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readyplayerhobi · 5 years

Text

Peppermint | 02

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, light angst

; Word Count: 14.1k

; Synopsis: Achieving your dream job is something that very people manage to do, which is why you’re all the more happier when you land a job on the film team at Poppin’ Culture; the biggest pop culture website, blog and YouTube channel around. What you don’t expect however, is to fall for the exceptionally shy and awkward colleague who is not even remotely your type. Or is he?

; A/N: I hope you enjoy :3 it’s been a joy to write him! Please reblog if you enjoyed to increase visibility and comment/send me asks with what you thought. Peppermint Hobi has been possibly the sweetest character I’ve ever written and I hope you all enjoy him too. Also, the links are still broken so you’ll need to go to my masterlist :)

01 ; 02

“Hey, I need you and Hoseok to go over the videos for the next week please? And also review your video so far. Let me know if everything else looks good to go and we’ll get everything scheduled for upload. You good with that?” Seokjin asks as he hands you a file full of the printed scripts and outlines of each video that was planned for this week across all the channels.

You’d question why you were being given it, but he’d begun to lean on you heavily in terms of the video uploading schedule for YouTube recently. Probably because you liked to run the film video ship tightly and whipped Taehyung’s lazy ass into shape more than a few times along with also calling out other departments for running behind schedule.

It had meant that you’d just de facto become the YouTube lead over the last few months. Something you hadn’t expected, but also not something you were going to complain about. It did let you spent more time with Hoseok after all, and you hardly needed an excuse to want that.

You liked to think that he enjoyed the time you spent together too, as he never complained about being pulled into random meetings with you or being given more work to do. Nor did he tell you to get lost when you wheeled your chair around to look at his screen to see what he was doing.

Not that he actually did that to anyone else either, but he seemed to enjoy your company more. At least, that’s what you’re telling yourself. Maybe you’re projecting, who knows?

Hoseok is currently away from his desk though and so once Seokjin departs, you leave a Post-it note on his computer screen before telling Jimin to let Hoseok know where to come in case he doesn’t see it. He nods slowly with no sarcastic comment for once, letting his glasses slip down his nose before he’s chewing on his lip once more as he focuses back on his own screen.

You take the file into an open meeting room and close the door, sitting down in the silent room and spreading everything out in front of you. A Pusheen notebook sits open on the table as you start to make a couple of quick notes from the information you read in the file. There’s three gaming along with one television themed video to go up this week. And then the film video that you’d filmed the voiceover with Yoongi last week.

The door opening quietly distracts you, causing you turn immediately and smile at the sight of Hoseok. He’s got a Breakfast Club shirt on today and some plain jeans, looking just as casual as he always does. It suits him though, and you eye the MacBook he’s keeping close to his body while holding a cup of peppermint tea in his other hand.

When he sits down, his eyes scan the desk and he frowns before pointing. “D-do you want me to get you a d-drink too?”

You shake your head and tell him it’s okay as he sets everything up, angling the MacBook in between you both so that you can watch the videos he and his team have created over the last week. Hoseok is hands down one of the busiest people in the office, and yet you never see him complain about the workload he’s given.

That’s probably a combination of him not being willing to complain but also the fact that he genuinely enjoys his job. And it shows, with the tender love and care that he puts into every video, no matter how dumb the topic is.

It takes a good hour to run through everything he’s fully completed already until you’re finally happy with all the videos and sign them off. You know that Hoseok will let Seokjin know now, who will in turn upload them all onto YouTube with the relevant tags and whatever else he does with them before they’re released into the wild.

The only thing left to do is look over what he’s done of your own video so far. This isn’t actually supposed to be going out till the very end of the week, so he has a little bit more leeway with it. But you’re surprised with just how much he’s done already, and as per usual it’s top calibre work.

And you’re not just saying that because you have a crush on the man, but because he’s genuinely very good at his job.

Watching him carefully, you take note without even meaning to of the way his delicate fingers glide across the keyboard of his MacBook with ease. The tiniest frown lines mar his smooth forehead and you have the strongest urge to reach over and gently move some of his hair out of eyes.

It’s looking particularly soft today, and your fingers itch to see whether it feels as you think it does. The strands are actually very straight today, with his hair parted almost exactly in the middle and it’s almost fluffy in how much volume it has, causing you to sigh quietly as you let your chin rest in your hand.

The deep brown of his eyes are focused firmly on his laptop, a sheen of light from his screen distorting them slightly behind his lenses and your lips tilt into the smallest smile. You’ve noticed over the last nine months that when he starts to work, he gets lost in it for hours.

Sometimes, he doesn’t even remember to take his lunch and you either have to Skype him to remind him or go get whatever lunch he’s brought in and give it to him. Or you buy him something at the deli nearby when you go when Jimin or Taehyung.

He likes a prosciutto, turkey and salami salad with mayo on wholemeal bread. It had taken a few different sandwiches before you discovered the one that made his cheeks round and his dimples appear while his eyes creased in food related happiness.

“Okay, so...I had to get a bit creative here because I couldn’t find any artwork that wasn’t copyrighted. So, there’s a little bit of the trailer in here along with the small snippets that I could find of actual footage.” Hoseok slides the MacBook towards you and gives you an expectant look as he presses the play button.

You pull your gaze from him to focus back on the screen, on your job, and watch the video as the sound of your voice flows out of the tiny speakers. He’s done a good job with this video, and given it’s only a list video then you’d only needed to record a simple voiceover for it.

There’s no music yet, but you know that Yoongi is working on that currently and there’s a few scenes that are obviously missing graphics that Jungkook’s team hasn’t finished. But it looks pretty good and the editing is slick as usual.

Grinning brightly at him, you smile and push the laptop back to him. “Great as always Hoseok.” You praise him firmly, voice light and high as the apples of his cheeks immediately turn a pretty rose gold. Taking your lower lip between your teeth, you watch as his eyes flick to you repeatedly before looking back at the screen.

He goes to take his laptop back and you suddenly decide to make a move, hoping that you’re doing the right thing. Your own hand lays over the top of his, the pads of your fingertips feeling the smooth, soft skin of his hand. Without even meaning to, you find yourself tracing over a prominent tendon there and Hoseok’s breath hitches immediately.

“You’re really good at this, you know that? I hope Seokjin and Namjoon tell you that, because you really are.” Hoseok doesn’t respond to your words, instead his eyes are focused on your hand behind his lenses. The slightest glimpse of a pink tongue flicking out to wet his lips has you biting your own before he slowly pulls his hand out from under yours and closes the lid of his laptop.

“Thanks. They do, b-b-but I’ll tell them y-y-you said so.” He’s stuttering again suddenly and you practically see the way he’s tensed and is breathing harder already. Frowning deeply, you take your hand back and clench it into a fist on your thigh before clearing your throat.

“I’m sorry, I just...am I reading these signals wrong? Because I think you like me but...I don’t know. I can’t tell.” You blurt out honestly, confusion evident in every tone of each word that falls from your lips and you cringe slightly. Honestly, you feel like a teenager again and it’s not fun.

Hoseok’s head dips even lower until you can barely see his face, though you do see the way his throat works as he swallows thickly. For a moment, there’s nothing but awkward silence between you both and your heart beats rapidly as cold panic begins to move through your veins sluggishly.

You had a really, really bad feeling that you’d completely misread the entire scene.

“S-s-signals? I-I-I didn’t k-know that I was g-giving any. I-I’m sorry if y-you thought that. I just…” He pauses and takes a deep breath, his voice cracking and quivering as he stumbles his way through his words but that’s nothing compared to the mortifying heat you feel running through you. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean...I’m sorry.”

The distress on his face makes your heart clench, despite how tumultuous your emotions are right now and you feel compelled to put him at ease.

Reaching forward, you take his hand and simply encase it in both of your own. Shaking it slightly, you give him a bright smile that completely covers up the hurt and embarrassment you feel and let your fingers stroke over his skin comfortingly.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. I obviously got it wrong. It’s fine, honestly. Just...forget I said anything. I’m really sorry. That put you in an uncomfortable position and I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry, I should’ve thought more and you’re fine to say what you did. I won’t mention it again.” You’re babbling a little at him, probably to try and cover your bruised pride but despite that, you can’t stand to see the discomfort in him.

