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Hoseok stares at him from across the table, face frozen in an expression that looks extremely surprised and vaguely panicked, his lips parted and his cappuccino still held out in front of him.

Maybe, Jimin thinks as he tries to maintain his composure, he was wrong about Hoseok liking him back. Maybe Jeongguk was wrong when he said it seemed like Hoseok was interested in Jimin. Maybe Jimin is about to go back to his apartment, crawl into Taehyung’s bed, and cry for an hour before looking up job positions at another dance studio since Hoseok might never want to see him again.

“Oh,” Hoseok says. He sets his cappuccino back down again. 

Jimin wants to throw himself under the table and into another dimension. One in which he has not just confessed to his hyung, friend, and co-worker. “I’m sorry,” Jimin says, and he’s grappling for some semblance of cool. He’s only been rejected once before, and that was when he was still a high school student, way before puberty hit him like a truck full of sex appeal. “I’m really sorry, hyung, I made you uncomfortable.”

“Don’t apologize,” Hoseok says immediately. His face, however, is mostly unreadable. It’s not the sunny smile he usually gives Jimin on their coffee Wednesdays after their shared advanced hip-hop class. It’s the expression he wears when he’s watching one of their dance groups practice before a performance, his eyes intense, focused, analyzing. His lips are turned down slightly in the corners. 

Jimin slouches even lower in his chair, their side of the cafe suddenly all too quiet. He can hear his own heartbeat in addition to feeling it in his throat, embarrassed at the rejection and ashamed at making Hoseok uncomfortable and-

“I like you, too.”

Jimin’s thoughts screech to a sudden stop. “What?”

“I like you, Jimin-ah. I just wasn’t expecting this.” Hoseok looks down at the surface of his coffee, some of the cream leaf still intact. 

“Sorry,” Jimin says again, almost automatically. 

Hoseok finally laughs, though it’s more of a quiet chuckle. “Hey, I already said not to apologize.”

“You did,” Jimin admits, and he fiddles with one of his rings as Hoseok meets his eyes again. “I just want to make sure we’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” Hoseok assures him. He runs a hand through his hair, pushing back the strands that always fall across his forehead. God, he’s pretty. “So you like me.”

“Yeah.” Jimin stops twisting his rings and picks up his coffee instead. He nearly drained it all out of nervousness before blurting out his confession to Hoseok, so there’s barely a sip left as he raises it to his lips and sets his cup down again. “And you like me?”

Hoseok nods, but he frowns a little bit more, his lips pulling into an unhappy triangle. It’s the stressed-Hoseok frown, which makes Jimin unsure of whether or not he should be happy or worried given Hoseok’s ‘ I like you too ’ accompanied by stress. “Jimin-ah, you know I don’t really… date.”

Jimin blinks. He’s heard Hoseok mention an ex-boyfriend once, but not anything about how long ago that relationship was or whether or not Hoseok has dated much before. “Okay,” he says. “Nothing has to come from this if you don’t want, hyung.”

Hoseok hums, and his expression softens slightly as he continues to look at Jimin. It’s the warm gaze that always makes Jimin preen under the attention when they’re in the studio together. “What if I do want something to come from this?”

“I’d like that,” Jimin says, and the hope that had been extinguished upon Hoseok’s silence at Jimin’s confession flickers back to life. He straightens back up in his chair a little bit. “I could take you out somewhere.”

Hoseok arches an eyebrow. “Aren’t we out now?” 

Jimin pouts, relaxing into the humor returning to Hoseok’s voice. “Somewhere that’s not our coffee Wednesday cafe.” 

“Like where?”

“We could go shopping,” Jimin says immediately. There’s a store that’s not far from the studio that Jimin’s been in before that reminded him of Hoseok’s style. “And then get dinner.” The pizza place just across from it serves the kind of puffy crust Jimin knows Hoseok likes from their times getting take-out and eating after class at the studio.

“We could do that,” Hoseok agrees, and he’s smiling again now. 

“Maybe Monday?” It’s the only day they both have off teaching. Jimin has an afternoon university course, but it finishes early enough that he could drop his laptop at his apartment before coming back to the area.

“Okay, Monday.” Hoseok picks up his coffee again, and Jimin bites back a grin. “I just want to ask that we take things slow.”

Jimin nods. He can take things slow. He’s mostly happy that Hoseok returns his interest at all, considering the crushing blow it almost was when Hoseok didn’t seem to feel the same. “That’s good with me.”

Something flashes in Hoseok’s eyes, though his face doesn’t change. Jimin can’t quite pinpoint what it is. He finishes his cappuccino, however, and sets it down again before saying, “I really mean it, though, Jimin. I want us to be on the same page about this.”

He’s worried, Jimin realizes. Worried that Jimin isn’t going to take things slow? That things might become awkward between them? That one of them will get hurt? 

“Slow,” Jimin repeats. “Like with labels?”

“With everything,” Hoseok says after a moment of hesitation.

“That’s okay.” A group of high school girls sit down at the table beside theirs, talking loudly about something as they drop their bags and flop down in a flurry of activity. “I like you and I want to spend time with you, hyung,” Jimin says, lowering his voice slightly. “But I don’t want anything you don’t want.”

Hoseok exhales softly at that, like he’s surprised, and when he smiles again it finally reaches his eyes. “And this is part of why I like you so much, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin feels heat creep up his neck as he giggles, ducking his head. “Ah, hyung.”

“I should probably head out,” Hoseok says, tapping his phone and glancing at the time as the screen lights up. “But I’ll see you tomorrow at the studio?”

“Yeah.” Jimin picks up his bag and gets to his feet as Hoseok stands as well. “See you tomorrow.”

---

“I told you he liked you,” Jeongguk says around a mouthful of fried chicken. 

“Everyone likes Jimin,” Taehyung adds, and he tries to pinch Jimin’s cheek unsuccessfully, Jimin batting his hand away before he gets the chance.

“Not everyone.” Jimin should be studying right now, but Jeongguk was over at the apartment when Jimin came home, so instead they’re eating take-out in Taehyung’s room, jazz playing from Taehyung’s laptop.

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Choi Raemin doesn’t count, Jimin.”

“I was in love with him,” Jimin declares dramatically, viciously shoving another piece of chicken into his mouth. “And I was the nerd with a bowl-cut who he’s probably forgotten.”

Jeongguk snickers. “The only thing that’s changed is that you have a better haircut.”

