in love with him. he supposes it's his own fault he dated someone younger. 

the idea of relationship could be the stability that yoongi needs right now. he isn't doing bad for himself in general. he has good friends, a steady job with decent pay, his dog is happy and healthy—the only piece missing would be a strong relationship. but yoongi likes to immerse himself in his work. he can't imagine a boyfriend or girlfriend would actually enjoy his company if he's working all the fucking time. hell, even yoongi would hate that in a partner. 

there's also the significant age and wage gap between him and jeongguk to worry about. yoongi doesn't actually have much of a problem with jeongguk being a millionaire and the owner of his own company. it's actually the opposite—if he were jeongguk's boyfriend, or even just his friend, yoongi would fully be in support of that financial independence. he wouldn't want to rely on jeongguk for meeting basic needs. yoongi can do that enough with his own job, with his own paycheck. regardless of what yoongi thinks, he wouldn't know how jeongguk would feel about that.

the age thing is partially of his concern, and partially of concern to everyone else around him. when yoongi told hoseok more about jeongguk, details like his occupation and age, he was worried about the fact that jeongguk is thirty-two. and yoongi knows how to do math, he knows that six is decently big when it comes to age gaps. but jeongguk doesn't really treat him like someone that much younger than him, anyway. jeongguk treats yoongi like an equal. which only makes yoongi like him more, because that's part of what he would look for in a boyfriend or girlfriend. 

yoongi opens his eyes, looking down at his chest to see holly fast asleep on his chest. he sighs and lifts one hand, watching the sunlight pass through his fingers before letting it fall back against the blanket. just as yoongi is about to close his eyes again, he furrows his eyes at the sight of a very familiar doberman. he rubs his eyes and lifts his head, yelping a little in surprise when bam full on jumps on him. 

then holly wakes up and tries to run away, but luckily holly is small, so yoongi pulls him back by his leash. he shushes him, holding him close to his chest, petting his head gently to keep him calm from such a big dog like bam. 

"bam—bam-ah, oh my god," says jeongguk, breathless and panting, hands braced against his knees as he tries to catch his breath. 

yoongi is very much freaked out because he was just thinking about jeongguk, but also because jeongguk is swearing running shorts and a sweat soaked t-shirt. jeongguk heaves a big breath, hair hanging is clumped strands over his forehead, big eyes meeting yoongi's. "no wonder he ran," mutters jeongguk, putting one arm around bam to soothe him like how yoongi is to holly. jeongguk's eyes brighten suddenly when his gaze drops a little. "yoongi-ah! is that holly?"

"uh, y-yes, hyung," says yoongi, still a little shaken up from the sudden attack from bam. he exhales a little and offers a polite smile, looking worriedly at holly after. "i think bamie scared him a little, that's all."

"i'm sorry, i didn't think he would do that," says jeongguk, unraveling a leash and placing it on bam's collar. "you know him, he just has a lot of energy, especially being such a big dog."

yoongi nods and carefully lets holly down when he feels his heartbeat steady. he watches bam lie on the blanket and holly gets all close, noses bumping. a smile grows onto yoongi's face, watching their two pets be playful with each other. he looks back at jeongguk kneeling at the edge of the blanket and smooths out the fabric a little to create space for him. "do you want to sit?" yoongi asks, looking at jeongguk hopefully. 

"are you sure? i don't want to—"

"intrude?" he asks and shakes his head, watching jeongguk form a sheepish smile. "you're not. please sit, hyung. really."

with a slight nod of his head, jeongguk unties his sneakers and takes them off, sitting criss-cross beside yoongi on the blanket. they sit in silence for a couple minutes, watching as their pets explore playing with each other. it seems that holly's short nap really rejuvenated him. yoongi takes a treat of his pocket and breaks a small piece, letting holly eat it out of his hand. he notices jeongguk watching out of the corner of his eye, and places the rest of the piece in his palm, then points to bam. 

jeongguk grins and sticks his hand towards bam, who chews it in small pieces. he rubs bam's head after, dropping his hands back into his lap. yoongi only really sees it out of the corner of his eye, before he's more focused on admiring jeongguk's face. somehow, jeongguk is almost always looking absolutely beautiful, his eyes sparkling and full of something—yoongi hasn't figured out what it is exactly. but whatever it may be, it ignites some kind of spark in his heart. 

"hyung," yoongi says after a couple more minutes of mindlessly watching jeongguk, who turns his head to face yoongi with a lazy smile. "you're kind of far from home."

"oh. yeah. i forgot about that." jeongguk laughs a little and shrugs, cheeks flushed. "sometimes i like to just... go somewhere to get out of my head, you know? and i remember you told me about this park so i went for a little run to come here with bamie."

yoongi can't help it, his jaw drops in surprise. "you ran here?"

jeongguk laughs and rubs his arm, hand slipping past his shirt sleeve. "i know you probably think all tech nerds don't work out, but we do," he says and yoongi shakes his head, because he wasn't thinking that at all. just how out of the way this dog park is from jeongguk's apartment "i'm not that tired now. maybe sore later, but i just feel exhilarated after that. i'll probably get something to eat after letting bam play and figure out a way back to my apartment building."

before yoongi can stop himself, he blurts, "i live around the corner." he immediately looks away, blushing and covering his ear shyly, playing with the earring hanging from his lobe. "i mean—if you want, i guess. my apartment is down the street and of course it's nothing like yours, but you can eat your food there. if you want. restaurants might not want to let a big dog like bam in."

"sure," says jeongguk and when yoongi looks back at him, he's smiling softly, head tilted to the side as he leans on his palms. "you know, i don't know if you know this but—i really quite like you as a person. even after you finish decorating my apartment, i'd like to continue to stay in touch as friends too. if you're not opposed to that."

"i'm not," yoongi finds himself saying, and smiling back at him. "i would like that too, hyung." he debates something in his head for a moment before he slowly adds, "you made it difficult to not want to be your friend. you made yourself really approachable and not at all professional."

jeongguk smiles wider. "that was the goal, after the first few times we met. drinking together the day we painted together was bait," he says and nudges yoongi's shoulder with his own. "did you take it?"

"absolutely not," yoongi says, though smiling because he can't help himself. his face hurts from how big it is, but jeongguk really makes him feel all fuzzy inside. yoongi feels so much stirring inside his chest, his stomach; his entire body is tingling with this warmth he gets when he's around jeongguk. "so, for food... are you craving something specific?"

"not really. are you?"

yoongi pulls his knees to his chest, hugging them as he watches holly grow tired of playing with bam. "how do you feel about lamb skewers, hyung?"

"are you serious? i love lamb."