You should have just let him say something if he felt anything. Instead, you’d tried to hurry the situation along by being bold and while it normally worked, you’d forgotten for a moment that Hoseok was not like the other men you had dated before. Those guys would have loved you being bold like that, but it quite evidently sent Hoseok crawling back into shell.

Sighing heavily, you let your head drop as you pat his hand before lowering it back to the table and gathering your notebook and pen. “I’m sorry, again. Really. I hope you’re okay.”

He says nothing for a moment, staring hard at the closed shell of his MacBook with a clenched jaw and an oddly intense look. You can’t tell if he’s annoyed at you, or maybe annoyed at himself but he suddenly shakes his head in turn and looks at you.

“I’m okay. Honestly. Y-you don’t have to apologise anymore. It’s fine.” Hoseok’s voice sounds stronger as he gives you a tight lipped smile. Watching him carefully, you keep an eye on him as you rise from your seat and head over to the door.

He’s silent as you go, only nodding at you once as you leave with a careful expression. Outside the door, you lean against the wall for a second once out of sight of anyone else and let your head drop back against it, a deep sigh of regret leaving you.

You’d really thought you’d read the signs right and that he liked you in the same way you liked him. But apparently you were wrong, completely wrong. He was very quiet and introverted after all, maybe what you thought were signs of romantic interest were signs of just friendship instead.

It doesn’t stop the squeeze of pain around your heart as you swallow the rejection you’d just received. How humiliating; and with someone you work with too. If you knew Hoseok like you thought you did, then he would likely pretend this never happened. Which meant that you would have to as well.

But your hesitant and exploratory flirtations with him were going to have to end for definite. From now on, your interactions were going to have to be just purely as a friend with Hoseok. As painful and numbing as that is to your heart, it’s what you’ll just have to accept

While you’re coming to your own conclusions outside about how to interact with Hoseok in the future, Hoseok himself was still sat in the meeting room staring at the wall with a carefully blank face. Until it suddenly falls and he whisper shouts out a curse before clenching his fists in anger at himself, letting his head fall forward in despair.

It’s perhaps an understatement to say that the atmosphere between Hoseok and you is tense in the next few weeks. You keep him at arm’s length in the office, including him in conversations like you always had but the little inside jokes between you both had vanished, along with the exchanging of food and drink.

The rest of the office certainly notices the sudden cooling of your budding friendship with Hoseok and reacts in confusion, though silently thankfully. You rebuff Jimin and Taehyung’s questions, and you try to ignore the sad looks Hoseok gives you from time to time.

It was your last intention to make things uncomfortable between you both, but you were being a little selfish and nursing a bruised heart right now. There had already been copious amounts of Cookie Dough ice cream eaten as you’d tried to deny your feelings had been anything more than the flutter of something new to Sunmi.

She would have probably believed you if you weren’t trying to create a whole new salty version of the famous ice cream with your tears. In fact, you were kind of surprised at the depth of how hard you’d fallen for your timid colleague.

Which was why it hurt all the more to have to look him in the eye every day and know damn well that he likely knows you obviously felt something for him. Otherwise, why would you have reacted with such embarrassment and humiliation if you hadn’t?

But above it all, you felt an overriding sense of shame that you were pushing Hoseok away when you’d tried so hard to pull him in. He must be so confused as to why you carefully avoided social situations with him except for when work demanded it.

You just needed a little bit of time. Most people got to recover from a rejection like that in peace and quiet, far away from the object of their desires. But you had to work with him every day, so close that shifting your chair to the side slightly would let you see his beautiful visage that made your chest tighten.

Dammit! Damn everything to hell.

Taehyung must see the way that you clench your fist in frustration at your desk, jaw tightening as you let out a strained breath between gritted teeth. Before you even realise it, he’s rolling over to bump against your desk lightly, causing your monitor to rock as you let out a noise of alarm as you steady it.

Looking over at him, you take in the black colour of his newly dyed hair with vague interest before meeting his mahogany eyes with a raised brow. “Yes?”

He snorts before rolling his eyes and reaching over, lightly pushing at your arm in response to your snide comment. “Calm down Snape. I’m just going to ask what you’re working on right now as it sure doesn’t look like the review you said were going to do.”

Eyes flickering back at your screen, you sigh deeply as you lazily re-read over a few details of the new work you’d started. “I finished that and already submitted it to Seokjin. This is just a video idea I had for the top animated films in recent years.”

Taehyung makes a soft noise of interest before spinning around until he’s shuffling his legs under your desk with yours, eyes scanning the screen as he reads over what you’ve written. His lashes are unfairly long, and you pout as you point it out and cause him to laugh.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to show them off more to you to get you jealous.” He grins and winks. Jimin on the other side of the room, hair mint green, scowls at you both before pointing his finger at you.

“I’m watching you. I’m already green, don’t make me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” You chuckle and roll your eyes, well aware that he’d made Taehyung have a Marvel marathon at the weekend. Including the terrible Hulk film, which you’d begged them both to ignore.

“Fear not, your man is safe from me. His lashes? Maybe not.” Taehyung flutters them at you with a kissy pout before looking back to read over what you’ve done for the script.

“The LEGO Movie over Coco? A bold move.” He murmurs before scrolling down and continuing to read. Placing your elbow on the edge of your desk, you sigh deeply as you nod your head.

“I know, but I just...I thought Coco was wonderful and beautiful and emotional. But I watched it once and never had an interest to watch it again. Whereas The LEGO Movie made me laugh so hard and I think I’ve seen it 20 times. Moana is higher though, I really love that film.” He laughs and nods, pointing to your little Funko figure of Moana on your desk in acknowledgement.

Finally he finishes and moves back with pursed lips, nodding slowly before running his fingertips along his jaw. “Interesting. But in the interest of fairness, I think you really need to do a poll of the entire office to get a general feel of what Poppin’ Culture’s Top 10 is. I mean, Inside Out was great but I doubt it’s in most people’s top ten of the 2010s.”

Sighing, you nod and begin to write out an email of every animated film of the 2010s, including popular anime films such as Your Name because you just know there’s lots of people here that love those too. It’s a long list, and Taehyung whistles with raised brows as you fill it out. Once it’s done though, you email it out to the office and ask them to only pick ten and rank those ten in order.

“You know, this list could just be ten completely different films and then we have no list at all?” Taehyung chuckles and nods in response to your sarcastic comment, tapping your nose before making a Yoda noise.

“Yeah, but then you just collate what you do get and ask everyone to pick out of those and so forth until you have a top ten. It’s fine, it’s what we do. Good idea though, run it by Hoseok to make sure he’ll have time to film and edit next week as he’s got a two week vacation afterwards so we’ll be running thin on the video department.

He rolls back to his own desk at that and you swallow, sadly reluctant to talk to Hoseok once more. It’s only when you lean back in your seat, crossing your legs while poking your tongue in your cheek when you realise how childish you’re being.

So he turned you down, so what? He’s a grown man, an adult who is more than capable of making his own decisions in regards to what he wants and who he wants. You were just being a baby because it wasn’t the decision you’d wanted, and you needed to understand this and let it go.

It was affecting your work now which is something you definitely didn’t want. But also, it was affecting your relationship with Hoseok. Even if he didn’t want to make things romantic between the two of you, he was evidently opening himself up for a potential friendship between you both.

And you knew damn well that for people like Hoseok, who struggled so hard in social situations, that gesture of friendship like that probably meant a lot to him.

Which probably meant he was hurting more than you right now given how you’d cut him off so coldly and harshly. Licking your lips, you reach forward and slick on some lip balm before opening up your Skype and bringing a new chat with him up.

You hadn’t talked to him via Skype since the incident, and it made your cheeks burn in shame to think how terribly you’d acted. Honestly, he didn’t deserve this and you sure as hell didn’t deserve his friendship.