Jimin shifts a little bit on the rug so he can kick Jeongguk’s foot. “Don’t be mean.”

“What? You’re the biggest nerd I know.”

“Yeah, well you’re the second biggest nerd,” Jimin retorts.

“Does that make me the third?” Taehyung asks, batting his eyelashes before making one of the worst seductive faces Jimin has ever seen. “Talk nerdy to me, you two, I want to hear it.”

They dissolve into laughter, the box of chicken nearly getting knocked over when Jimin throws himself over giggling.

“Anyway, I’m happy for you,” Jeongguk says when the chicken has been saved. “You and Hoseok-hyung are cute together. Everyone at the studio thinks so at this point.”

Jimin leans against the foot of Taehyung’s bed. “Thanks. We’re not labeling anything yet, though. Hyung said he wanted to take things slow. He doesn’t date much, apparently.”

“He’s so busy,” Jeongguk says, nodding. “Since he finished university last year I don’t think he’s even had time to breathe, you know?”

“Yeah.” Jimin frowns slightly. “I don’t know, it also seemed more than that. Hyung is sometimes kind of hard to read, but it was almost like he was… nervous?”

“Dating can be intimidating,” Taehyung says, and he takes the last piece of chicken, chewing thoughtfully.

Jimin doesn’t find dating particularly intimidating, but he hums anyway. Does Hoseok find dating intimidating, then? What about it? Is he worried it’ll ruin his friendship with Jimin if they try to be anything more?

Taehyung wipes his greasy fingers on Jimin’s pants, and Jimin screeches, thoughts temporarily derailed as he scrambles on top of Taehyung and pins him down, demanding an apology while Jeongguk ignores both of them in favor of changing the Spotify playlist.

---

“Wah, Jimin-ah,” Hoseok says, whistling quietly when Jimin steps out of the dressing room. “You look good.”

Jimin laughs, twirling around in a circle. “Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

“You really have my style down,” Jimin admits. The clothes that Hoseok picked out for him to try on are comfortable and sleek, the sweater with a stretched-out neckline that shows off Jimin’s collarbones while the sleeves are just a little too long. The pants are a soft, buttery faux-leather that cling to his thighs. It’s the blend of sexy and cute that Jimin has learned, mostly in the last year, works for him. 

“I should’ve been a stylist,” Hoseok says, tossing his head back dramatically.

“It’s never too late to change careers, hyung. Though I’d miss you in the studio,” Jimin says with a wink before going back into the dressing room, quickly changing. “You promised to try on what I picked out too.”

“I know. I’ll change now,” Hoseok calls.

Jimin pats down his hair as he waits outside the line of stalls, and he grins when Hoseok surfaces, his head buzzing slightly as Hoseok walks a few steps toward him. 

The jean jacket suits Hoseok all too well, the simple t-shirt beneath it clinging to Hoseok’s frame when he lifts the ends of the jacket with an over the top flourish. And Jimin was right in going bold and choosing denim-on-denim, the pants fitting Hoseok’s long legs perfectly. 

“You’re a heart-throb,” Jimin tells him. “Forget styling, you should be modeling.”

Hoseok laughs in the way that implies he’s not taking Jimin’s compliments seriously, like he always does, and he goes back to change.

They both end up only buying a few things- Hoseok a pair of sunglasses and a brightly patterned button-up, Jimin the pants Hoseok had picked out and a pair of earrings he saw near the check-out line.

There’s an arcade beside the shop, and Jimin pouts his way into a few games with Hoseok, both of them failing miserably at shooting hoops, Jimin ruthlessly beating Hoseok at air hockey, and then moving on to a song of dance-dance-revolution on the hardest setting that leaves them both wheezing from laughter as the arrows on the screen fly by.

“But we’re professional dancers,” Jimin says as they eat dinner, a sweet potato pizza split between them. “I didn’t think we’d do that badly.”

Hoseok snorts. “Speak for yourself. I knew it would be a disaster the moment you said we should go for the highest level.”

“Professional dancers,” Jimin repeats, nearly whining.

Hoseok insists on paying, using the hyung card, and they step back out onto the street, the evening not too bitterly cold despite the late February chill that hung over most of the week.

“Thank you, hyung,” Jimin says as they walk a little away from the restaurant, before stopping again at the edge of the sidewalk, the streetlight behind them casting a glowing haze over everything. He feels the back of his hand brushing against Hoseok’s and considers taking it for a moment. He’s no stranger to physical affection, especially among friends, and he’s hugged Hoseok plenty of times before in their year and a half working together at the studio. But this is a different context. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”

“I did, too,” Hoseok says. He shifts slightly to face Jimin, and the smile on his face from dinner has faded slightly. 

“Is everything okay?” Jimin asks then, only hesitating a little bit. He thinks of Taehyung saying dating can be intimidating and Hoseok’s apprehension toward telling Jimin he felt the same way and wonders what it is exactly that’s been making Hoseok concerned about all of this.

Hoseok nods, and the way he very intentionally brightens his expression might go unnoticed to someone else, but not to Jimin, who has seen him do it right before a class starts on days Hoseok is particularly tired. “Yeah,” he says.

Jimin doesn’t like not knowing things, but he reigns in the urge to push. “Well it’s my turn to pay next time,” Jimin says instead, and he rocks back on his heels, “if you want there to be a next time.”

“I want that,” Hoseok tells him.

The words are steady, sure, and Jimin goes warm at that. He brushes the tips of his fingers across the back of Hoseok’s knuckles as an invitation, and Hoseok takes it, holding his hand as they stand beneath the streetlight.

“Good, because I want that, too.” Jimin ducks his head, shyness washing over him in the way a rare few people can make him feel. It was part of what made Jimin realize, months ago, that he liked Hoseok as more than a co-worker who he got coffee with on Wednesdays. Jimin has learned how to flirt with most people because he often doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s a low-stakes investment, giggling at a stranger’s joke in one of his classes or giving a sultry look at someone on the dance floor of a club. But Hoseok makes Jimin blush with his genuine compliments, makes Jimin laugh because Hoseok says something actually funny, makes Jimin feel good and well-looked after and listened to and happy. 

Hoseok squeezes his hand. “So studio tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” They teach separate classes on Tuesday, though, but Jimin already knows he’ll stop by to say hello.

“Coffee Wednesday.”

