Chapter Text
“JK”
“JK”
“JK"
The crowd’s cheers were music to the player wearing number eight. A smug smile spread across his face as the ball danced across the court. He spread his feet apart. Heard the squeak of sneakers as the opposing players tried to close in. Bent his knees.
“This one’s yours, Jeonggukie!” Came from his best friend’s deep voice.
He locked his eyes on the hoop, stretched his arms out, flicked his wrist with precision, and shot.
Three points for Seoul National University.
The students’ chorus drowned out the opposing crowd. They were home, after all. They had to win.
“Wouldn’t expect anything less from the golden boy,” Yoongi pointed at the star of the night before thumping his chest twice, carrying the kind of pride only a team captain and a friend could have.
“Fuck, Jeongguk, you killed them!” He lost his balance when Taehyung threw a half-hug around him. His best friend ran his fingers through the damp strands brushing the nape of his neck, like some kind of reward for the basket.
“And you? Damn, you blocked everyone.” He answered with a huge grin, hearbeat goint to his ears from the victory.
From behind, he felt someone tugging at the hem of his shirt.
“Look,” Taehyung tilted his head toward a short girl with long black hair, wearing tight jeans that hugged her body.
The smile on her lips was shy, but Jeongguk knew she had other intentions. Somin proved it the second she grabbed him by the collar of his basketball jersey and crushed their lips together in a heated kiss as they stepped into the empty locker room.
“You played so well, oppa,” her overly sweet voice came out breathless, her floral perfume suffocating Jeongguk’s senses. One of her fingers traced the silver chain that always hung around the player’s neck.
“Yeah? And what does your oppa get as a reward?” He held her delicate hand, already knowing the answer she’d give.
˚. ᵎᵎ
“And then I pinned her hands and kept pounding my—”
“Jeongguk, that’s enough for today, ugh, I’m gonna throw up.” Jimin made a disgusted face and covered his mouth.
“Ggukie, you know Jimin can’t handle these stories,” Taehyung frowned and gave a weird smile.
Jeongguk raised one eyebrow, silently questioning Taehyung’s reaction. He knew damn well his friend loved these stories. Taehyung had never minded his monologues about sex — in fact, he always joined in and shared his own. Ignoring both comments, Jeongguk kept rambling.
“Hyung, she got obsessed with my chain, can you believe it? Kept tugging on it or moaning whenever it hit her face.” Jeongguk gestured excited while stuffing a slice of pizza into his mouth. He was speaking way too loudly for someone sitting in a café — anyone walking by would immediately know the conversation was about one of the most popular girls on campus.
“What’s girls’ obsession with that thing anyway? Never got it.” Taehyung pointed at the necklace resting against the other’s chest.
“Straight guys really only have one topic, huh? Jesus…” Jimin muttered in disdain, turning his head away to hide his eye roll.
“I guees they're just horny, man, I don't know.” Jeongguk shrugged. He didn’t really get it either, but did he need to? Not when his only concern was a pair of tits under him.
“Remember when we—”
Before Taehyung could continue, the most disgusted person at the table suddenly stood up.
“Baby!” It sounded like a dramatic cry for help. “Save me, get me out of here!”
Way too dramatic for a dance student instead of a theater major.
Yoongi looked at the two athletes exchanging knowing smiles, then at his boyfriend glowing with pink hair and an expression of utter disgust, and understood immediately.
“You guys need to stop talking about women in front of Jimin.” He wrapped an arm around the slimmer waist. “Actually, in front of everyone.”
“Just lock yourselves in a room, throw away the key, and then you can talk about who’s sticking their dick in who.”
Jeongguk scoffed at his friend’s words.
Taehyung burst out laughing. “God, Jimin, stop being dramatic!”
“I’m leaving before I hear any more bullshit coming out of your mouths.” Jimin ruffled Taehyung’s hair, grabbed Yoongi’s arm, and run away of the conversation.
And that was why Taehyung was his best friend. Best friend, game partner, classmate, and dorm neighbor.
Taehyung was always down for a beer at ten at night or a practice session outside schedule. The two of them were the duo always showing up at parties looking for unknown mouths and romances that lasted forty-eight hours at most. And whenever they walked through the dorm doors wearing the university’s basketball jackets, they shined like they were carrying the trophy from the last game.