[10:21] Y/N: Hey Hoseok. I don’t know if you heard but I’ve got an idea for a video, Tae got me to email it out to everyone so you’ve probably seen that. He said that you were going on holiday soon so...if you could let me know if you think it might work next week?

There’s nothing for a moment, and you stare at the screen with narrowed eyes as you take in the conversation box. Then you finally see the ‘Jung Hoseok is typing a message…” along the bottom and your heart jumps into your throat. Which is dumb, because of course he’d respond.

You’d messaged him about work. And unlike you, he’s not an asshole.

[10:22] Jung Hoseok: That’s fine. I’ll respond to your email. Send me the script over whenever you’ve finished it and I’ll look into it. If I can’t do it, Lisa can.

It’s almost painful how polite he is being, and you get the desperate urge to resolve the issue between you both. To smooth over the cracks you’d caused when you’d taken a sledgehammer of hormones to your relationship and caused hurt to you both.

Which is why your fingers are typing already, uncaring that the messages are monitored and could be viewed by Seokjin or Namjoon. Honestly though, the crap you’ve seen Jimin and Taehyung message each other - it’d be a surprise if they ever bothered to read Skype conversations ever again.

[10:23] Y/N: I’m sorry btw.

[10:23] Jung Hoseok: What for?

[10:24] Y/N: The other week. I got the wrong end of the stick and I’ve been a little selfish since then. I’m sorry for pushing you away. Again, I didn’t think about you and I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you or anything.

He doesn’t respond for a few minutes at that, and you wonder if perhaps you’d entirely misread the situation. What if he only wanted to be work colleagues and that was it? Man, you didn’t think that you were that bad at social situations.

[10:30] Jung Hoseok: It’s okay, I understood. I was giving you space too. You looked hurt and I didn’t want to make things worse for you. Thanks for apologising though. And I need to apologise to you. I...was rude that day. I didn’t mean to be.

[10:33] Y/N: You weren’t rude! You had every right. I was too forward and it was awkward and stupid. I think you’re pretty great, and I’d very much like to be your friend if you’d let me? I thought we were doing well before.

[10:33] Jung Hoseok: You weren’t too for

The message ends up abruptly and you frown in confusion before you see him typing again.

[10:34] Jung Hoseok: Friends sounds good. I’d like that.

You have to mash your lips together to stop the smile that so desperately wants to creep out at his kind words and you chastise yourself once again for pushing away this beautiful soul. As you respond to him again, happy that the two of you seem to be slipping back into the comfortable friendship you’d been engineering weeks ago, you can’t help but be thankful that Hoseok is the kind of person who forgives as easily as he does.

And also be thankful that you were willing to swallow that stupid pride and hurt that had been festering in you.

Huh, guess you had finally grown up in some ways.

Four months pass by after you finally reached out and sealed up the fractures in your relationship with Hoseok, and you were pretty pleased with the results if you were being honest. If anything, you were wondering if maybe the friction that had been caused had been a good thing bizarrely enough.

Like when you fracture a bone and it heals back stronger than before. That’s what your friendship felt like with Hoseok now, with the two of you becoming the closest friends in the office.

Mainly through text and Skype obviously, but he had whole conversations with you now without a single stutter and you’d been blessed by his blindingly brilliant smile more than once. It made you happy to know that he was content with everything when it came to you, and you’d even begun to take your lunch breaks with each other at the deli or diner down the street.

Just as you’d always thought, Hoseok was funny and sweet and everything you could ever want in a friend. Which was great, as it obviously meant that he made the most wonderful friend for you. But you’d also found that he was everything you could ever want in a man overall and that was where it got awkward.

You’d been so determined to squash your feelings towards him, but all that had happened was that he’d proven himself to be even more perfect for you and you’d fallen even harder. He liked a good portion of the films and music you did, with enough differences to make it interesting between you both.

Hoseok was an avid dancer apparently, which had blown your mind away, but he’d been put into dance when he was younger to try and get him out of his shell. It hadn’t worked in terms of his relationships with people, but he used dance to come to terms with his own emotions and feelings apparently.

The way he’d explained it was that if he felt upset or angry, he’d go rent a studio room for an hour or two and get the feelings out with his body. He’d told you that one lunch time as you’d both sat at a table, the bustle of the shop around you as he’d played a packet of sauce quietly. You’d commented on how tired he looked and he’d admitted to spending a large portion of the night dancing to try and get rid of some frustration.

Though he wouldn’t emphasise what the frustration he’d had was to you, even if you’d been curious as to why his cheeks had tinged that lovely rose they always went when he got embarrassed or shy.

That knowledge of his love of dance was a secret, something that only you knew in the whole office. Even Namjoon and Seokjin didn’t know apparently, the two of them classmates in college and later roommates with Hoseok.

Hoseok had told you that he didn’t like to tell people, as they either laughed at the idea of him dancing or demanded he perform for them like a show dog. You had done neither thankfully, instead just taking his hand in your own and giving him an encouraging smile. It was something deeply personal to him, and you’d just felt pride and happiness that he’d felt comfortable enough to tell you that.

And god, there were times when you thought you hadn’t read the signs wrong at all. Sometimes you’d catch him looking at you with an intense expression, eyes dark behind his glasses. Like all he wanted to do is reach over and grab you or something. You’d seen the same expression on his face when Seokjin had brought in pizza’s one day and none of you had eaten so far.

You were...surprisingly more than okay with the idea of Hoseok being hungry for you.

But you’d tried your hardest to push that thought away, tell yourself that he’d just spaced out for a few moments and you were just the thing he happened to be staring at unfocused. Because you were already struggling with him, with your attraction to him and your need to just be the friend he needs.

You couldn’t project your feelings onto him, not like last time. This friendship was too important to you to ruin like that.

Which was why you had been both happy and surprised when he’d finally agreed to come on the monthly work night out. As usual, it was just for dinner at some restaurant in the city that everyone decided on and then drinks afterwards.

What normally happened was that everyone got food drunk before then getting actual drunk. Blind drunk actually. Jimin, surprisingly, had an exceptionally high tolerance when it came to alcohol and usually drank everyone except Yoongi and Seokjin under the table.

You usually just sipped on a Southern Comfort and lemonade sedately while everyone else got progressively more wasted around you. For you, your days of not remembering the night before had ended in the early years after college. Now you liked to actually wake up and not feel like you looked like the human version of Gollum.

But this time, you’d spent the night with Hoseok sat next to you meekly. Taehyung had asked to go to the new Thai restaurant that had opened up and everyone else had been eager to go. You’d gone along because you always go, but Thai food wasn’t your favourite unfortunately so you’d not eaten too much.

It meant that you’d got to watch everyone else more though, and you’d made sure that Hoseok was comfortable and okay. Turns out he really liked seafood and he’d eaten a prawn green curry eagerly. Perhaps too eagerly, as the noises that had come out of his throat along with the faces he’d pulled had been more delicious than the food you were eating.

He’d even shyly offered you a forkful and you’d eaten it, unwilling to push him away when he being open with you. Plus, he’d had an endearing smile on his face that just lit him up and you couldn’t say no. It’d be rude to make that adorable expression vanish.

That hadn’t stopped him from laughing heartily at the face you pulled at not only the curry but the prawns too. It just wasn’t something you particularly enjoyed unfortunately, and his loud and gleeful laughs had caught the attention of everyone else too.

Jimin and Taehyung had been beyond shocked when you’d told them that Hoseok had agreed to your request to come with this time. Even Seokjin’s eyes had gone a little wide and he’d repeated Hoseok’s name twice, as you’d suddenly got amnesia or something.

Apparently, Hoseok had never attended a night out with everyone else. It was a running joke amongst the office, and you hadn’t realised until he’d agreed just how big of a deal it was. Sure, he’d never come even while you’d been here but you didn’t see the big deal that he didn’t want to spend his free time with the people he had to spend most of his days with to get paid.