“We should try the new place that opened up above the post office.”

“We should,” Hoseok agrees. Then, “And the next date?”

Jimin feels the grin on his face, cheeks almost hurting from the cold and how wide he’s smiling. “If you don’t mind it being late on Saturday, we could do something after my last class at the studio.”

“I don’t mind,” Hoseok says, and he’s smiling too, genuine and bright and shaped like a heart that always makes Jimin think that Hoseok really is impossibly pretty.

“Okay. We’ll plan for it later,” Jimin says.

“I can make the plans this time,” Hoseok tells him. “You’re taking the bus home, right? I’ll walk you.”

Jimin nods, and they set off toward the stop, their hands clasped between them. “I think I might actually be sore tomorrow from dance-dance-revolution,” Jimin admits as something in his calf pangs.

“I’m already sore from trying to throw those deflated basketballs,” Hoseok says, making a face.

Jimin laughs. “We wouldn’t have done better even if they were blown up.”

“This is why I don’t like sports,” Hoseok tells him decisively.

Hoseok waits with him until the bus arrives, and Jimin thinks for a moment about kissing Hoseok’s cheek before he decides against it, Hoseok’s request of taking things slow echoing in his ears.

“Good night, hyung,” Jimin says, his hand slipping out of Hoseok’s gentle hold.

“Goodnight, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin smiles the whole way home.

---

“You like him a lot,” Taehyung observes as Jimin throws himself across Taehyung where he’s currently sitting on the couch.

“I do,” Jimin whines before squirming around so he can bury his face in Taehyung’s neck. “Tae, he’s so fun to be around and he makes me laugh and when he asked me about how practicing for my senior recital was going I almost cried because he remembered even though I’d only told him about it before our hip-hop class like two weeks ago.”

Taehyung elbows Jimin. “I’m happy for you, but also I’m pretty sure you’re crushing me,” he wheezes.

Jimin wiggles again, situating himself across Taehyung’s lap. “Better?”

“Better.”

Jimin feels something under his ass and pulls out Taehyung’s ecology textbook. “Sorry, were you studying?”

“Yeah. Read the last few pages to me and then we can talk about your date?”

“You got it,” Jimin says, and puts the book on his lap, squinting at the words in their terribly dimly lit living room. “Geometric models of ecology,” he begins, hardly noticing that he is, in fact, still smiling.

---

Hoseok takes Jimin to a tucked away restaurant on Saturday night that’s a few blocks away from the studio. It’s still pretty crowded despite the time, and Hoseok and Jimin sit near the back, ordering stew to share as they warm-up, Jimin rubbing his hands together, Hoseok’s nose still faintly pink from the night chill.

“You don’t really drink, do you, hyung?” Jimin asks when the beer arrives.

“I drink,” Hoseok answers, almost protesting. “I just don’t drink a lot .”

Jimin giggles, remembering all too well the night some of the studio dance teachers went out together to a bar and Hoseok had drunk exactly one and a half glasses of beer mixed with soju before falling asleep on them all.

“Lucky for you, I can drink enough for two,” Jimin tells him.

Hoseok rolls his eyes. “My white knight.”

“Your superhero!”

“Where’s your cape then, Jimin-ah?”

“They’re out of fashion, hyung.”

By the time the stew arrives along with the side dishes, they’ve both warmed up and Hoseok is telling Jimin about some of the administrative things going on in the studio. Since Jimin only works part time, he doesn’t often hear about it. But Hoseok’s responsibilities as a full-time employee include meeting with the studio owner about official changes, one of which is apparently re-doing the locker rooms.

“Oh, thank god,” Jimin says as he dips his spoon into the pot between them. “I’m pretty sure the floorboards are coming up.”

Hoseok nods. “We had to vote on fixing up the locker rooms or the reception, and I think everyone agreed the locker rooms are in a little more need of attention.”

“This is delicious, by the way,” Jimin says, scooting his chair closer to the table and staring down at the stew. “I haven’t had anything this good since I visited my family in Busan.”

Hoseok grins. “I usually come here when I miss my mom’s cooking.”

“Did she make jjigae a lot?” 

“Not often. She was always really busy working when my sister and I were growing up. But sometimes if she had a Saturday off, my sister and I would help her make it, especially during the winter.”

Jimin feels something inside his chest soften, picturing a young, round-cheeked Hoseok following his mother around the kitchen. “When was the last time you visited home?”

They talk about family then, details filling into the rough outline that both of them have given through their time working together. It’s warm and cozy, and they stay at the table long after they finish eating, the restaurant quieting as customers clear out.

Jimin pays this time like he told Hoseok he would, and Hoseok takes his hand again when they leave.

“You live near the studio, right?” Jimin asks as they begin to walk toward the bus stop.

Hoseok stiffens slightly, maybe because of the cold. “Yeah.”

Jimin sighs. “After I graduate I’m probably going to find a new place with Tae. The area we live in isn’t close to any of the veterinary schools he’s looking at applying to.” 

Maybe it wasn’t because of the cold, since Hoseok relaxes again. “You’re okay with commuting far to the studio?”

“I don’t mind as long as it’s not too far.” Jimin swings their hands slightly between them as they reach the bus stop again.

Hoseok squeezes his hand before letting go to adjust Jimin’s scarf, pulling at it carefully so his neck is covered. It’s impossibly sweet, and Jimin melts a little bit despite the chill. 

Hoseok’s eyes are sleepy, his nose pink again, and Jimin very much wants to kiss him. Would it be too fast? Jimin’s never dated someone who wanted to take things slow before. 

There are people who have asked to keep things casual, but they’re the people who wanted to forego labels and jump right into bed with Jimin. That was fine, but that’s not really Jimin’s preferred way of being with someone, and he definitely doesn’t think that’s what Hoseok meant.

“Jimin-ah,” Hoseok says quietly, and he glances down at the sidewalk. 

“Yeah?”

Hoseok looks up at him again, and this time his lips are turned down in the corners again in the triangle of stress. “Do you want to keep doing this?”

Jimin blinks at him. “Yes. I like spending time with you, hyung.”

Hoseok exhales lightly. “I like spending time with you, too.”

“So you want to keep doing this?” Jimin asks, prodding gently. 

“I do,” Hoseok answers. “I like us like this.”

Jimin’s heart skips a beat. “Yeah. I like us a lot.”

