Archive of Our Own

Jungkook fiddles with his ring-filled hands in his lap, his knee jostling safely under the table as a torturing silence dances around him. 

Despite the buzz of the restaurant, it seems to stop as soon as it gets to his table, leaving nothing but the sound of Jungkook clearing his throat and his date’s fork hitting the plate. He should probably say something, anything really, to chase it away since the silence is getting more and more uncomfortable with each minute that passes by. He thinks his date must be feeling the same, too, when he steals a glance at him, seeing how he’s looking everywhere but at him as he takes a sip of his wine.

So Jungkook clears his throat again, gaining his date’s attention. He tries to ignore the way his stomach twists in nervousness in favour of speaking.

“Um, h-how is your food?” 

Jungkook thinks that’s an acceptable conversation starter. They’re in a restaurant, eating, and even though Jungkook doesn’t really like lobster, he can still have an interest in what he thinks of it. Maybe he’ll ask how his food is in return, and Jungkook can tell him his chicken pasta was really good, but he does prefer his own that he makes at home. After that, his date could ask what he likes to cook at home, and Jungkook could go into that and maybe tell him about his job and so on. Then maybe the conversation will flow more easily, and this date will not be a lost cause after all. 

Jungkook has a spark of hope in his chest as he waits for his date to answer, but he doesn’t say anything he hoped for.

He just shrugs in response and says, “It’s alright.”

And that’s it.

No follow-up questions, no interest, not even a smile. He just looks bored, like he can’t wait to make up an excuse to get the hell out of here. Jungkook deflates, taking a bite of his pasta and grieving the conversation he planned out in his head. 

The silence returns instantly, and Jungkook’s knee continues to jolt more violently. He takes another glance at his date, Haneul, who, according to his Tinder profile, was born in America but moved to Korea for work five years ago. He seemed interested in their texts, and Jungkook thought it would be cool to get to know someone who wasn’t born here, but this isn’t going the way he thought it would.

If he’s being honest, though, he should have known. He’s never listening to Yoongi again. Tinder was a terrible idea.

“Hey, so,” Jungkook looks up from his food, surprised Haneul was the one to start the conversation this time. For a second, that inkling of hope comes back to bubble at the pit of his stomach, but it disappears pretty quickly as he continues. “I kinda have an early morning tomorrow, so I think I’m going to head out.”

Jungkook smiles politely, or at least tries to, but he knows it’s probably coming off as more of a grimace. 

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I’ll just grab the check.”

Jungkook should have seen this coming, should have known he would somehow fuck this date up even more, but he was just so focused on getting out of this restaurant as fast as possible that he couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. 

As soon as he turned around to spot a waiter, his elbow hit his glass and sent it flying into his date’s lap. Haneul gasped, looking down at the fresh red stain on his pants. Jungkook gasped along with him, grabbing a napkin to fix his mistake, but his hands somehow punched his date right in the nose in the process. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised by the crack sound since he has been going to the gym more, but he is anyway. 

After that, everything just gets worse. 

There’s so much blood dripping from Hanuel’s nose, mixing with the red wine staining his clothes as he groans in pain. Then there’s the waiter who comes running to help but slips on the wine that’s on the floor, sending him to the ground. Then, when Jungkook bends down to check if he’s okay, his leg bumps into the table and even more drink and food fall. It was chaos to say the least, and it didn’t end until Jungkook stopped trying to help and stood still. 

He looked around at his mess, cheeks flushed and his chest tight, until eventually he made eye contact with Haneul. He gives him an apologetic smile, but he only gets an annoyed squint back. 

Jungkook wasn’t surprised to see he was unmatched with him on Tinder when he returned home that night. 

_______

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

Jungkook tells him it was, replaying his date from last night over and over again in his head like a broken record, but his voice comes out muffled and barely audible due to him trying to suffocate himself in his pillow. 

Yoongi sighs and turns Jungkook over so he can let himself breathe. 

“Repeat that, please.”

“I said it was that bad. I broke the man’s nose.”

Yoongi hums but doesn’t say anything, which makes Jungkook feel worse. He’s about to get back to suffocating himself, but Yoongi stops him.

“Look, everyone has bad dates. It comes with the territory. You just gotta get back out there.”

Jungkook scoffs, not believing what his best friend is telling him. Did he not just hear what he said? 

“Are you crazy? I'm never doing that again. I told you I'm bad luck.”

“Not this again,” Yoongi says with a groan, rolling his eyes as he reaches for his phone that’s been pinging since he came over. It’s probably Namjoon. Jungkook feels a rush of jealousy go through him. “You’re not bad luck.”