The fluttering of butterflies in your stomach at the knowledge you’d finally got Hoseok to agree to come out with everyone had erupted into a hurricane of them when you’d picked him up outside his apartment. For once, there was no nerdy outfit that was ever so slightly ill fitting.

Instead, he had on a white button up shirt that was tucked into a pair of dark, skinny jeans and his hair parted and carefully styled. You hadn’t even known Hoseok knew how to style his hair like that, and the watch on his wrist looked bizarrely expensive for someone who probably wasn’t making a huge amount of money.

His job was good, but it wasn’t the rose gold watch on his wrist good.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’d flushed at your intense staring of the expensive jewellery before shrugging on his black pea coat and buttoning it up, shuddering in the cold as he’d climbed into your car.

“Graduation present from my parents.” Was all he’d muttered and you’d simply nodded your head in acknowledgement, wondering if maybe they’d be interested in giving you a graduation present too. Even if you had been graduated for years now.

Either way, everyone else had been equally impressed with how smart and handsome he looked with Jimin giving you the sleazy brow wiggle. The man had weedled it out of you a while ago about your unreciprocated feelings for the beautiful guy next to you, and he’d made it like a mission to try and get you both together.

Despite you telling him about the rejection you’d experienced. He was beyond convinced that Hoseok liked you just as much, but was just in denial or something. It had taken the threat of you destroying his treasured iPod Classic, of all things, to get him to agree to not push anything.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make clear insinuations the whole night and subtle gestures to you when Hoseok wasn’t looking. You half felt like choking him, but knowing Jimin he’d probably have a choking kink and just moan at you to go harder.

Instead, he’d opted to plying Hoseok with alcohol once you’d reached the bar.

Which wouldn’t be a big deal, if it wasn’t for the fact that Hoseok was quite clearly a lightweight. Whether he was just genetically a lightweight, or it was just that he didn’t go out drinking very often you didn’t know.

But either way, Hoseok had gone red faced after one beer before he’d started to sweat profusely after two. His third had resulted in a glazed look to his eyes and he’d finally sat quietly for the last hour, staring vacantly across the room as he swayed ever so slightly.

It was simultaneously adorable and worrying, because you wanted to kiss all over his face with how obviously wasted he was yet you also didn’t want him to pass out or something horrific. Because right now, he looked like he could go either way. And despite what you’d told Jimin, you really did like his face far too much to watch him face plant the table.

At this very moment though, Jimin was trying to incite a shots contest with Taehyung and Yugyeom while Jungkook and Lisa are sat with their heads only centimetres apart. You’d think that something was going on there, but you knew full well that neither of them liked each other like that. Must just be a really intense conversation.

Sipping your drink slowly, you place it back down before taking hold of the long neck beer that Hoseok is trying to grab. You’re sure that if he was sober then he would have had a firm grasp within seconds. Unfortunately, he’s spent 30 seconds trying to grab it while muttering to himself under his breath.

Dipping your head to catch his eyes, you look him over while biting your lip slowly. His pupils are a little unfocused and he lifts his head suddenly, losing control immediately and having it roll on his shoulders before he manages to get himself back together.

Chuckling to yourself, you take hold of his hand and direct him to a glass of water. Guiding it back to his mouth, his takes a greedy gulp before grimacing at the liquid.

“S’not good.” It’s perhaps beyond endearing how childish and sweet his voice sounds, but you’re having to battle exasperation as he goes for the beer once more. Placing it on your other side and in front of Yoongi, you turn back to Hoseok and cup his face in your hands.

Peering at him closely, you try to take in the sight and establish whether he should probably go home. Not that you’ve even been here long though.

“Are you okay Hoseok?” You ask sweetly, giving him an encouraging smile as he blinks rapidly in an attempt to focus his eyes. A low hum leaves him, the only way you can tell he’s even done that is from the vibration in his jaw.

His head is heavy now, as he’s leaning into your touch with a dopey looking smile that when combined with his now closing eyelids makes him look beyond drunk. Hoseok has a pretty smile, and you can’t help but be amused that he’s pretty even when inebriated like this. A confounding mix of angles and softness.

“Is he alright?” Taehyung asks from across the table, nodding to Hoseok with a frown of concern on his brow. The others nearby all look over and eye Hoseok closely before looking at you with raised brows, and you feel a little proud that no one was trying to encourage Hoseok to drink even more.

If anything, people had been bemused by his presence tonight before slipping into roles that made him feel comfortable out of his comfort zone. And while it was amusing for everyone to see that their quiet colleague was a complete lightweight, it also inspired the caretaker spirit in practically everyone.

No one wanted Hoseok to get hurt or be sad.

“I think he is. Just...a little bit gone right now. I’ve been trying to ply him with water but...I don’t think drunk Hobi likes the taste.” A bright peal of laughter leaves you as Taehyung snorts in response, and you don’t see the way Hoseok smiles happily and loosely at the sound.

You do however, see the way his eyes go soft and become filled with a strong emotion you don’t quite understand as he looks at you. As you watch him in turn, he pushes his face back into your hands forcefully like a dog that’s been neglected. You can’t help but squeeze his cheeks and laugh as he pouts his lips like a fish for you before making bubble noises through those pursed lips.

“He’s pretty cute drunk.”

“You’re cute.” Hoseok blurts out, a hand coming up to cup your own face. Or at least, he probably intended that but the smarting of your skin tells you that he doesn’t quite realise his strength right now. You can’t find it in you to be mad though when he’s giving you that sweet smile once more. “I like you.”

“He’s more vocal when wasted, that’s for sure.” Taehyung observes, lifting his own bottle to his lips before taking a long swig and averting his eyes back to you. “Maybe he’ll tell us something interesting. Drunken minds speak sober words and all that.”

You roll your eyes in response as you let go of Hoseok’s face, patting his surprisingly firm thigh in consolation. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just mad that Jimin made him go to an Elton John concert.”

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with Elton. Do not insult my man like that!” Jimin is pretty loud when he’s been drinking, though he is normally so his current decibel level is probably approaching airplane level. He’s pointing at you from his position directly opposite you, eyes squinting beneath his blonde fringe and glasses.

“There’s nothing wrong with Elton...but it’s just not Tae’s music at all. And you’ve made him listen to the man all week since the concert. Don’t complain if he goes all red rum on you tonight.” Tae is smirking at that, looking at his partner with a cocky look that has you snorting as you take a drink.

Your decision about whether to take Hoseok home is made though when he suddenly swings an arm over your chest, knocking you back into your seat with a cringing face to avoid being whacked while he points at Jimin. Or rather...he’s pointing past Jimin but you get his point.

“Hey! Lea...Leaff her aloooone. She’s...she’s...perfect.” He’s slurring his words and you can’t help but laugh quietly at the way he ends his sentence abruptly with a satisfied nod and tiny smile. Looking back at Jimin and Taehyung, you watch as they both bite on their lips as they try their hardest to hold in their laughs.

Neither obviously wants to hurts Hoseok’s suddenly bold feelings. Doesn’t mean Jimin isn’t going to tease him a bit.

Grinning at the drunk man, he rests his chin on his hand on the table and wiggles his brows. “She’s perfect huh? Tell us more Hoseok.” His eyes are dark in the crappy lighting of the bar, but you’re scowling at him immediately at the mischievous look on his face.

There’s silence from Hoseok for a few moments; the only sounds the eager buzz of conversations from everyone around you along with the music blasting out of the speakers strategically placed around the room.

But you can see Jimin’s question working its way through his mind slowly and you wonder what he’s going to answer with. After it seems like perhaps he didn’t hear, or maybe he even just forgot the question halfway through thinking of an answer, you lean forward to tell him that he doesn’t need to talk if he doesn’t want to.

Only he practically shouts out his answer. And it makes you recoil in response, not only because he was loud as fuck but also just because of what he said.

“She’s beautiful,” He nods happily, eyes closing while he brilliantly stunning smile of his own spreads over his face until it feels like his entire expression has been lightened with invisible rays of a sun you can’t see. “And pretty and smart and funny. She’s...nice. I like you. A lot.”