The two met during their first year of college. Jeongguk moved from Busan to Seoul carrying a black backpack and a brand-new pair of sneakers gifted by his parents. At the first practice, Taehyung walked up to him with a huge grin, pointing at the sneakers on his feet before blurting out, “Is it fate?”
Right then, Jeongguk knew the two of them were already friends.
The bigger shock was discovering Taehyung lived in the dorm room right next to his.
For an eighteen-year-old boy with no idea how a city that big worked, having someone like Taehyung going with him to classes, practices, and parties felt like winning the lottery. Whether he realized it or not, Taehyung had pulled him out of the bubble of shyness that had defined him so strongly in high school and helped shape him into who he was today.
Taehyung stood up, slinging his backpack over one shoulder, then leaned down to whisper in Jeongguk’s ear,“My room tonight?”
He smiled that way he always did whenever there was beer stocked in the fridge. The other mirrored the grin and looked up.
“Hell yeah!”
Long fingers ruffled Jeongguk’s hair, showing just how excited Taehyung was for the night.
“Professor Choi’s class is starting, get up, get up.”
He got shoved until he stood up, stuffing the rest of his pizza into his mouth while chugging the last of his soda — earning a disgusted look in return.
Jeongguk slung an arm over Taehyung’s shoulders and adjusted his backpack on one shoulder. He chewed loudly, fully aware of the disgust he caused.
“And you kiss people with that mouth?” Taehyung pointed at his stuffed cheeks.
“Not just kiss.”
Jeongguk wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Taehyung tried dodging the half-hug Jeongguk attempted to pull him into as they walked. Eventually he gave up, settling for smacking the back of the idiot’s head.
˚. ᵎᵎ
He knocked twice before punching in the code and walking in like Taehyung’s actual roommate.
Well, Jeongguk practically lived there anyway. At this point he stayed with Taehyung four days a week.
Not that everything was perfect, of course — there was that unfortunate incident where he’d walked in on his friend getting “help” down below, a girl between his legs while he wore nothing but an oversized Psyduck t-shirt. Every time Jeongguk saw him wearing it, those bulging cartoon eyes dragged him right back to the memory.
That was why he always made a point to knock first.
But Taehyung was full of surprises and on top of that, shameless.
“Dude, put some fucking clothes on!”
He walked in to find Taehyung sprawled across the couch, legs spread, only a towel covering him while his fingers scrolled through his phone at an obnoxiously loud volume.
“Hey, man.” Taehyung greeted, laying back completely and ignoring the stressed face in front of him. His wet black hair soaked the couch cushions and his abs flexed with the movement.
When the hell had Taehyung gotten this big?
Now that he thought about it, even his biceps had doubled in size these past few months. He’d have to ask what gym routine he’d been doing.
Jeongguk headed straight to the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge and drank immediately. He heard a door open and minutes later Taehyung appeared wearing gray sweatpants and a thin blue t-shirt that clung to his arms. Not too different from what Jeongguk himself wore — a pair of black pants and a black shirt.
A soft coconut scent drifted from the damp strands of Taehyung’s hair, and Jeongguk had to admit it had started bringing him a strange sense of comfort.
“Already?” Taehyung nodded toward the drink resting on the counter dividing the rooms.
The dorms might’ve been small, but for a college student still living off his parents’ money, a place with a bedroom separate from the living room was luxury.
Jeongguk opened the fridge and tossed a can, snapping his wrist so Taehyung caught it like the second-best player on the basketball team receiving a pass to score.
His Adam’s apple bobbed with an audible gulp gulp.
Apparently Taehyung wanted to unwind. Jeongguk couldn’t blame him — college drained anyone dry, especially the two seniors.
“You gonna go out with Somin again?” Taehyung suddenly asked after setting the can beside him.
“I dunno, man. She’s hot, but…” Jeongguk shrugged, his posture betraying how lost he felt.
The girls he hooked up with never lasted long. His last serious relationship had been at nineteen and lasted seven months—nine if he counted the breakups and getting back together. Jeongguk had realized relationships just weren’t for him.
The same could be said for Taehyung. Even though he had a womanizer reputation around campus, his party flirting never went beyond the doorway. Which always earned frowns and pouts from girls who spent entire nights stroking his biceps.