"then lamb it is."

after a couple more minutes of watching holly and bam, yoongi gets up and folds the blanket, removing holly's leash from his belt loop. jeongguk gives him a puzzled look, but luckily doesn't comment on it. as they walk side-by-side, yoongi hopes that he kept his apartment neat. at least he made his bed this morning, but he's pretty sure there's laundry drying on the clothesline and there are piling dishes in the sink. he didn't really think through inviting jeongguk over. 

they make a pit stop at the lamb skewers shop that's across the street from the building, ordering enough food for the both of them. yoongi pays before jeongguk can, wearing a smug smile as jeongguk pouts in protest. yoongi simply ignores it and waits outside with their dogs, seeing how high holly will jump for a treat. five minutes later, jeongguk returns holding plastic bags full of food, and flashes a bunny smile. 

"it's messy," yoongi warns as he unlocks the door of his apartment, holly eager to go inside. he pushes the door open with his shoulder, letting the dogs go in first, letting go of holly's leash to let him run off. he opens it a little wider for jeongguk, and can't help but blush as jeongguk glances around the apartment. 

yoongi can't tell if jeongguk is being genuine or polite when he says, "i like your place, yoongi-ah."

"thanks hyung," is all yoongi manages to say, locking the door. he removes holly's leash, then bam's, winding them up to leave on the table beside the door. "do you want something to drink?"

jeongguk makes a humming sound as he places the food on yoongi's kitchen table, unpacking the boxes. "i'm okay with water. go ahead if you want to, but it's a little early for me."

yoongi nods in agreement, pulling off his jacket and hanging it in his closet. "just a formality," he says and shuts the closet door, joining jeongguk by the table. 

"what have i said about formalities?"

"ah—sorry hyung..."

jeongguk only giggles softly and asks, "where do you keep your chopsticks?"

"two drawers left from the counter—no, hyung, that's your right," yoongi says, watching as jeongguk mixes up his right and left. he laughs a little and roll his eyes in endearment, sitting in his usual spot. jeongguk sits across from him, passing him a pair of chopsticks. 

their meal is surprisingly quiet. yoongi half expected jeongguk to ask him a handful of questions, but instead, jeongguk is happily stuffing his face with food. yoongi stares in mild shock, before he gets over it because jeongguk happens to look really cute with his cheeks full of food. he eats his own lamb quietly, tries not to react in anyway other than a small smile when jeongguk borderline moans in pleasure. it really shouldn't effect yoongi as much as it does. 

but when jeongguk finishes eating, he sits back against his chair with this big smile on his face. "that was so good," he says and props his elbow on the back of the chair beside him. "i should really start trying new places again. i forgot how good eating out somewhere new is."

"i can't tell if you're trying to make yourself sound old or not," laughs yoongi, standing and placing the chopsticks in the sink—he was so lucky that he was wrong about there being dishes. he clears the table of their trash and places two glasses of water on the table after, then takes his seat again. "there's a few other places i like to frequent around here since it's convenient. if you ever find yourself wanting something new, just tell me."

"okay. thanks yoongi-ah. you're always so... straightforward."

yoongi furrows his eyebrows. "what do you mean?"

jeongguk rubs his chin and takes a sip of his water, head tilted to look at the ceiling. "i mean, you're straight to the point when you're saying something. you don't try to sugarcoat things. it's one of the things i like about you, as an interior designer. you're never afraid to tell me when something i like looks straight-up ugly."

"well, that's my job. it's just the matter of how i execute saying something like that. and i'm only like that because you're okay with it."

"you don't know that."

yoongi lifts his eyebrow a little. "yeah? were you not just scolding me about formalities twenty minutes ago?"

raising his own eyebrows and acting nonchalant, jeongguk lifts his glass to his mouth for another sip. "are you always so mouthy with your elders?" he asks without looking at yoongi. 

"only with the ones i consider my friend."

"how many's that?"

"including you? that makes three."

jeongguk smiles a little. "i'm honored to be your friend, yoongi-ah."

fuck, yoongi thinks as he drinks his water as a distraction. hoseok-hyung was right. i'm totally fucked. 

++

after the rest of the rooms get painted, whether it be a repaint of white or another color, the rest progresses relatively quickly. yoongi finds himself in jeongguk's apartment more often, usually without jeongguk or his other friend's around. the living room is filled with furniture. a long mirror against the wall opposite of the fire place, a comfortable gray couch closer to the center of the room. they chose a glass coffee table with a shelf for console controllers, and a big enough flatscreen tv mounted to the wall. he also made sure to include a comfortable bed for bam in the corner, and some new toys. 

the dining table jeongguk ended up picking is glass too, with painted gray wooden chairs, seats the same color leather. yoongi used that to swap the island's bar chairs that matched. it pulls together the mostly white kitchen, and neutralizes all the color in the living room. yoongi prides himself on it—and when he did the walkthrough with seokjin, he seemed proud of yoongi too. he hopes that how much he loved the praise didn't show on his face. 

on the other end of the spectrum, jeongguk's bedroom feels darker in aesthetic—which really had been the plan in yoongi's mind the minute he left jeongguk's apartment the first time. the walls got painted a darker gray, white bedding as a contrast. balance is always good. he added two dark brown and wooden nightstands on either side of jeongguk's same shade bed frame, and a few other pieces of furniture for storage. yoongi installed another, slightly bigger flatscreen for jeongguk to use while in bed. 

the two bathrooms ended up not changing much, just the adding decoration to match the aesthetic that jeongguk asked for. whatever paintings jeongguk bought to put up in any part of the house was done with the help of namjoon, also known as the firm's resident art expert. yoongi hung all of them himself, and even drilled a nice, full length mirror into the wall of jeongguk's closet. he likes doing a lot of the work himself when it comes to these things. of course, yoongi can't do everything, but he likes the hand-on aspect of it. everything coming together is the most satisfying part. 

that, and the look on the client's face when they're seeing everything for the first time. yoongi's professionalism doesn't waver when showing jeongguk around his newly furnished and decorated apartment. jeongguk had put himself up in some fancy hotel for a few days, while yoongi was busy actually putting each piece into place. he's meticulous about this stuff—what goes where, how something is positioned—but which interior designer isn't? 

but jeongguk's reaction is fucking priceless. his eyes are big and sparkling as yoongi tours him around his new home, thoroughly explaining every bit and detail. he points out what's new and what's the same—yoongi knows most clients don't actually care about this stuff, but before yoongi opened the door, jeongguk told him to not hold back. he wanted to hear what yoongi did, how he did it. it certainly didn't help the feelings that yoongi has repressed for him. it just makes it all more, more, more. 

at the end of it, jeongguk sits on the couch while looking at everything in awe. on the other hand, yoongi is standing in the walking space between the dining table and the living room, his own eyes on jeongguk. he's in business attire today, a black suit with a label pin that yoongi now knows it the logo to his company. white shirt, blue tie with white spots on it—it's so simple, and yet so flattering on jeongguk. yoongi forces his eyes away before his head could start spinning, or jeongguk could catch him in the act. 