It’s like you’re suddenly underwater with how your body feels like it’s been dunked underneath, the bizarre sensation of static rolling through you while your hearing vanishes as you sit there in shock. He can’t mean that, he’s just drunk. That’s all it is. He’ll probably start regaling Jimin with how much he likes him too soon.

Only that doesn’t happen, and before you can say anything further Hoseok grabs your hand clumsily. Giving you the sweetest smile that makes your heart thump and your breath shorten because of how god damn beautiful it makes him look. It’s just not fair that he can make you feel like this.

“I’m a coward. I should’ve...should’ve said yes.” The two look a little confused at Hoseok’s answer, but you know damn well what he means and it makes your breath stutter as you press a hand to your chest. Is he...is he really talking about that day in the office?

“Okay Hoseok, I think we should get you home. Sober you up a bit before you say something you’re going to regret.” You said with a forced smile, looking at the other two with a glare that tells them to shut the fuck up if they want to live. They take your advice by miming zipping their lips.

Lightly pushing at Hoseok’s waist, and boy do you try to ignore the fact his waist is just as firm as his thigh, you slowly manage to get him standing. Well..he’s heavily leaning against you and swaying like he’s on the Titanic while he struggles to keep his head upright. But he’s up at least.

“I’m going to take him home, it’s been nice tonight guys and please don’t re-enact Fight Club again. Jimin...you whined about that black eye for a week and despite your pleadings, it was in fact a pole that you face planted and not Brad Pitt’s fist. Stay safe.” You say to everyone, waving at them while you wrap an arm around Hoseok’s waist and grab his jacket.

He hiccups in your arms before giving a ridiculously bright and happy goodbye to everyone and waving his arms stupidly in the arm. “Bye bye! I love you.”

Almost immediately he has everyone cooing and laughing over him, while Jimin snorts out a laugh and almost chokes on his vodka shot. “Hey Hoseok! Remember to tell her how you feel!”

Glaring at him, you mime your finger cutting over your throat at him as you try to usher Hoseok away while praying that the drunk man in your arms had been too busy trying to catch invisible butterflies to listen to his shit stirring colleague.

It takes you a good few minutes to direct him out of the bar and even longer to get him to your car. You’d pushed away most of the drinks tonight and nursed your one with the knowledge that you’d driven Hoseok here, and so would have to drive home.

Though, if you’d known Hoseok would be this much of a handful then you would have suggested taking a taxi instead. As it is, you’d had to chase after him when he’d gone drunkenly skipping down the road singing loudly to the Catchy Song from LEGO Movie 2 after you’d unlocked and opened the car for him.

And that was nothing compared to actually driving him back, in which he proceeded to sing Bohemian Rhapsody as loud as he possibly could get. All the parts of it as well; both high and low notes along with the guitar solo too.

You’d be more annoyed if it wasn’t for the fact he was simply charming with his eyes closed and face straining even redder than it had been as he put in maximum effort. The good news, thankfully, was that Hoseok had a surprisingly good singing voice; light enough to hit the high notes with ease but with an astounding huskiness when dropping low.

It was kind of captivating, and you half wanted to encourage him to sing more when he was sober. Though you definitely had a feeling that singing was something only drunk Hobi did...or alone at home Hoseok.

He spends the whole trip back trying to get you involved, slurring out your name repeatedly in the most delightful whine while his hands insistently pat at your arm. You finally give in when Bang Bang Bang comes on because that’s your true bop and how on earth are you meant to resist Hoseok bouncing in the car?

Ideally you would, because it’s dangerous, but you discover that singing for him makes him get an absolutely enchanting smile as he just watches you with big, glassy eyes that shine brightly beneath his glasses with every street light that passes by.

He quietens down as you get nearer to his apartment complex, going a little melancholy again and you frown in worry as he plays with a piece of fluff on his jeans. When you park your car in the spot he’d told you was good before leaving, you turn to look at him in the dim light of the nearby lamp post.

Hoseok’s lips do the sweetest thing when he’s pouting, whether it’s because he’s concentrating or upset about something. Every time, he’ll purse them together and they’ll almost meet up in the middle, creating a heart wrenchingly cute triangle of lips that you often get the biggest urge to kiss.

Like right now, when his long eyelashes are creating feathery shadows on his rounded cheeks, still red from his alcohol intake.

Switching the engine off, you pull out your keys and shift to face him. He carefully avoids your gaze and all hints of the extroverted drunk he’d been for the last fifteen minutes has vanished into thin air. What’s left is an even more shy version of his normal self.

Smiling softly, you reach out and take his hand before shaking it a few times playfully. “Come on Hoseok, we’re at your place now. I need to get you to your apartment okay?”

Hoseok watches you for a moment, his eyes scanning you all over before he nods slowly. You can practically see his thoughts running, perhaps not a million miles a minute given his inebriated state but fast enough that they’re running at least.

Finally, he nods in an over exaggerated fashion and you smile at him before getting out. It’s a bit of effort to get him out of the car without smashing the car next to yours, as apparently he’s forgotten how to walk or something and you end up half dragging him along to the door.

There’s a moment of panic when you wonder if you’re going to have to bring him back to your place when he just stares at the keypad for the longest time with narrowed eyes. As if the keypad had done something to personally offend him.

But then he’s practically stabbing the buttons with his finger, inputting his code while his tongue sticks out adorably from the corner of his mouth. Seriously, how on earth is a 30-year-old man this precious and cute?

He finally gets the code right and looks at you with such a bright smile of happiness, giggling to himself as you direct him inside with both hands on his waist as you push him from behind. “I like you.”

“I like you too Hoseok, now come on. We’re almost there.” You knew what apartment number he lived at thankfully, not only because his name was next to the list of occupants just inside the door but also because he’d told you once. And you remembered the little things he told you because you were completely whipped for this teddy bear of a man.

“No. No, I like you.” He over-enunciates too much with his head rolling on his shoulders as he tries to look back at you, causing you to chuckle and direct him finally to his door. It takes a few minutes of semi-quiet arguing over which gummy bear tastes best, why on earth he suddenly got that in his head you don’t know, before he finally inputs his door code.

And then promptly falls flat on his face when he trips over the entrance way while trying to slide off his shoes, causing you to snort attractively as you try to prevent your laughter at him. He lays there for a moment before a quiet whining leaves him, causing you to frown immediately and wonder if he’s hurt himself.

His wooden floor looks hard, and you’ll be damned if you let Hoseok break his pretty nose on your watch.

“Hey, are you okay? Is something hurting? Have you hurt yourself?” Concern laces your words as you toe off your shoes and kneel down next to him, resting a hand on his lower back while your other slowly pushes at his shoulder.

Hoseok groans quietly before bringing his arms up and resting his head on them, blinking up at your blearily before he lets out a deep sigh. “‘m sorry.” He mumbles, lips pursing in a pout once more.

Sighing at his rapidly changing moods, you gently tug on his arm as you finally manage to get him back to his feet. “What are you sorry for exactly? You’ve not done anything wrong.”

Even drunk, he knows the way to his bedroom and you keep him steady until he finally flops back onto his bed. You ponder for a moment if you should try and undress him, get him into the shirt and sweatpants that are folded neatly on the chair nearby but he’s already getting droopy eyes as his body relaxes into his bed.

“Okay, come on. Move over a bit, I need to get the covers over you.” He’ll be uncomfortable in the morning in his jeans but...well you’re definitely not close enough to be taking those off yet. Hoseok huffs and puffs as you maneuver him around the bed until finally he’s snuggled up underneath his covers, the sheets pressed against his chin.

“I’m sorry.” He says once more and you frown, kneeling down at the side of his bed and resting your head on your arms. Up close, you can see the softness to his beautiful mahogany eyes in the light from his lamp, his skin golden and clear.

Lips tugging up into a smile, you observe the way his cheeks are even softer and rounder, his left side squished into the pillow and causing his lip to pucker slightly. You were already head over heels for him, despite your best intentions, and you definitely didn’t need this adorable sight either.