Taehyung let out a snort, well aware of both their histories and shook his head.
“I can already see us fifteen years from now sharing an apartment with with no chance of getting married.”
“And a couple of dogs,” Jeongguk added, earning a loud laugh.
A warm feeling wrapped around them as they took another sip of cheap beer. They exchanged looks like partners planning a robbery instead of two friends talking about possibly living together.
“So what do you wanna do tonight?”
Jeongguk opened the fridge and scanned its contents, mentally checking off ingredients from an imaginary list.
“Japchae.”
“Ugh,” Taehyung groaned, ruffling Jeongguk’s hair before adding, “Can’t wait to live with you.”
He winked while Jeongguk started preparing the food and turned around, exposing his back.
Taehyung leaned against the counter and took another sip of beer.
It was comfortable like this: the two of them crammed into the tiny kitchen while Seoul’s cold air drifted in through the window and some random meal cooked nearby.
And Jeongguk knew that even if he made instant ramen, Taehyung would still call it the best thing he’d ever eaten and say Jeongguk deserved a MasterChef prize.
He softly hummed the song he’d listened to earlier at the gym while chopping vegetables scavenged from the fridge.
The whole idea of living together didn’t sound ridiculous. If their friendship was solid, why not?
Jeongguk opened one of the cabinets and couldn’t find the green ceramic bowl he always used.
“Hyung, where’s that—”
He got interrupted when another body hovered over him to reach the cabinet to the left.
They were practically the same height, but Taehyung insisted he was taller. Jeongguk always argued the difference was tiny and barely noticeable. Apparently his furrowed brows and thin-lipped irritation weren’t convincing, because Taehyung never took him seriously. He’d just smooth a finger beneath the frown and laugh smugly with, 'Ggukie-ah, you look like an angry puppy.'
But now, with Taehyung’s athletic body pressing against him, Jeongguk felt small for the first time.
“You always forget I put it here, huh?” Taehyung placed the bowl on the counter, his voice close to Jeongguk’s ear.
Jeongguk held his breath as an unfamiliar blush crept to the tips of his ears.
“Right,” he laughed awkwardly, trying discreetly to slip out of the increasingly weird position.
What the fuck was happening?
“Did you switch shampoos?”
But getting out got harder when Taehyung had the great idea of planting both arms on either side of Jeongguk and leaning against the counter, trapping him between them.
“The smell is…” His voice dropped low. And what kind of tone was that?
Taehyung sniffed his dark hair.
“You smell like strawberry,” he laughed like it was the most normal comment in the world.
“I—”
Jeongguk fixed his gaze somewhere on the marble countertop and went blank for a few seconds, forcing his brain to send signals to his mouth. The steaming pan beside him definitely wasn’t the reason his face felt so hot.
He took a deep breath.
“I had to borrow Jimin’s shampoo.”
“You can always use mine, Ggukie.”
After whispering right against his reddened ears, Taehyung stepped away in a second.
The space behind him turned cold, and like magic, everything went back to normal. No one pressing against him. No one smelling him.
Only the pink tint on his cheeks remained unchanged. Jeongguk was sure from a distance it could pass as one of Jimin’s makeup.
He cleared his throat, grabbed the pan with a kitchen towel, and when he turned around, a mischievous gleam lingered in his friend’s eyes before disappearing.
He shook his head.
˚. ᵎᵎ
The campus was as lively as ever. Some students in pairs, trios, bigger groups exchanged laughs and books, and if he squinted hard enough, Jeongguk could spot Jimin getting all lovey-dovey with Yoongi in a secluded corner on one of the benches in the tree-lined area.
He whistled along to the latest song released by Twice, the black headphones a charming touch that matched his dark-wash jeans and the tattoos covering his arm. Jeongguk took pride in the image he’d built over the years and highly doubted anyone who looked at him would ever guess what was playing in his ears.
Before the next song started, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
Taehyungie 🏀 (3:28 PM)
hey
where are you?
jk
jk
jk
i got something for you
He read the frenetic messages and waited a few minutes.
Taehyungie 🏀 (3:32 PM)
BRAT
where
are
you
i can literally see you reading my texts
Taehyungie 🏀 (3:34 PM)
do you hate me?