"that's it?" asks jeongguk, and looks at yoongi, so yoongi looks back at him. he still has an in awe expression on his face. 

yoongi nods and puts his arms behind his back, glancing around. "that's it. one and a half month's work," he says and does a ninety degree bow, because technically, he's no longer getting paid to be here. his job is done. and yoongi knows that jeongguk asked to stay friends, but he has no idea if that's practical or not. he glances down at his watch after uncrossing his arms, then smiles politely at jeongguk. "i should go."

"you don't have to," jeongguk says, outstretching his hand towards yoongi to stop him. "i mean... if you want to be here, as my friend. i'm not working the rest of the night." then he drops his head for a moment, and yoongi watches his ears go red for some reason. "it would be nice. to hangout with you outside of a work setting, like we did with bam and holly at your apartment."

yoongi opens his mouth, then shuts it when he knows he was about to protest. he shouldn't protest, not when jeongguk is his elder and he's supposed to say yes. but yoongi is afraid of falling deeper, despite the fact that he's come to terms with his feelings for jeongguk. he's afraid of what will happen if they're in a non-work setting. yoongi doesn't trust himself—he could potentially ruin a new friendship if he accepts. 

and yet, yoongi finds himself smiling softly and nodding. "if you want me to, then sure," he says quietly and curls his toes in for a moment, then joins jeongguk on the couch. his bare feet sink into the fluffy rug spread out on the floor. he keeps his hands locked in his lap, smiling fondly at bam asleep in his new bed, then turns his head towards jeongguk. "do you think you're going to be busier, now that your apartment is complete?"

jeongguk sighs and loosens his tie, crossing his ankles as he leans against the cushions. "i don't know," he says and tilts his head against the back of the couch, eyes on the ceiling. "i haven't been doing much actual coding and game design lately, mainly because i have a bunch of people working for me now. the last few years, it's mostly been business work. trying to work through storyline for euphoria's second edition, and it's just—ugh." he sighs a little, turning his head towards yoongi with a faint smile. "sorry. you probably don't want to hear about that."

"you can talk about whatever you want, hyung," says yoongi, his tone soft still. his body is rigid, back straight and his entire mind trying to tell him to relax. he can't relax though, it's too difficult being alone and in such close proximity with jeongguk, all while knowing he's not working for him anymore. "i guess, um, if i'm your friend—then you're allowed to let that stuff out."

"thanks. but i just rather not think about it," says jeongguk and yoongi nods his head, turning it back towards bam in the corner. "what about you? what comes after this?"

yoongi shrugs, rubbing behind his ear nervously. "i'm not sure... depending on how my boss feels about how i did with this," he says and gestures broadly to jeongguk's apartment, then shifts his body to face jeongguk more. "depending on how he perceives my work, he can either give me more individual clients to take the lead on, or he can have me work for the clients  of my co-workers. but he's a very expressive person, he told me that he really liked how i did this so. i really don't know."

jeongguk nods and yoongi watches as he sits up to take off his blazer, leaving it over the armrest of the couch. "that's good—i also really like how you did this." he smiles wider and yoongi tries to match it, but ultimately gets embarrassed and lowers his chin a little. 

"can i admit something?" yoongi asks, then continues when jeongguk simply nods as he unbuttons the sleeves of his shirt. "i'm only saying this because you're not paying me anymore, but this job was kind of a really big deal to me. i've only been working in the field for about a year and a half, basically since i graduated university, and decorating this apartment is the biggest thing i've ever worked on."

"you definitely didn't make that obvious. the whole time, you acted like you knew what you were doing." jeongguk's quiet for a couple seconds, eyebrows furrowing. a far-off part of yoongi's brain thinks he looks handsome. "i'm not implying that you didn't know what you were doing. i just mean that you knew your shit and really fucking showed it."

yoongi grins at that praise, because that's exactly what he was trying to do. "that was partially the point," he says, feeling his body loosen up, allowing himself to lean back against the couch. it's so comfortable, yoongi sort of sinks right in. "i mean, there were definitely things i didn't know how to do, and i got help wherever i needed it. but... even if i wasn't applying my knowledge of architecture, i still found parts of this difficult. you don't show it, but you have really specific preferences."

"specific?"

"i mean, yeah. you handpicked everything in all of the rooms. granted, i narrowed it down based on what i thought you would like, but most clients don't do that."

jeongguk furrows his eyebrows again, then whines, "why didn't you tell me that? i wouldn't have been so demanding."

laughing, yoongi shakes his head and uncrosses his ankles, pulling his feet closer to himself. "my job is to appeal to the client. so if a client is picky, then i have to deal with it. not that i minded," he says and runs his hand through his hair. "you'll probably be the best client i'll have. i don't see myself making friends with anyone else. you were demanding, but you also just acted like we're on the same level."

"but we are."

"we are what?"

"you know, on the same level," says jeongguk and he sounds so confused that yoongi just laughs. "no, you're laughing at me! why? are we not on the same level?"

yoongi shakes his head, his eyes shut while he savors this genuine laughter. "hyung, are you serious?" he asks and opens his eyes, sitting up more. "come on. you're like, a millionaire. i don't make a lot of money comparatively. you were employing me up until ten minutes ago."

jeongguk stands and huffs, walking away to the kitchen. he opens the fridge, and returns a minute or so later with two beers. he places them both on the coasters of his coffee table, then turns to yoongi. he smiles, nose scrunching in and eyes crinkling in the corners. "can you give me a second to go change?" he asks and yoongi nods in response. 

while jeongguk changes, yoongi forces himself to stop being so pent-up. he undoes the top two buttons of his shirt, adjusting the necklace that was resting underneath it after. upon remembering the massive mirror behind him, yoongi twists his body a little and messes with his hair until it looks less professional. the last thing he does, just as jeongguk is walking out, is grab one of the beer bottles to have a long drink. alcohol is good for unwinding. 

jeongguk settles down beside yoongi, much closer that before. it's enough that when jeongguk stretches his arm around the back of the couch, facing yoongi with his beer in his right hand, yoongi can smell vanilla lingering off of him. yoongi sits with his back against the couch, beer bottle between his thighs as a silence falls over them. finally, yoongi gets an idea of what to ask jeongguk about. 