“Why do you keep apologising Hoseok?” A hand reaches up to run through his soft locks without your permission, but your loathe to stop when he lets out a contented hum, eyes falling closed while his lips press together into a tiny smile that causes his dimples to appear.

“Cos I’m a coward.”

“And why are you a coward? You’re shy, yes, but brave when you need to be.” The words of consolation fall from your lips easily, unwilling to hear Hoseok put himself down like this. He shakes his head beneath your hand almost petulantly.

Yes, you quite like drunk Hoseok.

“I wasn’t brave that...that day. S’was a coward.” You freeze subtly at his words, a tiny crease in your brow if you wonder if he really is talking about the day you’d made a fool of yourself. Or had you? Was he saying that you hadn’t taken everything the wrong way? That you were right and he’d just chickened out?

“I love you,” The words are slow and filled with sleep, his eyes blinking tiredly at you as he curls into a tighter ball under the covers. Your own eyes must be as wide as dinner plates right now, with your mouth doing a grand impression of the opera singer in The Fifth Element as your brain struggles to process what he just said. “But you’re too good.”

Part of you wants to shake him back into alertness and pour a litre of water down his neck to sober him up, but the other part of you is just in shock. Are these drunken ramblings, or are they nuggets of truth that he’s blurting out now he has no filter attached?

“Okay Hoseok, I think you need to go to sleep sweetheart. We can talk about this when you’re sober if you want, this is a serious topic.” He frowns immediately as you move to get up, hand moving surprisingly fast to grip your wrist with a light touch.

You feel warm where his hand touches, obscenely warm and you’re sure that your cheeks are just as warm too.

“Don’t go. Stay. Please.” His voice is slightly whining, strangely high pitched yet hoarse and deep at the same time. It makes your heart clench and your stomach flip as your breath stutters with the way he looks at you intensely, strong brows coming together.

“Hoseok...I can’t-” You go to deny him only to sigh at the puppy dog eyes he starts to give you, squinting slightly as he probably can’t see you properly without his glasses on. “Okay. I’ll stay on the couch. Just because I don’t want you to like...vomit and choke in your sleep or something, yeah?”

He doesn’t respond verbally, just nodding slowly and watching as you stand up and look down at him. Hoseok is taller than you, something that always makes you feel small yet his calming and pleasing presence always makes that height feel safe.

But now...now he looks vulnerable and tiny in front of you and your heart swells three sizes in only a second. Sunmi was right dammit, you really were Marvel Cinematic Universe level of fucked when it came to him.

Your heart being the MCU and Hoseok being Thanos with a 50/50 chance of causing your metaphorical death.

Because, as you leave him to doze off and root around his cupboards to find spare blankets and a pillow, you realise that Jung Hoseok can either make your heart soar and bring excitement and joy into your life. Or he can crush you like an ant under his shoe.

But, as you begin to drift off yourself on his surprisingly comfortable couch, a strange thought runs through your head that causes you to feel a little bit of hope. He might be drunk, but maybe his comments mean that you hold the same power over him.

You just hope that sober Hoseok can find some of drunk Hoseok’s bravery to broach the topic again, because you don’t want to push him when he’s not ready. That had happened before, and it hadn’t worked. He had to come to you, on his own terms. Even if you were about ready to get on your knees and beg him.

Anyone else who had got as drunk as Hoseok would probably have spent the entire morning passed out in bed; mouth open, drool everywhere and unattractive snores leaving them. But Jung Hoseok was one of the most unique people you’d ever met, and that apparently applied to his morning after the night before habits.

Which was why you were woken up at 9am by the smell of crisp bacon and rich coffee along with the generic sounds of someone in the kitchen. Something you haven’t woken up to in a long time if you were being honest, and it made your stomach feel funny.

Particularly when you blink blearily, groaning softly through the pain of yesterday’s mascara clumping your lashes together. You’d have remembered to take your make off...if you’d actually remembered. Or if Hoseok had make up remover, and you were pretty positive he didn’t.

But what really makes it feel like Ant-Man himself is running around your insides is the cup of coffee steaming on the table in front of you. It’s in a Shaun of the Dead mug, his favourite movie, and you can’t help but smile as you rub at your face before taking it and sipping.

Whatever brand of coffee he uses tastes amazing, which is surprising given he prefers to drink tea in the office. In fact, you’re perhaps more than surprised as he’s managed to make it perfectly frothy and you swear you can taste vanilla and caramel in it.

You must have been deep in your coffee feels because you don’t notice when Hoseok quietly creeps into the living room until he’s handing you a plate filled with bacon and eggs. Eggs done exactly the way you like them, just as you always ask when you go to the crappy diner near work for a grease filled lunch.

“Oh...thank you.” You manage to get out, taking another swallow of coffee before putting the mug down on his Yoshi placemat and placing the plate on your lap. He doesn’t say anything for a moment and just nods before spearing a piece of bacon with his own fork.

Yet again, another hum of satisfaction leaves you as you chew the bacon before taking a scooping of eggs. “Did you add something to this?” You gestured with the tines of your fork before taking another mouthful and watching him.

His cheeks are stuffed full of food, causing him to give you wide eyes from beneath his glasses as he gives you the perfect impression of a hamster. Another forkful of bacon helps you to keep control of your face to prevent yourself from grinning at him.

He’d obviously taken a shower before cooking as his hair is inky black with the strands wet and sleek while his face has the fresh glow of someone who’s scrubbed hard. A faded Queen shirt adorns his torso and you snort lightly at the memory of him singing last night. His casual look is completed with the pair of grey sweatpants.

“Err...I cooked the bacon with maple syrup...and added pepper to the eggs. I know you like that.” Hoseok’s words are soft and light, like he’s not sure he wants to raise his voice higher and you nod happily.

“It’s delicious. You’ve never told me you can cook.”

“You never asked.” Snorting, you nod your head slowly and point your utensil at him in acknowledgement. He was right there, you hadn’t. Because you’d never had a reason to ask before.

There’s a silence that should be awkward between you both after that, and yet you feel at complete ease with him. It’s during this that you take the time to look around his apartment to get a feel for who Jung Hoseok is as a person. Homes are where people feel safe and comfortable and they often end up being reflections of their inner selves.

It’s perhaps unsurprising then that Hoseok’s apartment is small, yet unbelievably cosy and just...Hoseok.

There’s a huge, top-of-the-range television screen that takes up the wall in front of you with a Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch set-up underneath it. The wall to your right is taken up with big glass doors that lead out to a small balcony, a few potted plants dotted around with cute video game characters sitting in amongst the flowers such as Link and Mario.

The wall to the left is just three bookshelves in a row that fill the whole space with plenty of storage. The top two rows of each are filled to the brim with books of various authors, from classics such as Homer’s Odyssey to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The shelf below that on all three shelving units contains a range of games for his consoles while the remaining three shelves are dedicated to Blu-Ray’s and DVDs.

It’s the collection of an introverted geek, and it tells you so much.

Placing your now empty plate down on his coffee table, carefully avoiding the small stack of books he’s obviously in the process of reading, you stand and move over to his shelves. His artwork around the room is minimal, with two matching framed retro style Star Wars posters adorning either side of his television.

On the one wall behind his sofa there’s a cool looking wood print that’s split into three blocks, depicting the futuristic world of Blade Runner. Combined with the fascinating array of toys that are dotted around the room, from the Funko collection of Game of Thrones characters to his Marvel Hot Toys, it’s like getting to see the Hoseok he keeps hidden from the world.

And it’s wonderful.

“I love your decorating, and all your nerd memorabilia. It’s so cool.” You say quietly, moving over to the bookshelves to run your fingers along the spines of his books and taking in the toys. He’s got so many, yet they’re artfully displayed in the exact right ways so that it doesn’t feel that there are too many.

Interspersed are a few pictures of Hoseok and what you presume to be his family; an older man with Hoseok’s smile, a beautiful older woman with Hoseok’s eyes and an astonishingly pretty girl that you presume to be his sister that he’s mentioned before. There’s a few others from what you guess is college, with his face looking more youthful than it does now and you smile at seeing Namjoon and Seokjin in some of them.