He laughed out loud. He loved testing Taehyung’s patience.
Taehyungie 🏀 (3:34 PM)
i’m gonna scream your name in the middle of campus
(3:34 PM)
why?
Taehyungie 🏀 (3:34 PM)
the princess showed up
where the fuck are you
(3:35 PM)
relax dude
i’m near the arts building
Jeongguk sat on one of the benches and waited.
Ten minutes later, an ecstatic Taehyung came running toward him. Jeongguk lowered his headphones around his neck, only to get smacked immediately.
“Fuck, Tae!”
“That’s for not answering me.”
Then a phone got shoved right into his face, so close Jeongguk couldn’t read the tiny letters. He mumbled that he couldn’t see anything and grabbed Taehyung’s wrists to get a better look.
“You’re kidding!”
“I’m not,” Taehyung laughed smugly.
“Holy shit, Tae!” Jeongguk jumped to his feet, eyes wide and a grin threatening to split his face. “How? When did— Wait, weren’t they sold out?”
“Hyungsik broke up with his girlfriend last week and I found him crying in the corner of the library, so obviously I asked what the hell happened. Half an hour later he tells me he wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of her, including the Twice tour tickets,” Taehyung rambled breathlessly, sweat sliding down his temples. “And all I could think about was you.”
A warm feeling flooded Jeongguk’s chest.
Then he smiled wide, proudly showing the neat row of teeth Jimin insisted made him look like a cute bunny. His eyes disappeared into crescents as he threw himself onto his friend in a tight hug.
“Holy fuck, you saved my year.”
Taehyung laughed loudly and wrapped his arms around Jeongguk’s waist.
“Yeah? And what does hyung get as a reward?”
The question hit Jeongguk like electricity starting at his scalp and ending in a twisting stomach. It was the same question he’d asked Somin.
But Taehyung somehow made it sound so se—
He coughed a few times and abruptly pulled away from him.
“You okay, Ggukie?” Taehyung’s voice came out worried at the sudden behavior change. “Fuck, you’re all red. Drink this.”
He pulled out a small plastic water bottle and held it to Jeongguk’s lips, who immediately drank.
Taehyung rubbed his free hand up and down Jeongguk’s back, trying to calm him. His fingers occasionally brushed right above the waistband of his pants, and every time they slid upward, heat flickered low in Jeongguk’s stomach.
Once he finished drinking, Jeongguk realized Taehyung’s hand was now resting on his waist like the whole situation had been the perfect excuse to place it there.
But he didn’t want to look shaken — because he wasn’t.
“Better?” The low voice sounded even deeper now, and Jeongguk had to duck his head to hide the weak sigh escaping him.
“Yeah—” He cleared his throat to get rid of the suddenly higher pitch in his voice. “I’m fine.”
He looked up and found Taehyung’s narrowed eyes studying him like he was trying to decide whether that answer was true. Jeongguk forced a smile, and Taehyung ruffled the hair flattened by the headphones.
“The concert’s this Friday. I was thinking of borrowing Jimin’s car, what do you think?”
Jeongguk internally thanked every god alive that the conversation had shifted away from questions about why his cheeks were so red — or why Taehyung still hadn’t let go of his waist.
˚. ᵎᵎ
Jeongguk was going insane.
It was the only explanation.
“Once you log into the system, you’ll see the two pending assignments for today…”
Professor Choi was talking about very important things, Jeongguk was sure of it. The problem was that his mind wasn’t there. It was on the hand resting over his dark-wash jeans, the ones ripped at the knees almost high enough to expose his thighs.
The hand was large, fingers brushing against his skin. Taehyung was caressing him there.
The pen that had been moving quickly to keep up with the lecture now sat frozen. Just like the rest of Jeongguk’s body.
This couldn’t be real.
The two of them exchanged handshakes, side hugs, and if someone stretched the definition of friendly affection, they could even include the touches on the nape of Jeongguk’s neck that Taehyung insisted on during every practice. But caresses?
The kind where a hand squeezed his thigh and slid toward the ripped opening in his jeans?
That had never happened.
He lowered his gaze and saw it: a large palm spread across his leg like it belonged there.