"earlier, you mentioned something called euphoria—is that your game?" asks yoongi, bringing the bottle to his lips for a a quick drink. 

"yeah. it started out as a simple character-fights-character game with pretty shitty graphics. but when people started joining to help my business grow, we developed it with lore and turned it into a role-player game. people like it more that way," he says, a gleam of excitement in his eyes. yoongi can tell that this topic was a good choice, because he looks so genuinely happy to be talking about it. "not to be overly-cocky, but have you seriously never heard of it?"

yoongi smiles apologetically and shakes his head. "we have to play!" jeongguk exclaims and sets down his beer with so much force that bam wakes up from his nap. "come on, yoongi-ah. it'll be fun. i'll teach you, please?"

and jeongguk gives him the world's most adorable puppy eyes that yoongi gives in immediately with a silent nod. jeongguk gets up and brings the controller for a play station to yoongi, placing it in his hands. yoongi grips it and watches jeongguk's excitement continue to grow and grow, just as his own heart's fondness does. he's so far gone into his feelings at this point, yoongi isn't sure if he can stop himself. 

they spend the next two hours playing jeongguk's game euphoria. yoongi isn't accustomed to playing video games with something that isn't his pc, so it takes some getting used to with the controls. he's not super interested in the game itself—he admits the graphics are beautiful and the story is a little interesting—but yoongi is way more interested in the way jeongguk is so excited about this. 

the smile on his face is absolutely everything. whenever yoongi doesn't need to look at the screen, he's looking at jeongguk's face, admiring how happy he is. yoongi only hopes that this happiness will stick around, because it's a good look on jeongguk. of course, he's also completely biased and thinks jeongguk would look amazing regardless. still, that bunny smile is now forever etched into yoongi's memory. 

in the end, yoongi leaves jeongguk's apartment after having dinner with him. they ate at the kitchen counter, sitting side-by-side while having their meals silently. jeongguk thanked him one more time as yoongi was putting on his shoes, and it felt surreal that jeongguk told him, "i want to hangout with you more," when he stepped through jeongguk's doorway. 

yoongi was taken by surprised, but he still smiled back and said, "i want to hangout with you more too, hyung."

when yoongi got home, he screamed into his pillow like a schoolgirl with a crush. he knows that one day he'll confess to jeongguk, but for now, he thinks they remain good as just friends. 

++

yoongi ended up receiving a new client of his own again. a recently divorced woman is looking to completely renovate her house and yoongi buzzes just with the idea of doing construction. breaking things down and building them back up is one of his favorite parts of being an interior designer with a specialty in architecture. he'd been disappointed about not having structural or interior design decisions to make while decorating jeongguk's apartment, so this is beyond exciting. 

speaking of exciting, yoongi didn't realize that being friends with jeongguk consisted of texts throughout the day. most of them don't have any real meaning, just pictures from his eyes and forehead. sometimes they're captioned with stuck in a meeting and yoongi will say get off your phone, hyung. jeongguk sometimes asks about yoongi's day and prods at him to be honest, so yoongi starts opening up about himself. 

he'll tell jeongguk about junghwa and their normally friendly bickering, unless one of them happens to be in a particular bad mood that day. if yoongi was working in the field, and not in the office, he'll tell jeongguk about what exactly he did at the end of the day. if it happens to be something similar to what he did with jeongguk, then jeongguk will reply back with what he was thinking while it was happening. they don't text constantly, but it's nice to just talk to each other, especially considering their respective busy schedules. 

unexpectedly through text, yoongi receives an invitation a housewarming party for jeongguk. the message is from an unknown number, and yoongi's brain fully malfunctions when he finds out a little later that it's park jimin. for once, he doesn't relay this information to hoseok, a little afraid of what his hyung would do this time. but yoongi accepts, because when he brought it up to jeongguk during one of their text conversations, he said something about absolutely dreading it; that his friends were throwing it for him. yoongi thought he would go to keep a friend company in case he got bored. 

so yoongi tells hoseok enough to help him get dressed for it, and luckily the outfit isn't completely out there. hoseok puts him in khaki pants, a white button up with a sweater over it. yoongi knows better than to protest against it, but he doesn't feel like his outfit is that bad, so he deals with it. the sweater is one of his favorites too, so really—yoongi isn't complaining. at least hoseok lets him accessorize himself and do his own make-up.

he brings along a faintly vanilla smelling candle for jeongguk. obviously yoongi knows every crevice of jeongguk's home at this point, and he knows everything that is inside his apartment. he knows that jeongguk is sensitive to smell, hence the reason he didn't give him any candles in the first place. but yoongi found this when he was shopping for the older divorced lady and bought it on impulse even before the invitation. he had immediately thought of jeongguk. he feels that just goes to show how much he feels for jeongguk. 

yoongi calmly rings the doorbell of jeongguk's apartment, holding the small gift bag behind his bag as he waist. he smiles a little when he already hears bam's excited barking, smiling growing when jeongguk opens the door. bam bumps his way through jeongguk's legs, butting his head into yoongi's hand. jeongguk laughs and opens the door wider while saying, "i think bamie missed you."

"i definitely missed him too," murmurs yoongi, occupied by rubbing bam's head and back for a moment. he steps inside, eyes still on bam for a moment before looking up at jeongguk. "oh, hyung. i brought you something. um... it's kind of small, but i hope you like it anyway."

he hands the gift bag over to a puzzled looking jeongguk, who accepts the gift with hesitance. "can i open it now, or should i wait?" he asks and peers in the bag, following it with a laugh. "too late. you didn't do very good at hiding what it is. usually there's like, tissue paper hiding the gift."

yoongi shrugs. "i got lazy. i don't own tissue paper. it was already a lot of effort to buy the gift bag."

"don't they come in the same aisle in the store?"

"just open the gift, hyung."

jeongguk nods and grins a little, reaching in and pulling out the candle. he turns it oven to read the label and pulls off the lid, sniffing it a little. "oh. wow. that's really nice, actually," he says and puts the lid back on, slipping the candle back into the gift bag. "thank you. i can't believe you actually found a candle that isn't too overwhelming for me."

yoongi shrugs again and kneels, untying in his shoes. he takes them off and neatly places them in the rack, joining the small party in the living room. he helps himself to a glass of whiskey, taking in the space around him. it's more or less the same as how he left it—but it does seem like jeongguk has made it more his own, just by making it feel lived in rather than something out of a magazine or movie set. there a few wall hangings that are different, and yoongi takes a moment to look at them before finding somewhere to sit. 

he picks the arm chair adjacent to the couch so he doesn't have to worry about sitting with strangers. jimin and taehyung are the only familiar faces, but they don't even seem to notice yoongi's presence. he sits idly while sipping on his drink, feeling a little out of place until jeongguk sits down on the edge of the couch closest to him. 