Hoseok’s eyes search Jimin’s face for something, and then he’s leaning in slightly. Jimin’s pulse quickens, and he takes a small step closer until his nose nearly brushes against Hoseok’s.

“Hyung,” Jimin whispers, and Hoseok’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks and he’s so pretty Jimin thinks he goes a little cross-eyed. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok whispers back. “Kiss me.”

Jimin tilts his face to the side and closes the distance between them, pressing his lips to Hoseok’s.

It’s a quiet, simple thing, no more than a touch before Jimin pulls back slightly.

Hoseok’s eyes are still closed, and Jimin bumps their noses together gently, and Hoseok laughs, nuzzling back. 

Jimin grins, and then he’s kissing Hoseok again, Hoseok tugging on Jimin’s scarf, Jimin’s hands on Hoseok’s waist.

Hoseok’s mouth is soft as it moves over Jimin’s, kissing at his top lip, then the bottom, pulling at it lightly and sending a jolt of warmth through Jimin. 

Jimin’s head is fuzzy when Hoseok steps back with one final kiss stamped across Jimin’s lips.

“Your bus,” Hoseok says, smiling as he sticks his hands back in the pockets of his jacket.

Jimin blinks and looks down the street as he hears the telltale groan of an old engine and finds the headlights of the bus glaring down at him as it rolls forward. 

“See you at the studio,” Jimin manages to say.

“See you, Jimin-ah,” Hoseok answers.

Jimin doesn’t wait to get home to tell Taehyung about it, manically mashing at his phone as soon as he sits down on the bus, informing his best friend that Jung Hoseok kisses like magic.

---

“Jimin-teacher,” Doyoon says, staring up at him with an incredibly serious expression.

“Doyoon-ah,” Jimin parrots back, matching the furrow of her brow and the press of her lips. 

His other students are all filing out of the room, laughing and pushing at each other. They’re his beginning modern kids, most of them squeezing in the dance lesson between school and academy, loud and wild. He never chastises them for it, merely directs their energy toward dance instead, even if that means teaching them snippets of their favorite idol choreographies rather than spending a full lesson as he originally intended.

Doyoon narrows her eyes at him. She’s always a riot, often without trying to be, and this seems like it’ll be no exception. “My fish died.”

Jimin blinks. There’s nothing funny about a fish dying, but Doyoon’s extremely business-like face and tone still make Jimin swallow back amusement. “I’m very sorry to hear that.”

Doyoon nods shortly. “Yeah. I got a new one, though. I named him after you.”

Jimin makes a strangled noise on accident trying to squash his laughter. “You did? That’s great, thank you, Doyoon.”

Doyoon appraises him. “You’re a lot more fun than Jimin-fish, though. Bye, teacher.”

Doyoon trails out of the room with the last of the class, and Jimin decides this is something that mostly definitely belongs on his resume. Dance Instructor- taught modern and hip-hop to students ranging in age from ten to forty-five, inspired name for fish, declared more fun than aforementioned fish.

Jimin’s still chuckling as he makes his way down the hall to where he knows Hoseok should be finishing up his own class, determined to share this new life milestone with him.

The door is halfway open, music spilling out to where Jimin stands, and he watches from outside the room as Hoseok leads what must be the last five minutes of class.

“Watch the angle of your wrist here,” Hoseok says, and Jimin peers at the reflection of the class in the mirror as they all adjust. “Great. And the next move, you want your right foot to land on eight. Five, six, seven, right foot. ”

Hoseok dances, and Jimin leans against the door frame, taking him in.

The first time Jimin saw Hoseok dance, he was a mixture of blown away and intimidated. They were supposed to be teaching together , and Jimin was constantly terrified that their shared class was going to be Hoseok correcting Jimin rather than working with him.

Jimin spent hours alone practicing the choreography they would teach for the next session of their class, perfecting it until he could do it in his sleep.

It took a few months of teaching together before Jimin realized that Hoseok was doing the same. 

They laughed about it later, both of them admitting to not wanting to be unprofessional or hold the other back or make a mistake in front of their students. And they agreed to start practicing together instead.

Practicing, teaching, teasing, talking- they started getting coffee on Wednesdays, and somewhere along the way, Jimin’s respect and admiration for Hoseok turned into something else.

Jimin is still blown away now when he looks at Hoseok, but he also sees the hours of hard work Hoseok puts in, the passion for dance in Hoseok’s eyes when he moves, the kind, straightforward manner in which he corrects the class, the proud smile on his face when his students get a difficult piece of footwork correct.

Jimin likes him so much .

Hoseok starts the track again, still seeming not to have noticed Jimin in the doorway, and he leads the last run through at the front of the room, close to the mirrors.

Jimin’s mouth goes a little dry at the fluidity of Hoseok’s body, at the way he rolls his hips, and Jimin’s head supplies an image of Hoseok moving the same way in the bedroom, which is really a lot to handle.

“You worked hard,” Hoseok says as the music cuts off, turning around and bowing quickly to his students. “Thank you. I’ll see you on Friday.”

The students all chorus the words back, and as they grab their things from the sides of the room, Jimin slips inside.

“Hey, hyung,” Jimin says, smiling. “You looked good.”

Hoseok blinks in surprise to see Jimin before his lips tug up into that familiar heart shape. “You could’ve come in and joined us.”

“Nah, I was enjoying the show.” Jimin winks.

Hoseok snorts loudly. “Avoiding a work-out, more like.” 

Jimin pouts at that before remembering why he initially came by, and he prefaces his story with a rather dramatic, “I was busy becoming a godfather,” and relishing the look of confusion that appears on Hoseok’s face.

---

The cafe they go to on Wednesday is small, walls lined with bookshelves, cozy and cramped with all the light wood and decorative plants.

Hoseok chooses a table near the window, afternoon light filtering in and highlighting the gold of his skin. 

Jimin stares happily, informing Hoseok that he’s very pretty.

Hoseok laughs it off as always, but there’s a faint flash of his dimples and Jimin’s heart warms when he sees Hoseok’s cheeks turn faintly pink.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Hoseok says after he collects their drinks, settling back into his chair.

Jimin nods, wrapping his sweater-paws around his mug. “What’s up, hyung?”

Hoseok, in the time it took to go to the counter, grab the tray, and come back, has completely lost his smile. His eyes are serious again, and his brow is slightly furrowed. “I think it would be better to get this out of the way now,” he says then, and it almost seems like he’s talking more to himself than to Jimin.