“You don’t think it’s too dumb?”

Frowning at him, you shake your head and crouch down to inspect his film collection. “Hell no. You’re talking to the person who nerds out over films all the time. This is totally awesome and I wish that I’d made mine more like this. Instead, I thought I’d try and be all ‘Instagram’ cool and now it looks like the inside of an IKEA catalogue.”

“I like your Instagram.” He mutters and you laugh softly.

“Yeah? It’s the fairy lights right? They sure do give a good aesthetic to stuff. You should try putting some in here, I bet you could get some beautiful shots with those as well.” Hoseok lets out a chuff of laughter as he stands and takes your plate before heading into the kitchen.

When he comes out, you’re sat cross legged on the floor and admiring his collection of steelbook Steven Spielberg films, each one portraying a beautiful work of art. He sits next to you and smiles before handing you a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, causing you to flush as you suddenly remember your appearance.

“Is this your subtle hint to tell me that I need to clean up?” His lips part in a beautiful smile as he ducks his head, cheeks reddening.

“Well...as charming as I find the Quiet look, I think you probably want to feel a little fresher. It’s a new toothbrush, don’t worry. I wouldn’t make you use mine, that’s...so gross.” He looks disturbed at the thought and you smile, leaning forward to peck his cheek without even thinking.

“Was that a Metal Gear Solid 5 reference?” You tease before you’re up and bounding to where you’d seen his bathroom was last night.

Partly because you really need to pee, but also to get away from the mortification of the fact that you just kissed him and he’d looked like Hercules the first time he sees Megara. You’re sure that one day you’ll stop dropping yourself into it like this, but you’re not sure when that day will be because it’s certainly not now.

It’s only as you’re frantically scrubbing at your face with his peach facial scrub, which was surprising that he owned that but it is the 21st century and men like nice skin too, that you wonder what the hell you’re doing. You would have left last night if you hadn’t been worried he might vomit and die...or that he’d asked you so cutely to stay.

Scowling into the mirror as you brush your teeth, you wonder if Hoseok knows just how jumbled up he’s got you feeling. Sometimes it’s like you can tell he likes you as far more than a friend but then other times he recoils into himself and you’re left wondering if maybe you’d just imagined it all. If he wasn’t so sweet then you’d be even more frustrated with him.

Honestly, if he wasn’t just...himself then you’d have given up on him long ago.

But you’d been loathe to give up on your feelings for someone who was evidently struggling to come to terms with their own.

By the time you feel somewhat human after scrubbing your body with a clean towel you’d grabbed on the way in, you head back out to find him sat quietly on the couch. For a few seconds, you think that he’s just sat doing nothing and waiting for you to finish but you then catch sight of the Nintendo 3DS in his hands and chuckle loudly.

The noise makes him start, jumping with a bewildered expression on his face before he’s blinking up at you owlishly. His hair has dried by now and looks so unbelievably fluffy and soft that you have to physically clench your hands to prevent the urge to run your fingers through it till he’s purring.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, no. I-it’s okay. I was just...p-playing Pokémon.” He stutters out and you wonder why he’s doing that all of a sudden. Hoseok has become pretty comfortable with you lately, to the point his nerves triggered stutter has almost vanished so why he’s nervous now you don’t know.

In an effort to calm him, you give him a warm smile and shift until you’re facing him on the couch, foot underneath you while your knee gently presses into his thigh. You’d be lying if you didn’t say you weren’t hyper-aware of that contact, and from the way his leg tenses and his eyes keep darting down, you think he is too.

“Oh yeah? Which one? Pokémon Silver is one of my favourite games ever.” His eyes flick back up to you before a hesitant smile winds its way across his face prettily.

“Yellow. I downloaded it a few months ago a-and forgot about it until recently. It’s hard.” You nod understandingly, a hand moving of its own accord to rest on the warm skin of his forearm. Almost immediately, you can both see and feel the muscles of his arm moving underneath your fingertips and your breath hitches.

There’s nothing between you both for a moment before Hoseok suddenly takes a ridiculously deep breath, almost as if he’s getting ready for something and you frown at him both concern and amusement.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Ilikeyou.” The words come out fast and thick, to the point that you can’t even really understand what he’d just said. It was some unintelligible syllables, causing your brows to dip in at him. He’s looking at you so earnestly as well, like a puppy who just wants to be praised and loved. You’d totally do it if you knew what he’d said.

“What? I didn’t understand that.” Hoseok’s face falls and that cute pout appears once more and you finally give in to your instincts. Gently poking at his cheeks, you slowly encourage him to smile and give him a grin in response.

“I...I l-like you.”

Oh boy, you want to start doing Spider-Man flips around the room but you control yourself. Admirably well you think, as you place your hand back in your lap. Taking your own breath, that’s oddly shaking with your nerves, you nod slowly.

“Okay. Yeah, you told me this many times last night while drunk. Is this...I like you as a friend or...I like you as more than a friend? Because I don’t want to get the wrong idea again.” You were beyond proud of yourself for how stable your voice sounded when all you wanted was to scream and then Exorcist-style vomit.

Hoseok looks pained for a moment as he closes his 3DS and places it on the small side table next to his couch. “Y-you didn’t have the w-wrong idea the first t-time. I was just...a coward. Who panicked.”

As much as you’d like to scream in frustration at Hoseok’s miscommunication over the months with you, because honestly you could have been dating for months now then, you take a calming breath and centre yourself. You cannot get mad at Hoseok right now, because you know damn well it’ll just send him scurrying off with his fragile feelings.

Not that you’re trying to baby him, but it’s taken him over a year to get to the point that he can feel comfortable to admit this to you. And dear god, you were not going to wait another year.

“So...I was reading the signs right then? You do like me as more than a friend? Because I like you as more than a friend, even if I’ve tried to stop that after you rejected me,” He cringes at that before nodding. “I have to ask then...why did you tell me no? You could have told me yes but that you weren’t ready and I’d have backed off. Have I given the impression that I’m pushy or something?”

Immediately Hoseok is shaking his head and he shifts slightly until he’s almost facing you as well. His own hands come out to grab yours suddenly and you pause, surprised at how forward he’s being but also at how nice his hands feel in your own.

“No! No, god no. In fact, you’ve been amazing. Too amazing. In fact, you probably encouraged my bad habits and I really regret that. I-I’ve spent months agonising over the fact I turned you down and I didn’t even want to. It was like my mouth was suddenly moving and my brain was screaming no. And then you looked so hurt and I felt like the biggest idiot and the worst villain in the world.” He looks heartbroken at that, and you flip his hands until you can cup them in your own with an encouraging smile.

“And then you apologised to me and I wanted to tell you that it was okay and you weren’t wrong. But I chickened out again because I thought you might have gotten over whatever you felt and I liked you too much to not talk to you anymore. And these last few months have been...amazing. Honestly.” He gives you a sweet smile then and your heart flips a few times in response.

Looking down shyly at the sheer affection in his eyes, you bite your lip as you trace over the veins and tendons in his delicate hands. He always has such pretty hands, it’s not fair really.

“Why did you say no then? Besides you apparently being an idiot.” You’re not sure why you want the pain, but you know that the two of you need to get everything out in the open and clear before anything further can happen. Miscommunication detonated your chances months ago, you would be damned if you let it happen again.

Hoseok pauses though, eyes flickering around the room as he obviously carefully chooses his words. Though maybe he should’ve chosen more carefully when you hear what comes out of his mouth next.

“You're intimidating-”

“I'm intimidating?!” You can't help but cut him off, eyes wide while a hint of incredulity threads through your voice. A hand to your chest tried to check whether you feel bizarrely flattered, offended or hurt at his adjective.

Immediately his own eyes widen in horror behind his circular lenses, hair going wild as he shakes his head viciously with his hands out.

“N-no. That's not what I meant! Well I mean, it kind of is. But you're not intimidating like Cara Delevigne's Enchantress where she was just creepy but more like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman. You're intimidating but b-beautiful and c-competent and you make me feel safe.”