"do you also feel weird being here?" jeongguk asks quietly, leaned into the space between them. there's a bottle of beer in his hand. "it's supposedly my party but i feel left out."

"well, your friends threw it for you, so it's understandable," yoongi says and places his glass on a side table, crossing his legs as he angles his body towards jeongguk. "have you had time to take bam anywhere recently?"

jeongguk shakes his head and sips from his bottle, looking down at it with a small smile. "i'm busy. more than half the time i'm not even the one taking care of him," he says and sighs, tilting his bottle back again, but for longer this time. he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand afterwards, flashing his bigger smile before it goes back to the small one. "how's working on that divorced woman's house?"

"it's... better than i thought. she's very nit-picky about what she wants." yoongi reaches to grab his glass and finishes off the drink, wiping the corners of his mouth. "but i'm excited to do this. it's been different, i'm not opposed to that. i want to try different things."

"i think in a way, i look up to you for that," jeongguk says and yoongi raises one eyebrow in surprise. that's first, hearing something like that from a hyung. "i mean, i'm always wanting to try different things. branch out of my comfort zone, but my job doesn't really allow me to do much. whether it be with my job or appearance or just an experience, i want to do more. i admire that you have the ability to look forward to something just because it's a little different."

a shy smile creeps its way onto yoongi's face. "thank you, jeongguk-hyung," he says quietly, reaching up to fiddle nervously with his earring, eyes downcast towards the floor. he starts to say something else, but then jeongguk excuses himself when taehyung calls out to him for some reason. 

yoongi sighs and uncrosses his legs, glancing around the room again. instead of trying to make conversation with people he doesn't know, he gestures bam over and just plays with him. the whole time, yoongi knows he has a ridiculous smile on his face, and it feels like he should be embarrassed that he's using a dog for entertainment, but it really isn't. bam is such a happy and loving dog, as is holly, so it just feels like he's playing with a bigger version of holly. 

eventually, though, bam gets tired and settles down in his little corner. yoongi nibbles on some appetizers, but they don't feel right in his uneasy stomach, so he gets a glass of water to try and settle it. a few more people arrive, but yoongi is still alone because jeongguk is occupied with his other guests. what is yoongi doing, thinking jeongguk will spend time with him now of all times? it's frustrating, especially with how jeongguk keeps looking at him from across the room. it feels like it means something, but yoongi knows better than to jump to conclusions.

at some point, yoongi can feel his throat closing up from how stuffed up the room feels. desperate for an escape, yoongi looks around and remembers jeongguk's massive balcony. there's also yoongi's mild fear of heights to consider, but he still slips through one of the double door's for a breather. the air hits his lungs immediately, and he places his glass of water on the table after having a couple gulps. he presses his palms against the railing, forcing himself to take another deep breath. 

the wind blows against his face and yoongi turns his head left, letting it ruffle through his hair. he peers a little over the edge of the railing and tightens his grip on it, heart ramming against his chest at the sight of high up forty-seven stories really is. the drop is terrifying. everyone looks so tiny from this height. yoongi breathes deeply again and picks up his water, finishing what's left over in his glass. 

yoongi gets so lost in the view and in calming himself down that he doesn't notice someone joining him until there's a hand on his shoulder. he lifts his eyes a little to see jeongguk looking down at him worriedly. "are you okay?" he asks, his thumb rubbing lightly on yoongi's shoulder. 

instinctively, yoongi places his hand over jeongguk's to reassure him. "i'm okay," he says and nods, offering a smile. jeongguk's expression vanishes and it's replaced by a gentle smile. "just got a little hard to breathe in there. i find it difficult to socialize when no one in there will talk to me. honestly, no one in there seemed interesting enough for me to talk to either."

"trust me. they're definitely not interesting enough for you."

jeongguk removes his hand and yoongi returns his own to the railing, distracted by jeongguk's side profile for the nth time. yoongi figures he could probably stare at jeongguk's face for hours on end, and never get tired of it. eventually though, he returns to looking out at seoul for fear of seeming imposing or creepy. the lights shine back at him, the way the stars should. yoongi furrows his eyebrows and folds his arms on top of the railing.

"you know, i never come out here," jeongguk says after a while, voice soft amidst the faint noise of traffic below, and the wind whistling in yoongi's ears. 

"yes. i know. you told me. and yet, i still gave you a table," says yoongi and jeongguk laughs, leaning against yoongi ever so slightly. "at the time, since i was working for you, i never wanted to ask. but now i can—why wouldn't you come out here? despite my fear of heights, it's very... still. calming. i feel like my head is clear and i can breathe properly."

yoongi tries not to stiffen when jeongguk places his hand on the small of his back. the clarity in his head slowly disappears as jeongguk's thumb pressing into the area beside his spine. yoongi hates how easily jeongguk can turn him into an anxious mess. "that's easy," jeongguk says and his voice is somehow different—for once, yoongi senses uneasiness in it. "the quiet is terrifying."

"is it?" asks yoongi, and he scoots closer a little with another rush of wind. he lifts his arm hesitantly, unsure of himself, then jeongguk takes his wrist, placing his arm around his waist. yoongi looks up at him, then down again, hoping jeongguk can't see him blushing, despite the light from inside leaking onto the balcony. "the quiet is something i'm used to. as much as i love music or noise, sometimes i need this too."

he looks up and jeongguk is right there, massive eyes gazing into his own. yoongi is speechless at first, then surprised that he's actually feeling calm now, even with jeongguk so close. "hyung," yoongi breathes, inching closer by instinct. jeongguk's eyelashes flutter. "stop me if you don't want this. is this okay?" their lips are just a sliver apart. jeongguk's breath hits yoongi's chin in soft exhales. "can i—"

it's jeongguk who breaks the tension and presses his lips to yoongi's, palm curling into the back of yoongi's sweater. yoongi kisses him back, eyes falling shut as his other hand reaches up to hold his cheek. he pulls himself closer, breaking away, head tilting to the side to kiss him again. jeongguk puts his other hand on yoongi's waist and yoongi places his arms around his neck, pulling him as close as he can. this is really happening.

jeongguk pulls away, nudging his nose against yoongi's. he kisses yoongi again, and again, and again. and yoongi gets lost in it, gently stroking jeongguk's hair, his left hand smoothing down the front of his shirt. it feels surreal, finally kissing jeongguk after feeling so much now. yoongi's fingertips tingle, gripping his shirt loosely before he pulls away again. he giggles softly when jeongguk tries to follow, eyes opening, lips turning into a pout. 