“I am. It’s safer for everyone if I just lock myself in my house and never go outside.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic.”

Jungkook sighs, following the lines of the artwork on the ceiling that he did when he first moved into the apartment. It was an idea he got when he was drunk and just came back from clubbing with Yoongi, deciding it would be cool to paint his ceiling. He broke his leg that day, too, trying to climb down the ladder. Yoongi said it was because he was drunk and dumb and shouldn’t be climbing ladders. Which is fair, but Jungkook thinks it was mainly because of the bad luck that’s been following him around for as long as he can remember.

It started with him just being labelled as clumsy. When he was a kid, he was always tripping and falling, and making a mess of things.

Clumsy, ungraceful, two left feet; he’s heard it all growing up, but he thought he would grow out of it. That when he gets older, he wouldn't be tripping on sidewalks or bumping into people constantly. 

Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the case. In fact, it got worse, and Jungkook started realising that bad events seemed to follow him everywhere. It rained every time he stepped outside and forgot an umbrella, he missed his train at least once a day, his phone died whenever he needed it the most, and he could go on. 

It didn’t take long for Jungkook to label himself as having bad luck, even though Yoongi thinks it’s bullshit.

But what else could he call it? It’s always been like this, and he doesn’t see an end any time soon. 

“It’s easier for you to say all this anyway,” Jungkook starts, rubbing his tired eyes. “You have Namjoon.”

Yoongi snorts. He’s not sure if it was what he said or if it’s from whatever text he’s currently replying to. He doesn’t ask.

“I don’t have Namjoon. We’re just friends.”

“Tell that to the smile on your face.” 

Instantly, Yoongi tries to wipe the wide grin off his face, but Jungkook isn't an idiot. He knows something is happening between them, and while he’s happy for his best friend, of course, there's also a part of him that’s jealous. Really fucking jealous. 

He’s never been good at relationships or getting people to stay, and even though he’s used to the loneliness constantly eating him whole, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t crave it sometimes. When he’s home alone, icing a new bruise he got that day, he wouldn’t mind having someone there with him. He wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to at night, who would stay despite the bad shit that surrounds him. He just wants someone who would love him anyway, through thick and thin, bad luck and good luck, they’ll always be there. It’s hard to find someone like that, and it doesn’t help that he's awkward as hell. 

Yoongi finally puts his phone away and looks at Jungkook, his eyes filled with that pity Jungkook hates so much. Even though Yoongi doesn’t want to admit it, Jungkook knows he’s right. He knows something is going on with him, and who would want to be with that? 

Jungkook wouldn’t.

“Look, Jungkook, you’re my best friend, and I just want what’s best for you. It’s not healthy that you lock yourself in your house all the time. It’s time to get out, to put yourself out there. You won’t meet anyone if you don’t try.” 

“I tried, and it didn’t work.”

Yoongi sighs but doesn’t argue with him, knowing Jungkook can be stubborn when he wants to be. They change the subject quickly to something lighter and don’t give Jungkook anxiety. 

The truth is, he’s scared. He wants to try, wants to meet someone, wants someone like how Yoongi has Namjon, but it’s scary. Rejection, abandonment, it’s all so scary that Jungkook thinks it's safer not to even try in the first place. Plus, who really wants to be with someone like him? 

Jungkook is better alone anyway, despite how much it hurts; being alone is the only way.

______

Jungkook is having a bad day, which isn’t anything new, but he swears it’s worse than normal. 

It started okay.

He had a full night's sleep, with no waking up in the middle of the night, which is always a win. So when he fluttered his eyes open to be met with the soft light through his curtains, he felt refreshed and thought his day just might go okay for him.

Key word, thought.

Mistake number one: Don't let your guard down.

After lazing around the house and taking Bam out for a walk, his phone pinged around lunch time, letting him know he got a new catering order for a party happening next weekend.

Life is easier when he cooks, and he could use a distraction from the failure that was his Tinder date, so he’s excited when he sees it comes through. 

Cooking has been his lifeline since he was in middle school. He loved it, from baking cookies for a school bake sale to helping his mother around the kitchen for dinner. When his father left, helping his mother cook dinner became their own way of comforting each other. Neither is good with words, neither wanting to say out loud that his father cheated on his mother and left to be with her, leaving his family behind. So they cooked instead, and even though talking probably would be a healthier coping mechanism, cooking felt like the next best thing. So that’s how it’s always been. He cooked when he was mad, when he was sad, when he was happy, when he just needed to have his hands doing something; he just cooked. Being in the kitchen, creating something delicious, was all he had most of the time. 

So he took his passion and talent, and created his own business with it –  JK’s Kitchen.