While your mind tries to compute that, it snags on one unimportant thing. “Really? Suicide Squad? What is with you and the love for shit DC film's?”

Hoseok scowl immediately. “Wonder Woman is great, don't insult that. You're just a Marvel fangirl.”

“Maybe so. But that's because Marvel doesn't feel the need to make every film's colour palette look like it was filmed in the dark under the sea, or insist that every character has the personality of a walking cardboard box with money and a voice modulator. And I do like DC! I like Wonder Woman and I maintain that The Dark Knight is a cinematic masterpiece.”

The purse to Hoseok's lips tells you he wants to argue but he decides against it, getting the conversation back onto topic. It was his fault for his bizarre DC metaphor though.

“Intimidating to me, because as cliché as it sounds...girls like you don’t fall for guys like me. And I don’t fall for women like you either. I-I...my normal type is like...well...me. I usually date online, where it’s safe. My last girlfriend I actually met was three years ago, and it took four months before I met her. You...you are bold and loud and funny and kind and everyone loves you. You’re everything I’m not.”

Almost immediately you’re shaking your head while rubbing at his hands reassuringly. “Nope, nope. We’re not doing that Hoseok, we’re not putting ourselves down like that. That’s not happening. You’re not bold or loud but you’re sweet and quiet, a reassuring presence to have. You are just as funny as everyone else, it’s just your jokes aren’t as crass as others. You are so unbelievably kind and giving Hoseok. Everyone loves to be near you because you give off an aura of competence and calm. People love you, you just don’t see it.”

It’s possible you could fry an egg on Hoseok’s cheeks now, but you don’t care. You’ll compliment the man till the day you die if it means he’ll look at himself better.

Letting go of his hands, you cup his face sweetly and let your thumbs stroke the soft roundness of his cheeks. “We’re nothing alike and yet we’re so similar. And that’s what I like about you. You bring me peace when I’m nervous and anxious. You make me smile when I’m sad. You give me encouragement when I think I can’t do something. You are honestly, the best part of work because I know every morning that I get to wake up and see your sweet smile. I know you won’t judge me, and you even defend me on occasion with my crappy tastes-”

“They’re not crappy...just...unique.”

“And you’re diplomatic,” You chuckle at him, patting his cheeks happily. “You are so much more than you think you are, and I’m so happy that sober Hoseok has taken some of drunk Hoseok’s bravery for you to finally tell me this. Because I think...I think we could be pretty great together. I mean...if you wanted that.”

There’s an internal war going on in Hoseok right now. You can see the hundreds of micro-emotions flitting across his face as his mind tries to compute what’s going on. That he’s getting what he wanted this whole time.

“Are you sure? I mean...people might laugh at you in the office.”

That gets a deep sigh and an eye roll from you. “Hoseok, if anyone in the office has anything negative to say then I will tell them where to stick it. And I’m pretty sure most of the people in the office ship us together. There’s no way that Jimin hasn’t made a dumb ship name for us yet.”

He lets out a tiny puff of laughter at that and you just know, some part of you just knows that this is going well. It makes you want to be sick with the bees of excitement that buzz in your stomach.

“Please don’t think of yourself like that. You’re not something to be laughed at. Even in your own head. I would be honoured to date you, seriously.”

There’s nothing for a moment and it almost feels like the universe itself is waiting with bated breath for his response. And when it comes, you can’t stop the grin that spreads on your face.

“Okay. Okay...yeah. I..err...will you be my g-girlfriend?” He sounds so shy and yet you can practically feel the hope he’s radiating when he finally gets it out.

“I would love to.” You manage to get out, throat closing in on itself in the effort you give to not shriek out loud in joy and happiness. Instead, you settle for throwing your arms around his shoulders in a tight hug that has him laughing sweetly.

“I feel like a fourteen-year-old.” He mutters into your ear and you snort, shifting yourself closer until you can rest your face in the crook of his neck. He’s warm, and he smells so nice that your stomach squeezes on itself in happiness as it feels like your veins are literally sparkling.

“Me too.” You whisper, almost as if you’re telling him a secret. It must make him happy because his arms tighten around you. It’s amazing sometimes how the right person can make you feel youthful again. Neither of you say anything for a minute or so after that, just enjoying the strange new reality that you’ve both apparently wanted for months, and now suddenly have.

When you pull away, Hoseok’s gaze keeps darting around the room before flicking back to you bashfully. Taking his hand in your own, you carefully twine your fingers together and give his hand a squeeze that has his lips kicking up again. God, you never want to stop seeing those dimples.

“Hey...don’t worry if this feels weird. All new relationships feel weird and we’ll get used to it. Just...you can ask me or tell me anything okay? I’m your friend first.” He nods slowly, letting his other hand trace unseen patterns into the back of your hand before he gives you another smile.

“Can I...I mean...I’d like to…” You wait to see if he can get the words out but he loses his neve halfway through, going quiet while his cheeks turn apple red once more. But you’d seen the way his gaze dropped to your lips beneath the lenses of his glasses and you know what he was asking.

And you were glad he did, because you’ve wanted to do this to him for such a long time. It would have been painful to wait even longer.

Without saying a word, you keep eye contact with him and are beyond surprised when he maintains it firmly. Even when you get closer and closer to him,until finally your lips meet his in a brief and chaste kiss.

It’s over in a second, something that couples give to each other all the time without a second thought. And yet it felt far more intimate than you expected because of the sustained eye contact. Something that made it feel far more personal, and that’s to say nothing of the sensation of his petal soft lips against your own.

Neither of you move, until Hoseok’s hands disengage from yours to cup your face gently. They’re a tiny bit sweaty, yet you can’t find it in yourself to care when he leans forward again and kisses you once more. Only now it’s deeper, the pressure stronger and filled with far more emotion.

His head tilts to the side slightly and you feel the tip of elegant nose bump against your own cheek while his velvet soft lips move against your own. For once, you feel no shyness from Hoseok while he kisses you with far more passion and experience than you’d expected. Which is silly, as you know he’s had girlfriends.

And yet, you don’t care a single bit as he kisses with a year’s worth of pent up emotions that he’d kept hidden. All the frustrations of your miscommunications and his inability to be bold seep through and you soothe them with each movement, each touch of your hands on his waist that tell him silently that it’s okay.

By the time he pulls away, the kiss never deepening further than that, you can already tell that this was going to be one of the best decisions you’d ever made. Hoseok is smiling happily, pressing tiny pecks to your lips as if he can’t stop now that he’s begun. And you’re more than content to let him, wanting perhaps more of him than he’s willing to give right now.

But that’s fine; you’ll wait forever for this man if you have to. Because as you just discovered...he may take a while but when he commits, he commits with so much passion that you can’t even breathe properly.

“Let’s play Mario Kart.” You blurt out, perhaps ruining the intense moment but you had to do it someway. There’s no way that you can cope with the feelings you have for him right now, feelings that are far too strong and intense for a relationship that’s barely five minutes old with someone who’s taken a year to come to terms with himself and his feelings.

And maybe...maybe you’re not ready for that yet either. This thing, this bond you have with Hoseok is special and precious, and you don’t want to rush it.

Your comment throws him for a loop though. The way his brows crease together in confusion before he’s letting out a deep breath slowly, nodding as he lets go of your face. You wonder if you’ll ever get used to just how stunning he is.

“Yeah...okay. If you want. I’m playing Peach though.” Letting go of his waist, you watch as he shuffles to the end of the couch before stopping suddenly and looking back at you with a look of complete awe that morphs into a shy smile. It’s like he wants to say something, but he shakes his head and instead just leans back to kiss your nose endearingly.

He gets up then and begins to sort out the Switch, leaving you to watch him with what is possibly the sappiest expression you’ve ever had.

Yeah, you think you could get used to this. Easily. Because if there’s something you’ve discovered over your time knowing him, it was that Jung Hoseok was hard to understand at first, but so unbelievably easy to love.

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