"come back," he whines and yoongi laughs again, kissing him once more, but just something chaste. jeongguk blinks after and laughs quietly. the lights surrounding them reflect in his eyes. "yoongi. your lips are so soft." yoongi ducks his head in embarrassment, but jeongguk lifts it back up by his chin, his thumb running over yoongi's bottom lip. "do you even know what you do to me?"

"hyung..." yoongi mumbles and doesn't know what to do except for lightly kiss his lips again. "i don't do anything to you intentionally, hyung."

jeongguk starts to say something, but then the door opens, and he jerks out of yoongi's grasp. yoongi clenches his fists and drops his hands, averting his eyes as jeongguk talks to jimin briefly. he grabs onto jeongguk's hand when he starts to go back inside, but jeongguk pries it off with a gentle smile. he disappears back into his apartment and yoongi is left alone with a bitter taste in his mouth. 

++

the kiss stays in yoongi's mind the rest of the weekend. the feeling of jeongguk's light kiss, then the slowly increasing pressure until it melts away. yoongi tries to push it out of mind, but it always comes back no matter what. it's driving him fucking insane, he feels even more like a schoolgirl with a crush now than before. jeongguk hadn't spoken to him the rest of the evening. yoongi knows how rude it is, but he had to leave without saying goodbye. he was too rattled to stay in the space. 

even now, jeongguk hasn't texted or called yoongi since before friday night, and yoongi hates that because he has so many unanswered questions. jeongguk clearly feels something for him too, which yoongi never thought was possible given the basis of their relationship. it's all so unclear and a jumbled up mess in yoongi's brain, building unneeded and completely unwanted stress inside him. he can't being himself to text jeongguk first. 

yoongi's phone buzzes and he grabs it in anticipation, disappointed when it's only seokjin asking about something work related. yoongi answers the message and throws it on his bed, turning his head to look at holly. he turns onto his side, hands tucked between his thighs, smiling lazily as holly plays with one of his toys on his own. 

suddenly, holly drops his toy and barks at the door. he keeps barking, and yoongi notices someone's shadow moving outside. he gets up and holly sort of growls at the door. "what is wrong with you," he mumbles and kicks the toy back over to holly as he makes his way over to the door. yoongi peeks through the hole to see who it is and flings the door open immediately. 

"hyung," he says and jeongguk looks up, one elbow propped against the doorframe. "what're you doing here?"

"i feel like that's obvious," jeongguk says and laughs, his hand going through his hair. he drops it again and stands straight, hands sliding into his pockets. "can i come inside?"

yoongi nods and moves aside, watching jeongguk take off his shoes upon entering. he shuts the door and stares at him, nerves building up inside his chest. he knows why jeongguk is here, because it's obvious like he said. jeongguk looks back at him, rubbing his feet together, then points over his shoulder at yoongi's couch. yoongi nods and follows him to sit, immediately petting holly when he hops into his lap. he relaxes a little more. 

"i have something to admit." yoongi nods his head slowly for him to continue. "i'm a little tipsy."

"okay," says yoongi. "is that it?"

jeongguk shakes his head and sits up, nervous energy radiating off of him. "um, and... and yoongi-ah, i feel so many things for you."

yoongi clenches his teeth together, nodding as he gulps down his anxiety. "me too," he admits softly and he's holding so tightly on holly's fur, that he ends up barking again. he lets go and murmurs an apology despite knowing holly can't understand anything he says. "hyung, i like you. and that's it. i've liked you for a couple of months now."

jeongguk smiles and nods. he's hugging one of the decorative pillows to his stomach, a blush coloring his cheeks. "i like you too," he says softly and yoongi kind of grins down at holly, his heart exploding inside his chest. it feels like he's floating. "i'm just going to get straight to the point. i want to be your boyfriend, like really badly."

“wait, really?"

"yes,” says jeongguk, looking amused and endeared by yoongi’s reaction. “i literally just said that i really want to."

yoongi laughs into his hand, staring down at holly in his lap. "i really want that too," he says and pets holly until he hops off to drink water. yoongi watches, then looks up at jeongguk sitting on the other side of the couch. he's smiling softly, one hand outstretched between them. yoongi scoots closer to take it, watching how their fingers slip together so easily. jeongguk's palm is warm and soft, a comfortable weight in yoongi's own. it feels right, like they're meant to be this way. 

"will you kiss me again?" asks jeongguk, looking deep, deep into yoongi's eyes, right down into his soul. 

"um... yes. if you want me too," yoongi says shyly and nods his head a little, moving a little closer. 

carefully, he tilts jeongguk's chin down and places his hand on the back of his neck to guide their lips together. their lips slot together, one kiss, then two. yoongi blinks his eyes open to see jeongguk still with his eyes closed, and yoongi pulls him even closer by the collar of his hoodie. jeongguk kisses him hard, tongues meeting as the kiss deepens. it happens slowly, but then yoongi's back is meeting the couch and jeongguk is hovering over him. 

his hands thread into jeongguk hair and he pulls on it lightly. jeongguk squeezes yoongi's hips in response, then pulls away. his hair is a mess now, eyes bugging out of his head, mouth bitten and swelling up a little. yoongi places a gentler kiss on both of his lips, and mumbles, "you taste like beer."

"well, i am tipsy," says jeongguk, laughing and making himself comfortable on the couch while lying beside yoongi. 

"wait, you didn't drive here, did you?"

"no, yoongi-ah. i didn't drive here," laughs jeongguk, lowering his head to rest against yoongi's chest. yoongi puts his hand on the back of his hand, rubbing it lightly, and jeongguk makes a soft humming noise. "my driver brought me here from a bar after i had a few drinks. couldn't stop thinking about you, and the way you kissed me. it so surreal to me."

yoongi sighs quietly when his words start to slur together. jeongguk didn't seem drunk when he arrived, but he's definitely inching there. "sleep over, hyung," yoongi says and turns his head as jeongguk shifts his position again, one leg curling around yoongi's. "there's no way i'm letting you go home alone like this. and you're already here. you can... sleep here and we can get up early for work, have breakfast and talk about things properly."

when there's no response, yoongi looks down to see jeongguk already fast asleep beside him. carefully, yoongi wedges out of jeongguk's hold and throws a blanket over him, smiling a little when he curls up more. it's bordering on adorable, with how much of an actual baby he resembles while asleep. yoongi is hit with the realization that jeongguk may as well actually be his boyfriend now, and goes to bed with that idea buzzing through his body. 

in the morning, yoongi wakes to sizzling and soft humming instead of his alarm. he rolls over onto his back and stretches, squinting into the kitchen. he spots someone dressed in a tank top, muscular arms—his first thought his namjoon, but no. the hair is different and namjoon's humming isn't as pleasant. slowly but surely, yoongi's vision adjusts and his mind is filled with the memory of last night. he cracks a smile just at the thought. 