It’s a small catering business that works right out of Jungkook’s own Kitchen, from finger food to baked goods, Jungkook can do it all for an affordable price.

It just started as a hobby, something he did when he had free time from his main job, but then somehow it grew big enough that he was able to quit his boring office job and stay home and just cook. When he’s in the kitchen, he doesn’t have bad luck either. When he’s in the kitchen, he’s not a clutz, or he’s not breaking anything.

 He's just Jungkook. 

Therefore, getting a new order was another reason he thought this day would be a good one. Another mistake.

He got started on it, letting music play through his phone fill the room as he lightly hummed along, but he soon realised he was out of eggs. The chicken was already in the oven and he had about – he checked the time – 30 minutes before it was done. So with the oven on low, and throwing on the first pair of shoes he saw near the door, he quickly made a run to the store. 

And that was his biggest mistake – going outside. 

When he arrived at the store, he tripped twice trying to get inside, quickly realising he had picked up the shoes that were way too small for him. He meant to throw them away, but he’s been too lazy to do so. Then, when he got in the store and made his way to the eggs, he saw his Tinder date make his way to the same aisle, who took one glance at him and made a run for it. Then once he got the eggs, and went to pay, he realised he had forgotten his wallet at home and had to do the walk of shame to put the eggs back. The walk outside consisted of one more trip before he got to his car and saw the ticket on his windshield. 

“For fuck sakes,” is all he could say as he reached to grab it.

He already has a pile getting started inside the glove compartment; he really didn’t need to add to it. He opens the car to throw the ticket, along with his phone and his key, in the passenger seat, but just before he could throw himself into the vehicle, he suddenly feels something tugging on the bottom of his sweatpants. 

Looking down, he sees a small dog chewing on the fabric, growling as if Jungkook has personally offended him somehow. The chef sighs, already over this day despite it only being halfway through.

“Come on, dog, get off.” He grunts, shaking his leg to get the animal off him, but it doesn’t help much. In fact, it only makes him hold on tighter. “Let g-!”

“Tannie, No! Let go right now.” 

A sudden voice appears from across from him, warm and soft and deep in ways Jungkook doesn’t even know the words to describe. And when he glances up to see where it’s coming from, Jungkook’s ability to breathe escapes him.

The man jogging towards him is unfairly beautiful, like stupidly beautiful. 

He has curly dark hair that moves freely in the wind as he runs over with wide brown eyes and flushed cheeks. Jungkook barely even has time to process the sharp angles of his face or the boxy smile forming on his lips before the dog finally releases Jungkook’s sweatpants and runs to his owner. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” the stranger says breathlessly, scooping the tiny dog into his arms. “He hates sweatpants for some reason; he does it to me, too.”

Jungkook blinks at him, words not really forming. He’s too busy staring, admiring, but then when he sees the stranger furrow his brows, he realises he’s being weird. 

He clears his throat. “I-It’s okay. I didn’t even like these pants anyway.”

That’s a lie. These are his go-to comfort pants, and as he looks down, he can see a very obvious tear near his ankle. 

The stranger notices too and winces. “Tannie, you are literally so embarrassing.”

The dog barks, almost as if he’s answering back, and Jungkook can’t help but snort out a chuckle before he can stop himself.

The stranger smiles.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you?”

“No, it’s okay, really. This is not even the worst thing that’s happened to me today.”

That gets him interested. The stranger shifts his dog in his arms and leans against Jungkook’s car like they’ve known each other forever already.

“What’s been the worst thing?”

Jungkook doesn’t know why he tells a stranger all his bad luck events of the day, not sure why he even asked to know, but something about this man feels easy, warm, and it’s hard to stop once he’s started. He even tells him about his date, because at one point, he seems not to believe him when he says he’s bad luck.

By the end of it, the stranger is laughing so hard he nearly drops his dog. 

Jungkook stares at him, pretending to be offended. “You’re really laughing at my suffering.”

“I’m sorry, but,” He lets out another laugh. “The picture in my head of you punching that guy is hilarious.”

“Well, he didn’t find it hilarious.”

Taehyung laughs again, and weirdly enough, Jungkook finds himself laughing too. 

“I’m Taehyung by the way.”

“Jungkook.”

“Well, Jungkook,” Taehyung says, adjusting Tannie under one arm before offering his free hand. “I personally think your life sounds very entertaining.”

Jungkook shakes his hand, ignoring the thought of how soft they are. 

“Most people would use the word horrifying.”

Taehying shakes his head, disagreeing. “Nah, endearing fits better.”

Jungkook’s stomach flips. 