“Okay?” Jimin tries, and he shifts forward in his chair. He doesn’t like the way Hoseok’s expression has shuttered into something nearly unreadable. 

“How much do you know about the ace spectrum?” 

Jimin blinks. The ace spectrum? A flag at Pride pops into his head, one with black and gray and purple stripes under the summer sun, Taehyung’s voice saying, “Look, Jiminie, they have the ace flag this year. The aro one, too.”

“Ace,” Jimin repeats, then realizes, “Like asexual?”

Hoseok nods. His lips are doing the stress-triangle.

“I don’t know much, honestly,” Jimin says slowly. “Ace people don’t have sex?”

Hoseok’s mouth triangles further down. “That’s not- that’s not what it means, exactly. Some of us do, some of us don’t.”

“Oh,” Jimin says. Then oh. Hoseok had said some of us . As in, Hoseok is ace. As in, Hoseok is asexual.

Hoseok’s face is frozen in the half-unreadable half-extremely stressed expression and Jimin very much wishes he’d listened more to Taehyung and Jeongguk’s conversation last Pride about the ace and aro flags. Shit.

“I’m ace,” Hoseok says quietly. “And I’m one of the aces who doesn’t- doesn’t want have sex. I wanted to tell you, since I don’t know what your expectations are moving forward.”

“My expectations?” Jimin repeats back, since he’s a little too surprised to do anything but desperately try to file this information away. 

“I like you,” Hoseok tells him, and despite all the confusion, Jimin is still incredibly glad to hear him say it. “But I don’t want to get in over my head if you expect that sex will be a part of this- of us.”

It sounds very practical. Hoseok is always a pretty practical person, so maybe Jimin shouldn’t be surprised that he’s laying everything out like this.

“I’m happy to be your friend and your co-worker,” Hoseok continues, “if you want to stop trying for anything other than that now.”

Jimin, realizing that he’s still clutching his mug with sweater-covered palms, sets it down on the table. “Hyung, I like you a lot. Right now, I’m just- surprised?” Jimin tries, but that’s not the right word entirely. He’s confused, maybe. Slightly embarrassed of not knowing a thing about asexuality other than the color of the flag, apparently. 

Hoseok’s face relaxes a fraction. “That’s fair, I think.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, and Jimin asks, “How are you feeling?”

A moment of surprise flits across Hoseok’s face. “What?”

Jimin twists one of his rings. “I’m surprised. And you’re…” He prompts.

Hoseok’s exhale is surprisingly shaky, which says just as much as his silence.

Jimin reaches across the table and takes one of Hoseok’s hands. Dating can be intimidating, Taehyung had said a few weeks back. How worried must Hoseok be about all this if he’s telling Jimin that he likes him but they can go back to being friends if Jimin isn’t happy with the prospect of pursuing Hoseok without sex on the table. Well, not on the table literally, obviously. Without sex at all.

“I wish this wasn’t so complicated,” Hoseok ends up saying, which is definitely not what Jimin was expecting to hear.

“It’s complicated?” Jimin asks, and gives Hoseok’s hand a soft squeeze of encouragement.

Hoseok stares at him. “Isn’t it?”

“Not really. Unless I’m missing something, which, please correct me if I am, hyung,” Jimin says, already resolving to do some online searching when he gets home. “But you’re just saying that you don’t want to have sex, right?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok says, and the little lines over his nose crease further as he continues to furrow his brow.

“That doesn’t sound complicated.”

“It can be.” Hoseok leans back in his chair, and he pulls his hand out of Jimin’s grasp. “Trust me.”

Jimin looks up at Hoseok and says, “Alright.”

“What?”

“I trust you that it’s complicated. I think I still want to try to figure it out with you,” Jimin says.

Hoseok lets out a soft breath, and it’s written on his face that he’s still worried. Jimin wonders, with an unpleasant bitterness, what experiences Hoseok has had that make him so doubtful- so concerned.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Hoseok says.

Jimin blinks. “About?”

“About sex.”

“Okay,” Jimin agrees. 

“I’ve tried to before. I won’t do it again.”

And that makes the bitterness in Jimin churn into something sad and angry, reminding him all too much of his years trying to date girls despite that voice in his head that told him he would never want them in the way he should , in the way the world told him to.

“Okay,” Jimin repeats, though he really wants to reach for Hoseok’s hand again, he doesn’t. There’s a lot he doesn’t know. There’s a lot he has to think about, too, because up until this point he’s entertained more than one fantasy of having sex with Hoseok and thought passively, since Hoseok had expressed an interest, that it was a possibility in the future if things kept going well between them.

It’s no longer a possibility, and Jimin has research to do, but most importantly Hoseok just essentially came out to him for a second time.

The first being the mention of an ex-boyfriend almost a year ago after one of their classes.  Jimin, who had yet to come out to Hoseok or anyone else at the dance studio, was overwhelmingly grateful that Hoseok trusted him enough to tell him, and simultaneously gave him a safe space to come out, too. 

This is the second time, in a way, and Jimin meets Hoseok’s guarded eyes and says, “Thank you for telling me, hyung.”

Hoseok nods, seeming tired now more than anything else.

“Do you still want to go out this weekend?” Jimin asks. “Because I’d still like to go out with you.”

Hoseok offers Jimin a small smile, much less bright than his usual ones. The sun still glows across his skin through the window, though, and it catches in his hair, shining against the deep brown strands that fall across his forehead. “Yeah,” Hoseok says. “Let’s try to figure this out, then.”

---

There’s not a ton of information online about asexuality.

At least, in comparison to the time when Jimin was thirteen years old and typed in what happens if boys like boys on a computer at the corner of the library, too scared to do so at home where his parents might find out, there aren’t as many results.

But there are articles and interviews, and Jimin, after getting home from the studio, finds himself reading through them instead of writing his personal assessment on his last dance performance.

When Taehyung walks into his room, Jimin rubs his eyes tiredly.

“You’re up late,” Taehyung says.

Jimin glances at the time in the corner of his laptop and finds that it’s nearly three in the morning, a normal time for Taehyung to be up, to be fair. “Got distracted.”

Taehyung hums, sitting down on the edge of Jimin’s bed. “You didn’t burst into my room talking about Hoseok-hyung today.”

“I had research to do.”

“Research?” Taehyung asks.