"good morning," yoongi says in a groggy voice and jeongguk visibly jumps in place, looking back with wide eyes. yoongi furrows his eyebrows and sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "what?"

"just... does your voice always sound like that in the morning?" jeongguk asks, and his voice is clear as day, so yoongi guesses he's been awake for some time. 

yoongi laughs a little, greeting holly softly before responding with, "i mean, yeah? doesn't everyone sound a little tired after waking up?"

jeongguk doesn't answer and just turns back towards the stove. yoongi gives himself a couple of minutes of sitting in bed before checking his phone. he answers a few overnight texts from namjoon's late night shenanigans regarding music, then gets out of bed to stroll over to the kitchen. he crossed his arms and looks at the stove, his eyebrows raised a little. 

"you cook, hyung?"

"yeah, a little." he grins for a moment, flipping the omelette over in the pan. "surprised?"

"you're rich and in your thirties. what's the point of cooking when you don't have to?" yoongi asks and puts on a pot of coffee, then boosts himself to sit on the counter and watch. "besides, i could outdo you in cooking any day."

jeongguk laughs and shakes his head while plating his breakfast. "i have been cooking a lot longer than you have, that's for sure. and i like cooking, it gives me some control. and then i get to eat it afterwards, so that's obviously a plus," he says and adds new vegetables to the pan, the sound sizzling again. "you're such a baby to me, yoongi-ah. so young."

yoongi rolls his eyes and mutters, "i hate you."

"interesting. because i'm pretty sure you confessed to liking me last night."

"whatever." yoongi hops back off the counter and runs his hand through his hair, walking to the bathroom to wash up. he grabs clothes for work on the way since he wasn't too far off from his alarm, getting dressed once he washes his face and brushes his teeth. 

yoongi and jeongguk eat breakfast together at the table, a comfortable silence between them. jeongguk keeps trying to start a game of footsies, but yoongi is trying to not indulge, which ends up proving to be very difficult. yoongi is mostly in shock that this is real life and not something he's dreamt up, and even as they're moving around each other while cleaning up, he's still just in denial.

that is, until jeongguk grabs his wrist suddenly and pulls them chest to chest. jeongguk presses yoongi's lower back into the counter and kisses him, and yoongi kisses him back, hands exploring the newly exposed skin. yoongi knows that jeongguk is strong, but he never quite knew how much because of the way he normally dresses. but he's certainly not complaining, muscles flexing beneath his hands. 

"yoongi-ah," pants jeongguk, sounding winded just from them kissing for a few minutes. "i'm completely sober now, so i'm going to ask properly. min yoongi, will you be my boyfriend?"

"yes, hyung." yoongi smiles brightly at him, allowing his nose to gently knock into jeongguk's. "as long as you'll be mine."

"glad that's settled," he replies and kisses yoongi again, gentler this time. yoongi looks up at him after he pulls away. "i do have to go though. i have a busy day, but i'll try to text you like normal."

when jeongguk pulls away, yoongi doesn't move to stop him. instead, he lingers against the kitchen counter, watching jeongguk pull on his jacket, then sit on the couch to put on his shoes. yoongi floats over to the door and opens it automatically, peering up at jeongguk as he stands in the doorway. he doesn't really say goodbye, even when jeongguk does, only watching in slight awe as he leaves. 

the whole morning yoongi is in a giddy daze knowing he's no longer single, with a boyfriend that he genuinely really likes. he can tell that junghwa notices because she doesn't really make as many negative comments, and namjoon must notice too because he shoots questioning looks from across the room. some of their other co-workers catch onto yoongi's good mood, but don't ask him about it. 

on his lunch break, junghwa slides into the seat across from him. yoongi instinctively pulls one of his earbuds out, contently eating the japchae served today. he doesn't even particularly like japchae like that, and yet the excitement of his new beginning with jeongguk is making him enjoy it much more than usual. junghwa sits across from him, eating a banana slowly, her eyes trained on him while he eats. 

"what are you so happy?" she finally asks, and yoongi places his chopsticks down calmly despite his insides buzzing. "you're never like this, yoongi-ah. i actually think you'll be one of the last to get off work today with how distracted you are."

yoongi licks his lips and leans his elbows on the table, hands folded together. "noona," he says seriously, but junghwa only raises his eyebrow. "one, i've already finished most of my work for today. and two, are i not allowed to just have a good day?"

"you are, but it's weirdly even more than your usual good days."

"must you pry into my business?"

"yes," says junghwa and she places her banana peel on the table with expectant eyes. "spill."

yoongi rolls his eyes and looks down at his food. "i got a boyfriend this morning," he says softly, then adds, "i don't think i've ever had someone like him in my life, so i'm just... excited and happy about it."

"i'm sorry i asked."

"fuck you."

"i'll leave that to the new boyfriend."

"junghwa-noona!"

++

yoongi presses lightly into the keypad of jeongguk's apartment lock, pushing it open when the door clocks unlocked. he places down holly's kennel first, then his his bag, before letting himself inside. the apartment is quiet, yoongi taking off his shoes and letting holly out to explore. he helps himself to some water, sitting on the couch for some time until he gets bored. jeongguk won't be home until at least nine pm and it's still only six-thirty. 

at first, yoongi becomes vaguely interested in continuing the process of completing jeongguk's game, but his attention span makes him quit after completing a frustratingly difficult quest. the unfamiliar emptiness of the apartment irks him, and yoongi almost wishes he were back in his own apartment because of it. even with holly here too, the space isn't his own. 

but jeongguk gave him explicit permission to be able to go anywhere in the apartment, so he figures he might as well help himself. yoongi hesitantly opens jeongguk's bedroom door, holly at his heels, and places his bag on the floor beside his bed. pouting, he pulls at the messy sheets and comforter, fixing up the mess scattered throughout the room. he figures he'll make himself useful in the meantime. 

only that doesn't take much time at all either. in twenty minutes, yoongi has tidied up jeongguk's bedroom and now sits quietly on the edge of it. in the end, he finally decides to just take a shower.

the shower in jeongguk's bathroom is a little intimidating, but yoongi figures out how it works without needing to google anything or ask jeongguk himself. he stands under the water, gently washing his hair using jeongguk's shampoo and conditioner, then just standing to soak in the warmth. yoongi sits on the floor for a little while, head between his knees and water pelting his back. the stall for the bathroom feels large despite the steam filling the air around him. 

yoongi doesn't allow himself to really dwell on the fact that he's staying the night here. the thought is there, in his mind, but only as an idea and not a reality. yoongi and jeongguk's relationship has been easy so far, and fairly steady despite their clashing schedules. the hours are frustrating for the both of them, but for a new couple, yoongi thinks they manage surprisingly well. he knows that jeongguk to feel similarly. 

the shower comes to an end when more than just yoongi's fingers and toes have wrinkles in them. yoongi moisturizes gently with the small bottle of lotion he brought, then wrapping his hips in his towel out of habit. he stands in front of the uncluttered sink after getting dressed in his pajama pants, then blow dries his hair. the noise of the hair dryer is so loud that he doesn't notice jeongguk leaning against the door frame until right after.