And Taehyung couldn’t have cared less. He sat sprawled in the chair beside him, legs spread open while doodling random sketches. Just another normal morning for him.
“Did you see that Yoongi changed the training schedule?” Taehyung suddenly asked, though he didn’t even look at Jeongguk. The hand beneath the desk slid from his knee to his thigh and gave it a light squeeze.
Jeongguk dropped his pen and choked on his own saliva.
The sound was enough to make Taehyung finally glance at him. The ghost of a smug smile crossed his face, so quick Jeongguk would’ve missed it if he blinked.
“Saw it in the group chat.” He tried pulling himself together, forcing nonchalant onto his face.
“The running time got fucking longer. I might actually pass out,” Taehyung joked, playing with the threads of the ripped denim.
“I know,” Jeongguk laughed weakly.
Before Jeongguk could address the issue currently squeezing his thigh harder, Professor Choi ended the lecture, the dates for future exams written across the board.
Taehyung stretched like a lazy cat and stood up, gathering his things. And once again, he acted like what he’d done was completely normal.
“You coming?”
Jeongguk realized his notebook and pens were still scattered across the desk, and he hadn’t even tried getting up, like he’d been glued to the chair.
He nodded quickly and shoved everything into his bag, only to fumble and drop one of his pens.
“You nervous, Ggukie?” Taehyung teased.
For the first time, Jeongguk got pissed.
Taehyung had to know these teasing thing going on were weird. Unusual. He’d never seen friends act like this, and now Jeongguk was stuck in an embarrassing position.
Taehyung’s sneaky hand was the source of everything: on his waist, his knee, his thigh…
Fuck, what was going on with him?
Jeongguk had spent the past week overthinking the sudden closeness from his friend—not the closeness they already had, but something else. And worst of all, he had no idea how to bring it up without sounding like a terrible friend who hated physical affection.
He picked up the things scattered on the floor and muttered, “Actually, I'm kind in a hurry, I have a date with Somin later.”
When he stood up, he saw the scowl on Taehyung’s face.
“I thought you were done with that thing,” he grumbled.
Yeah, Jeongguk had thought so too. He’d decided to give it another shot and test something. It had been three weeks since he’d seen the girl, but with all the weirdness happening between him and Taehyung, he’d changed his mind. If something even was happening.
He still wasn’t sure and leaned more toward the theory that Taehyung had just become more affectionate. After all, he hadn’t seen him hook up with anyone lately either.
“I thought you supported my love life.”
“You want Somin that badly?”
“Look, man, I think we need to clear one thi—”
The words died on his tongue when he felt a yank at his waist.
Even through the thick hoodie, Jeongguk could feel Taehyung’s fingertips gripping him tightly.
“Forget it, okay?” Taehyung flicked his chin and flashed a grin.
Jeongguk knew this was the moment he should set everything straight. Tell him he didn’t like the surprise touches, the hands wandering places only girls he hooked up with touched, or the mischievous looks Taehyung kept giving him.
But…
But it was him.
His best friend.
Why would he reject affection that still felt warm and comforting?
Maybe he could get used to it. Maybe he could train his body out of the involuntary blush burning across his cheeks. And who was he trying to fool? Jeongguk liked it.
Liked it so much that he sat there without protesting while Taehyung’s hand rested on his waist, thumb lazily stroking his side.
So instead, he simply smiled at him.
“I bought some beers for us. That nice brand you like,” Taehyung said softly, using the same tone from the green ceramic bowl incident — the memory instantly triggering another roller coaster in Jeongguk’s stomach. “Come by my dorm tomorrow night.”
Taehyung leaned in and smelled his neck, laughing softly.
“Strawberry suits you.”
Then he walked away.
Taehyung smelled his neck.
Smelled his fucking—
Jeongguk shut his eyes.
He needed to get used to this.
One.
Two— 'Strawberry suits you.'
“Motherfucker.”
He dropped pathetically into the chair. Pathetically frustrated.
He could remember perfectly the brush of Taehyung’s nose against his skin and the fingers gripping his waist.
His phone vibrated.
Somin SNU (11:10 AM)
Hey, cutie ❤️
Just got out of class
Are we still meeting up?
He had completely forgotten about Somin.
(11:10 AM)
yeah, baby