Jimin hums, his eyes drooping as he closes his laptop lid. “Tae, do you think sex is important in relationships?”

Taehyung crawls further up the bed, flopping on his stomach before arranging himself so his chin is digging into Jimin’s arm. “Not really. But also I think I’m demi.”

“Demisexual?” Jimin just learned the term approximately three hours ago via a glossary of terms on the ace spectrum, right along with demiromantic on the list of aro spectrum words.

“Yeah. I’m still figuring things out, but I know that I’m really not attracted to people that way most of the time.” Taehyung says. 

Jimin’s new updated definition of asexuality is about the lack of sexual attraction, so he nods along even if it’s something he only conceptually understands. “We never talked about it before,” he says quietly.

Taehyung hums. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about more recently. I mean, you started having sex with people our first year of university. Jeongguk says he wants to wait until he finds someone he’s in love with. But for me it’s not about wanting to wait, I just… I don’t know.”

“Did you not want to hook-up with that guy from your o-chem class?” Jimin asks, suddenly feeling much more awake as he looks down at Taehyung in concern.

Taehyung just shrugs. “I was curious, I guess. And everyone else was doing it. I kept telling myself that since Minsu was cute and nice that I wanted him that way, but after sleeping with him I knew that it wasn’t something I would do again.”

Jimin reaches out and pets Taehyung’s hair gently. “Is that why you said dating is intimidating?”

“Kind of. That and people say I talk too much.”

Jimin’s hand freezes. “Who said that?”

Taehyung snorts. “No one that matters, Jiminie. Please don’t go get into fights on my account again.”

“I only punched someone once ,” Jimin says. And the guy had deserved it, a total asshole in high school who was mean to Taehyung one time too many. “I use my words now.”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure you could emotionally damage someone on my account,” Taehyung throws an arm around Jimin’s stomach. 

“Not permanently,” Jimin mutters. No one should get away with telling Taehyung he talked too much, though. 

“Why were you asking?” Taehyung’s voice is muffled as he buries his face in the ratty t-shirt Jimin sleeps in.

“Huh?”

“About whether or not sex is important in relationships?” Taehyung clarifies, still mumbling into Jimin’s side.

Jimin pets through Taehyung’s hair again. “I’ve never thought about it before, and now I need to, I guess.”

“Hoseok?”

“Yeah.”

Taehyung hums, his voice sending vibrations into Jimin’s skin, tickling slightly. “It’s not bad if you want a relationship that includes sex.”

“I know. Hyung didn’t make me feel that way at all.”

“So what do you think then? Is sex important to you?” Taehyung asks.

Jimin shakes his head slowly, hair rustling against his pillow. “It’s nice. I like it. And it’s fun, I guess? It’s like… another activity to do with whoever I’m with. And I’ve thought about it with Hoseok before and if it was something he liked, it would be really hot. But sex isn’t the reason that I have feelings for him, you know? That’s not all there is to it.”

“You have lots of feelings for him,” Taehyung says helpfully.

Jimin flicks his ear, which earns him a poke in the side. “I know. I like being close though. And I think from reading some articles on asexuality, that’s not a problem. There’s lots of other things that we could still do to be physically close if he’s comfortable with it, you know? And I guess those are the things I want to talk to him about.”

“Very mature. Excellent communication. Ten out of ten thoughtfulness,” Taehyung narrates. 

Jimin considers flicking him again. 

“If this is about your excessive love of hickeys, sucking bruises onto your partners’ skin isn’t inherently sexual, so Hoseok might be open to that, you know.”

Jimin does flick him at that. “I hate you.”

“Love you, Jiminie.”

Jimin sighs loudly and finally lets his eyes slide closed. “Love you, too, Taetae.

---

Hoseok is almost stiff around him at the studio, only perceivable because of the way he seems to make an extra effort to smile brightly at Jimin like everything is fine.

Jeongguk, however, also knows and cares too much about them both and picks up on it when the three of them all hang out in the break room one afternoon between classes. He messages Jimin later to ask if everything’s okay, and Jimin answers, I hope so. I think it’ll be.

When it finally hits Saturday night and the agreed upon time to go out for another date rolls around, they both pack up their bags in the studio locker room, messed up floorboards and narrow walkways.

As Jimin strips out of his work-out clothes, Hoseok doing the same beside him, he wonders if this is something that makes Hoseok uncomfortable. But Hoseok seems like it’s fine, and Jimin realizes that there’s nothing inherently sexual about being naked anyway, considering they change a lot in front of each other and their co-workers at the studio.

“Do you think they’ll put the baby bumpers up for me?” Hoseok asks, lacing up his shoes.

Jimin snorts as he tugs his sweater on over his head. “I’m sure they would. Do you really need them that badly?”

On the way to the bowling alley, Jimin finds out that Hoseok has only been bowling three times in his life, and that one time involved chucking the ball into the other lane.

“They’ll definitely put the baby bumpers up if we tell them that,” Jimin says, and he slips his hand into Hoseok’s hand as they walk, the street they’re on teeming with activity despite the late hour thanks to the bars lining it. “Public safety, and all that.”

Hoseok pretends to pout, and Jimin leans in to steal a kiss from him.

They’re both smiling when they reach the building, and Jimin leads him to the basement where the alley is.

They quickly discover that they’re equally terrible at bowling, much like basketball.

Jimin ends up falling on the dirty floor laughing twice at particularly terrible attempts to throw the ball, and Hoseok decides to forego any semblance of trying to strike the pins in favor of giving his best dramatic walks to the alley line. 

They don’t break a hundred, but it hardly matters.

Hoseok is surprisingly the one who suggests they go to a bar after, and he orders a strawberry daiquiri. Jimin asks for a gin and tonic, and then the two of them settle down at the end of the counter, the lighting dim but the noise not too loud. Their knees brush when Jimin turns to angle his body toward Hoseok, both of them riding the high of losing so magnificently, and Jimin thinks he could very much get used to this.

He tells Hoseok as much as they leave the bar, busses and subways both long stopped running as they head toward a busier street to find a taxi. 

Hoseok pushes his hair back with his left hand, the right currently wrapped around Jimin’s. “Could you?” Hoseok asks, and he looks straight ahead rather than at Jimin.

“Yes,” Jimin says honestly. He tugs Hoseok to a stop under a florist’s shop, the windows dark. “I thought about it a lot over the last few days, hyung. And did some research.”