"hyung!" yoongi shouts and covers his bare chest with his arms, eyes widening as he makes eye contact with jeongguk. "what're you doing in here?"

jeongguk laughs softly as yoongi scrambles to put his shirt on, feeling his face hotter than ever. "i live here, don't i?" he asks and turns his back against the doorframe instead, unbuttoning the top of his shirt. his hand slides beneath, to his bare chest, and yoongi watches is slight astonishment. "don't worry, i didn't see much except for your back. and i haven't been standing here for long."

"i mean—i don't particularly care," yoongi murmurs and rubs the back of his neck, the other hand curling around the hem of his t-shirt. "you just... surprised me. is it already nine?"

"no, i finished a little early," jeongguk says and walks back into the closet. yoongi trails after him, halting in the doorway as he watches jeongguk take off his clothes. "what'd you do while i was gone?"

yoongi takes a seat on the dresser after pushing aside some hanging hoodies, crossing his ankles. "hm... i cleaned a little. you're messy."

jeongguk scoffs and rolls his eyes, looking at yoongi through the mirror with a smile on his face regardless. "you're not much better, if i remember correctly," he teases and yoongi crosses his arms defensively, face heating. "okay, i know you didn't clean and shower for two hours, so what else?"

nervously, yoongi scratches the back of his neck, a little unsure if he should admit to jeongguk that he tried to play his game. "i played a little euphoria," he admits and jeongguk's eyes light up, slipping on a t-shirt, then a pair of sweatpants after dropping his dress pants to the floor. "it's so hard, hyung. i can't play it when you're not there. i felt like bashing my skull in."

"where'd you stop?"

"right before starlight has to fight the boss-guy. i don't remember his name, sorry."

jeongguk laughs again and turns around, pulling on one of the hoodies hanging near yoongi's head. he leans forward and softly kisses yoongi for a moment, a shy smile breaking out onto both their faces after. "how did i end up with a boyfriend who can't even play video games properly?" he asks and yoongi pushes his shoulders back to get off the dresser. "it's like, a direct contrast of my occupation."

"okay, and i have a boyfriend who lived in an unfurnished apartment for at least three weeks. also a direct contrast to my occupation," yoongi calls back as he returns to the bathroom, picking up his dirty clothes to put in his bag. he sits on the edge of jeongguk's bed with his phone, responding to a few text messages from namjoon and hoseok. jeongguk lies back on his bed with a sigh, feet near yoongi's elbow. 

"it's cute that you get frustrated with it easily," he says and yoongi turns his head, raising an eyebrow. "then i can just teach you. it's more romantic."

yoongi rolls his eyes and grips his phone, climbing over jeongguk to be able to curl into his side. their intimacy hasn't surpassed hand-holding and hugging, except for when jeongguk fell asleep on yoongi's couch, so the whole cuddling thing is relatively new. it's easy to feel like they've always been this close though. "leave it to you to want to make everything romantic," he says and returns to his phone, scrolling mindlessly through his instagram feed. 

similarly, jeongguk is typing with both hands, not responding to yoongi. in attempt to get comfortable, yoongi throws his left leg over jeongguk's, turning onto his side. jeongguk shifts a little and murmurs an apology, placing his his right hand yoongi's hip. after some more shifting and jostling, they settle into a position that works for the both of them. after a little, yoongi feels light kisses on his neck, jeongguk's nose pressing into his cheek. 

"what do you want?" he asks and tilts his head to the side, not looking away from his phone. 

"you're here to spend time with me," mumbles jeongguk, kissing his jaw now, then stopping at the corner of his mouth. "put your phone away, yoongi-ah."

unable to say no to him, yoongi shuts his phone and puts it to the side, meeting jeongguk halfway for a kiss. jeongguk smiles after and drapes his body over yoongi's chest. "you're so heavy, hyung," he says and pets the back of jeongguk's head, smoothing his hair back gently. he kisses his forehead, then fits his chin over the top of his head. “i… missed you a lot. three weeks is a long time to go without seeing someone who lives in the same city as me.”

jeongguk sighs and lifts his head, turning over so he’s hovering over yoongi. “that’s why we’re doing this, though,” he says and yoongi nods, turning his head away until jeongguk brings it back forward. “i know it’s annoying and frustrating that i’m busy all the time, and that our schedules are hard to matchup. especially with how unpredictable your work weeks are.” yoongi sighs a little, one hand resting on his stomach, the other flicking at the small star pendant hanging from jeongguk’s neck. “but doing things like this, you know—making time for each other. we could make a habit out of staying over at each other’s apartments. maybe meeting up to do dog things with bam and holly.”

yoongi nods and puts his hand on the back of jeongguk’s neck, pulling him down into a kiss. it’s brief and gentle, but acts as a reassuring seal to what jeongguk is suggesting. “this stuff is scary to me,” he admits and peers up at jeongguk, who only smiles kindly back at him. it makes his toes curl, the feeling of warmth he has spreading through his chest and stomach.

“i know,” jeongguk says and kisses yoongi’s forehead, returning to where he was before, half-lying on yoongi with his head on his chest. their legs slowly entangle between each other. “it probably doesn’t seem this way, but it’s scary to me too. i act like i know what i’m doing, but i don’t. not really. i just know i want you to be happy, and if that’s me, then i want to do it as best as i can.”

“how cheesy, hyung.”

“it’s true!”

yoongi sighs and murmurs, “i know.”

jeongguk raises his head and kisses yoongi’s cheek. yoongi blinks up at him, his mind a little dazed by how close he is, all cuddled up to him like this. it’s not bad, just something that yoongi will happily have to get used to. they cuddle up again, tight grips around each other’s bodies. yoongi exhales loudly to release the tension from his work week, and at some point, jeongguk turns on a tv show, but yoongi doesn’t really pay attention to it. he just plays with jeongguk’s hair and admires him, and hopes that things with jeongguk will last forever.