Somehow, against all odds, Taehyung asks for his number before he leaves. He’s not sure why, or what part of him being bad luck he didn’t hear, but Jungkook isn’t complaining and gives it to him.

Even when they wave goodbye, and Jungkook turns to realise he’s locked his keys in the car, he can’t even get mad, because maybe his luck just might be turning around.

________

Their first date felt like it had almost ended before it even began. 

Jungkook is already ten minutes late because he got on the wrong bus, and then, to make it worse, he got off at the wrong stop while trying to fix it. By the time he reaches the cafe Taehyung picked, he’s damp from unexpected rain (of course forgetting his umbrella again), and he’s out of breath. 

He mentally prepares himself for Taehyung to no longer be there, but to his surprise, he is. 

When he sees him at a table by the window, reading a book with the sun shining through the rain clouds that coincidentally stopped once Jungkook walked inside, he doesn’t even care that he’s wet from the rain, or that he accidentally stubs his toe on the way over to his table.

When Taehyung looks up at him and breaks into the prettiest smile Jungkook’s ever seen, all that doesn't seem to matter anymore.

“You finally made it.”

Jungkook smiles sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m sorry, I caught the wrong bus, and then it started raining and…yeah.”

“Well, you’re here now.”

Jungkook smiles and sits down. The second he does, his sleeve catches the edge of the table and nearly knocks over Taehyung’s iced coffee, which he must have ordered when he first got here. Both of them stare at it wobbling dangerously before Jungkook catches it at the last second. 

“Sorry.”

Taehyung laughs a bit. “Do you want one? 

“Yeah, yes. Thank you.”

The rest of the date went well after that. Jungkook relaxes enough to talk about cooking, and Taehyung listens like everything he says is important. He tells Jungkook about his job in marketing, about Tannie and how he secretly loves reality TV. 

Jungkook couldn’t help the feeling of warmth flow through his body whenever Taehyung talked, smiled, or laughed. It made Jungkook feel something he didn’t think he would feel so fast. It makes him want to keep feeling it, to hold on to this as long as he can before he messes this up, makes him ask Taehyung on a second date. 

When they leave the cafe together, Taehyung gently takes Jungkook’s sleeve and moves him to the side before he can walk directly into the street pole. 

“Good thing you have me,” Taehyung says jokingly.

And Jungkook couldn’t agree more.

________

Their second date is at Jungkook’s apartment. 

Taehyung insists he wants to see JK’s Kitchen in action, claiming it's unfair that Jungkook talks about his food so much but he hasn’t tasted any yet.

“Your expectations are way too high,” Jungkook mutters while tying his apron. 

Taehyung spirals across the counter dramatically. “I believe in you, chef.”

Jungkok tries not to smile at that. 

Everything actually goes well at first. Suspiciously well, which Jungkook should have taken as a sign that something was going to happen.

Taehyung helps chop vegetables while stealing pieces every five seconds, bumping their shoulders together whenever Jungkook gets too focused. Music hums softly from Jungkook’s speaker, and for once, his apartment doesn’t feel so empty or lonely.

Then Jungkook reaches for the flour and somehow knocks the entire bag off the counter.

It explodes everywhere, and Jungkook just freezes in horror.

Taehyung stares at him for one second before dissolving into loud, breathless laughter. He doesn’t seem mad that there’s flour on his pants or that he just ruined their date (well, in his mind it feels ruined). He just giggles and smiles, and it makes Jungkook feel a bit lighter.

“There’s flour in your hair,” he giggles, walking up to him and shaking the flour off his hair, even brushing it off Jungkook’s cheek carefully with his thumb. He’s so close, Jungkook can smell his shampoo and notice how soft and inviting his lips look this close up.

Jungkook shakes the thought out of his head. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’ll help you clean it up.”

Jungkook smiles softly, his stomach in knots, but the good kind. The kind that's letting him know that Taehyung is special. 

“Okay.”

For a minute, Jungkook thinks about kissing him. He’s already so close, and he’s looking at him as if he wants to kiss him. He hasn’t even moved away yet; maybe he’s waiting for Jungkook to make a move. 

And he’s about to, leaning in slightly, forgetting how to breathe for a second when Taehyung looks down at his lips like he wants it just as bad. 

But then, because his life hates him, the smoke alarm suddenly goes off behind them, and they both jump apart. 

“Fuck, my chicken.”

Taehyung bursts out laughing as Jungkook rushes to get rid of the smoke coming from what was their dinner. He’s usually not like this when he cooks, but Taehyung has him all messed up.

And when he looks over to him, giggling and smiling, he can’t help but join in.

He has him all messed up in the best way possible.

_______

Their third date is technically a disaster.