Hoseok’s eyes widen slightly. “You researched?”

“Of course I did.” Jimin winces slightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t know much about the ace spectrum when you brought it up Wednesday. But when I got home I did some reading. And you’re… you’re sex-repulsed ace, I think?”

Hoseok nods, and even though his face is in shadows, Jimin thinks that he can see some of the surprise clinging to his features, the slight part to his lips.

“So,” Jimin says, “you’re not sexually attracted to me, and sex itself isn’t something you want or enjoy, and if we keep seeing each other, it would continue to be that way, no matter how close our relationship is. Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok answers. “To be clear, I do think you’re hot. I’m just happy to appreciate how fucking hot you are without any actual fucking.”

That startles a laugh out of Jimin, and, because it’s Hoseok, Jimin feels himself blushing and is incredibly glad that it’s dark. “I think you’re really hot, too, hyung. And I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t thought about you in that way before, but now that I know what you want, I’m really okay with it never becoming a reality.”

Hoseok’s face is more open than it’s been before for their conversations about feelings, his eyes round and his voice quiet as he asks, “How do you know that?”

“Because there are other things that I’d rather become a reality,” Jimin says honestly. “Things like… buying couple rings. Cuddling with you. Waking up next to you in the morning. Kissing you.” Maybe having you suck bruises into my neck if you’d be okay with that, Jimin thinks, but that’s a conversation for another time. “Choreographing with you, still, too,” Jimin laughs and finds that his own voice is slightly shaky. “Losing at games and talking over dinner and being with you.”

“Shit,” Hoseok says, and he uses his free hand to wipe at his cheeks, his eyes shining wetly. “I didn’t mean to start crying.”

Jimin sniffs. “You’re making me cry,” he complains, and he lets go of Hoseok’s hand to hug him instead, their arms wrapping around each other.

Hoseok rocks them back and forth slightly, streetlight reflecting in the flower shop window over his shoulder. “I want that,” Hoseok says, his cheek pressed to Jimin’s hair. “I want all of that too, Jimin-ah.”

“Good,” Jimin says, burying his face in Hoseok’s neck, content to let the moment stretch between them, warmth in the night, something delicate and new and careful.

When they step apart, Hoseok kisses Jimin’s forehead, his lips soft. 

Jimin likes him so, so much.

“Let’s make that a reality, then,” Hoseok says.

---

Jimin realizes after Saturday night that Hoseok had been carefully holding him at a distance before.

It’s not like Hoseok suddenly tells Jimin everything about himself, but walls that Jimin didn’t even know were in place come down.

He kisses Jimin more often, flirts back with greater flourish, touches Jimin’s waist or his neck or trails his fingers over the back of Jimin’s wrist.

Jimin thrives under it all, reciprocates everything Hoseok offers with his head light and his heart full.

And with Hoseok’s trust comes more conversations, whether over coffee or at the studio or over dinner or as they walk around the park near Jimin’s university campus.

Jimin learns bits and pieces of Hoseok’s past experiences with dating, about years Hoseok spent trying to make himself to like sex, of an ex-girlfriend leaving him with cruel words, of the most recent ex-boyfriend pushing and pushing until Hoseok ended things.

They talk more honestly about other things, too. About Jimin’s fears that he disappointed his parents by dropping his chemistry double major last year, about Jimin’s habit of working himself into the ground practicing because perfection is unattainable. About how Hoseok will never stop feeling indebted to his mother for how much she worked so he could even just take dance classes as a kid, about how Hoseok has never learned how to say he’s sad when he’s feeling it.

And Hoseok introduces Jimin to his friends, too. Namjoon is a familiar face from the times he’s dropped by the studio, Hoseok’s former roommate from university, and Seokjin, Namjoon’s boyfriend, a name that comes up often in Hoseok’s more wild stories.

They get dinner with Namjoon and Seokjin one night, a double date that leaves Jimin nearly in tears from how hard he’s laughing.

“He’s my new favorite, Hoseokie,” Seokjin declares as he pours another round of soju, kindly skipping over Hoseok’s shot glass. 

“Jimin should be everyone’s favorite,” Hoseok teases.

Jimin is sure his face is tomato-red, and he busies himself tossing back his shot.

“Hoseok is really happy with you,” Namjoon says with a smile when Seokjin and Hoseok go to fill up their side dish bowls at the self-serve station. 

“I’m really happy with him, too,” Jimin answers, and the heat in his cheeks lingers, but really, it’s nothing compared to the warmth in his chest.

---

“Is that good?” Hoseok asks against Jimin’s lips.

Jimin is breathing quickly, his chest rising and falling, pulse thrumming. Very, very , good. “Yeah,” he whispers.

They’re in a room in the studio, both of them still a little bit sweaty from practice, but they finished choreographing a piece for their advanced class and Jimin had leaned in to kiss Hoseok and it somehow evolved into Jimin with his back pressed to the wall beside the mirrors, Hoseok sucking at his bottom lip. 

“Hyung,” Jimin gasps when Hoseok runs his lips along his jaw, then down his throat. “You like kissing hard?”

“I like it a lot,” Hoseok says before gently biting at where the collar Jimin’s shirt has been stretched, exposing the juncture of where his neck meets his shoulder. “Like everything about kissing ‘cept tongue.”

Jimin’s head flies back, smacking a little too hard against the wall when Hoseok grazes his teeth back up the column of his throat. “I like hickeys,” Jimin breathes. 

“Me too,” Hoseok says, and when Jimin opens his eyes Hoseok is smirking at him, what the actual fuck, he’s so hot. Jimin’s brain short circuits. “Want one?”

“Yes. Yes, hyung, please .”

Hoseok is everywhere around him, body radiating heat from dance, as he presses against Jimin. 

Jimin goes still, freezing up completely. 

Hoseok immediately drops his hands from where he had them placed on either side of Jimin’s head on the wall. “Jimin?”

“Sorry,” Jimin whispers, and he looks up at the ceiling rather than at Hoseok. “You know. I’m, um.”

“Hard?” Hoseok provides.

Jimin winces. Hoseok then could definitely feel him with their bodies pressed so closely together. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to stop?” Hoseok asks, and he carefully steps back just enough that his upper thigh is no longer brushing against Jimin’s rather obvious hard-on.

“Um,” Jimin says. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”

Hoseok blinks. “That you’re turned on?”

“Yeah.” Fortunately with the combination of the embarrassment and the lack of Hoseok’s mouth on his neck, Jimin thinks it won’t be a point of discussion for this exact moment. 

The conversation, however, is probably a good one to have.

“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” Hoseok says after a moment, and Jimin manages to make eye contact with him again. “Jimin-ah,” he adds, and he gently cups Jimin’s cheeks. “Please don’t ever feel bad about feeling what you feel.”

“I’m not,” Jimin assures him quickly, since this at least is something they’ve talked about before, and not one of Jimin’s concerns. “I just didn’t know if it was weird for you to honest to God feel my dick against your leg.”

Hoseok blinks at him.

Jimin blinks back.

Hoseok snorts loudly. “Honest to God feel your dick,” he repeats.

“Hyung,” Jimin whines, and he drags a sweaty palm over his equally sweaty face. He needs a shower. 

“Sorry, sorry.” Hoseok pecks his nose when Jimin lets his hand drop back to his side. “I really do think I’m okay with it. Honestly, as long as you’re not asking me to do something about it. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with it if neither of us had our pants on- actually, no, I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable with that- but this is fine.”

Jimin exhales slowly. “Okay.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Jimin says, nodding. “So. Making out, good. Tongue, bad. Hickeys, good. Pants stay on always.”

“Pants stay on in situations that could otherwise feel too sexual for me. But you’ll probably have to take them off for other life purposes, you know, Jiminie. Personal hygiene, taking a-”

“That’s what I meant.” Jimin rolls his eyes and Hoseok snickers, and Jimin leans in to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “I want to shower though, I’m pretty sure I’m melting into a puddle of sweat.”

“Gross,” Hoseok says, pulling a face as he steps back again.

“Tell me I’m still pretty,” Jimin pouts.

“The prettiest,” Hoseok says. “But you do need a shower. Come on.”

Jimin squawks, affronted, but still makes Hoseok hold his sweaty hand on the way to the locker room. 

---

“Nice,” Jeongguk comments as Jimin flops down on the couch beside him and Taehyung, textbooks and laptops and stray notes surrounding them.

“Hm?”

“Nice hickeys,” Jeongguk clarifies, eyeing Jimin’s neck with a slight smirk on his face.

Jimin throws a pillow at him. 

---

“You’re shorter than I expected.”

Jimin, standing in his own kitchen, stares down Min Yoongi. 

Yoongi raises an eyebrow.

Beyond the kitchen, Jeongguk and Seokjin’s raised voices soar above the murmuring of the others. Jimin and Hoseok’s friends have gotten along surprisingly well, and now, nearly six months since Jimin stumbled his way through his coffee Wednesday confession, Taehyung and Namjoon hang out with each other at least once a week, and Seokjin and Jeongguk have started going to the gym together, though they’re currently yelling at each other over a game of Mario Kart.

Jimin left to grab another beer from the refrigerator, and Yoongi apparently decided he wanted one, too. 

Yoongi’s been a little quiet for most of the night, laughing along at jokes and looking mostly just really tired. He’s Hoseok’s best friend, his Taehyung, in Jimin’s mind, but he’s only in Korea for a week before he flies back out to his job producing in the states.

And he just followed Jimin into the kitchen and called him short- in his very own apartment, no less.

“You’re shorter than I expected, too,” Jimin answers, his eyes narrowing.

Yoongi, surprisingly, grins, gummy and wide. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

Jimin refuses to admit that he does as well. 

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Yoongi says, and he leans against the counter. “Hoseok doesn’t always talk about personal things a lot, so I knew it was serious when he started bringing you up over video call.”

Jimin relaxes slightly, nodding. “I’m really glad I got to meet you while you’re visiting this time.”

Yoongi gives him a small, wry smile, his cheeks rounding. “I had a talk planned and everything about you treating him well after everything he’s been through with exes, you know.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jimin admits, and he glances at the doorway to the main room, Seokjin and Jeongguk still shouting at each other. “I think it took a bit before hyung started trusting me not to turn into them.”

Yoongi hums quietly. “He said once that it’s a little delicate sometimes.”

Jimin nods. “Yeah. Delicate. I don’t think we’re worried about losing what we have anymore, but it’s a lot of talking sometimes. A lot of listening. Like any relationship, I guess. But I’ve never had anything that I’ve cared about so much before. I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything.”

Yoongi’s sleepy eyes turn gentle. “Hoseok deserves someone who loves him as much as you do.”

Jimin feels himself warm, though his eyes start to prickle. 

“And honestly,” Yoongi continues, smile softening, “you seem like you deserve a lot of love, too, Jimin.”

“Oh,” Jimin says, and his throat feels a little tight. “Thank you.”

Yoongi shifts forward, putting a hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just- I love him.” Jimin hurriedly blinks away tears, laughing a little at himself with the words. He loves Hoseok. Of course he does.

Yoongi stares at him blankly. “Yeah?”

“We haven’t said it yet,” Jimin says, and he wipes his cheeks with his sleeve. “But I do love him. So much.”

“I can tell,” Yoongi says, sounding almost amused as he squeezes Jimin’s shoulder gently. “I’m happy for you. Now let’s bring back some beers to the main room, yeah?”

---

Jimin wakes up to sunshine streaming through the window, Hoseok’s arm thrown over his waist.

He wakes up warm. He wakes up content, watching Hoseok as he sleeps, the beautiful slope of his nose and the caress of his lashes on his cheek.

Their friends had left the apartment late the night before, and Jimin and Hoseok had fallen into Jimin’s bed after cleaning- had fallen asleep right after that. 

Jimin’s conversation with Yoongi is prodding gently at Jimin’s heart, and really, Jimin has known for months now that he loves Hoseok.

It’s not a particularly loud realization to have. It’s quiet and gentle, bright and clear, and Jimin rolls a little bit closer to Hoseok and presses a kiss to the corner of Hoseok’s mouth.

“I love you, hyung,” Jimin whispers. 

Hoseok stirs, squinting across the pillow at Jimin in all his puffy-eyed morning glory. 

“Love you,” Jimin says again. 

Hoseok’s lips lift into a sleepy smile. “I love you, too.”

Jimin grins and ducks forward, burying his face in Hoseok’s sleep shirt. “Good.”

Hoseok’s chest shakes when he laughs, and he pulls Jimin into his arms, tucking him under his chin. “Good.”