Taehyung wants to go ice skating, which Jungkook tried to warn the elder that it was a bad idea. Jungkook can barely keep up straight when just walking; he's pretty sure that it would be way worse and more dangerous on ice. 

He doesn't listen, saying he’s always wanted to go, and how is Jungkook supposed to say no to that face?

However,  Jungkook was right.

Within fifteen minutes on the ice, Jungkook falls four times, takes Taehyung down with him twice, and accidentally crashes into a small child hard enough that both of them spin out.

The kid is thankfully fine.

“I’m so sorry,” he says for the hundredth time, mortified as Taehyung laughs against his shoulder.

“You apologise too much.”

“I almost killed a ten-year-old.”

“He’s fine.”

Jungkook glares while Taehyung grins.

Then Taehyung reaches over and takes his hand properly for the first time that night, his warm fingers slotting between Jungkook’s instantly. His heart stutters.

“Careful,” Taehyung says teasingly as they skate slowly together. “If you fall now, you’re taking me down with you.”

Jungkook looks at their joined hands and then at Taehyung’s soft smile. It should scare him how quickly he’s falling for Taehyung, how much he makes him feel only after three dates. It should scare him, but for now, it doesn’t. Taehyung makes him feel safe, seen, and even with all the bad luck around him, he stays. 

Even when Jungkook’s skate catches on something, and he slips instantly, he stays.

“Oh shit—”

Taehyung yelps as Jungkook grabs him on reflex, both of them going down hard onto the ice in a tangled mess of limbs and jackets. For one horrible second, Jungkook prepares for impact number, what is it, fifty-seven of the night.

Instead, he lands half on top of Taehyung, chest to chest. And when he finally opens his eyes, their faces are so close he’s scared to breathe. They are so close in fact, Jungkook can see Taehyung’s flushed cheeks, the little mole on his nose, the way his eyes flicker down to Jungkook’s mouth before darting back up again.

“I’m sorry, are you okay?”

Taehyung nods, no signs of anger on his face. “I’m okay.”

A pause, then;

“You know,” he murmurs, voice quieter beneath the distant sounds of the rink. He seems nervous in a way Jungkook hasn’t seen in him before. “Most people would’ve stopped going on dates with you after tonight.”

Jungkook snorts weakly. “Most people would’ve stopped after the first date.”

“Good thing I’m not most people.”

And then, before Jungkook can even react or reply, Taehyung leans in and kisses him.

The kiss is soft, careful even. It's cold noses and shaky breaths and Taehyung’s gloved hand cupping the side of Jungkook’s face like he’s something precious instead of clumsy and disastrous and unlucky. Jungkook can’t help but melt into it.

And for once, nothing goes wrong.

No one falls. Nothing breaks. The world doesn’t end around him.

It’s just him and Taehyung.

It's Perfect.

Taehyung pulls back slowly, smiling so brightly that Jungkook thinks he might actually pass out. And he just couldn’t help saying the words that came next.

“I like you. A lot.”

Taehyung smiles brightly as ever. “I like you too.”

And thankfully, his bad luck leaves him alone for the rest of the night.

_______

Dating Taehyung doesn’t magically fix Jungkook’s bad luck. 

Not even in the slightest.

He still trips over nothing, still drops things constantly, and still gets caught in the rain every single time he forgets an umbrella.

One time, he accidentally smacked himself in the face with a cabinet door while he was meeting Taehyung's friends for the first time. Jimin, Hoseok and Seokjin all thought it was hilarious, and it still gets brought up at times. Another time, he burned an entire tray of cookies because the power went out mid-bake. He's also accidentally smacked Taehyung in the nose when they slept together for the first time. It was not the sexy mood he was going for.

But Taehyung never gets annoyed, never gets angry either. If anything, he seems fond of it for reasons Jungkook doesn’t understand.

When Jungkook spills coffee all over himself, Taehyung just laughs softly while dabbing at his shirt with napkins.

When Jungkook slips on ice outside his apartment, Taehyung nearly falls trying to catch him, and both of them end up in a heap on the sidewalk.

Taehyung is just there, despite his bad luck. 

And he loves him for it.

“You know,” Jungkook mumbles one night from where he’s curled into Taehyung’s side, a year of them being together already passed, “I don’t think I’m bad luck anymore.

Taehyung hums sleepily. “Really?”

“I think I'm the luckiest person in the world to have you in my life.”

Taehyung lifts his head just enough to look at him, eyes soft in the dim light.

“I love you,” he says quietly, kissing him softly on the lips.

“I love you too.”

And for the first time in Jungkook’s life, he truly believes his luck isn’t all bad after all.