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“Dude, no” Yoongi says, hoping to get across a sense of finality. He once again glances at the cat being cuddled in it’s holders arms, “no way in hell.”
The need to close the door in order to escape the situation is very much present, but so is Jungkook’s pout as he snuggles the cat even closer to his chest.
“But you said I could count on you.”
Yoongi raises an eyebrow, clearly not remembering saying anything of the sort, especially with one of Satan’s close relatives. “Did I?”
“At Jin’s party, a week ago” Jungkook answers almost automatically. And when Yoongi’s face shows no sign of recognition he adds, “we were on the balcony.”
Suddenly the memories of a few nights ago flood Yoongi’s mind in sequence; the pot, the shitty music, Taehyung cuddling his pet snake on the couch, drunk Namjoon lecturing an equally drunk Jimin about the use of pronouns, Yoongi stumbling towards the balcony loosely gripping roll-ups in his hand, Jungkook mumbling things about his college debt in the crook of his neck.
Yoongi winces.
He may or may not recall dramatically delivering a speech to Jungkook about ‘always being here for you no matter what happens’. It surely was the result of smoking Taehyung’s questionable weed, but also maybe, possibly, definitely the result of Jungkook’s soft lips on his neck, his mouth set in a pout as he spoke, leaving small puffs of hot air on Yoongi’s skin, almost making him forget that they were out in the cold air of November.
So maybe he did imply that Jungkook could count on him, but he certainly wasn’t in the right headspace and can’t be held accountable for whatever he was blabbering about.
“I take that back,” Yoongi suddenly blurts out.
He knows that he sounds harsh, but no matter how much Yoongi likes Jungkook, and he certainly likes him a lot, cat-sitting was definitely out of the question.
Returning back to pouting as much as he physically could, Jungkook lifted the cat and shoving it right into Yoongi’s face. “But look how cute she is!”
Granted ‘ She ’ isn’t the ugliest cat in the world, but she’s certainly not far off, in Yoongi’s opinion; Half of one of her ears is missing and her dirty yellow coat reminds him of the awful colour of urine.
But that wasn’t the point. Even if the cat was beautiful, Yoongi couldn’t stay near it, so he takes a step back.
Undeterred by Yoongi backing off, Jungkook persists, “she just needs some love.”
The cat’s face remains mainly blank, darting her pink tongue out as she just stares at him with her big eyes, content in being handled by Jungkook’s soft hands. She looks somewhat smug being cradled lovingly by Jungkook, and honestly Yoongi is high key jealous.
“She looks evil.”
Jungkook quirks an eyebrow, clearly amused, “I thought you weren’t one to judge a book by it’s cover, hyung.”
A short silence follows where Yoongi just stares back at the cat, considering the pros and cons of keeping her. Honestly, he’s mad at himself for even considering it.
It’s just, Jungkook looks absolutely enamored by the damn cat. And even though Yoongi frankly hates the idea of cat-sitting and is extremely anxious at the thought of it sparking an allergic reaction, he can’t help but feel at least a little bit touched that Jungkook considered him first for this, surely that must mean something, right? So is he really going to break the boy’s heart by saying he’s allergic to cats when keeping the cat could in fact bring him closer to Jungkook?
The idiot in him, which admittedly is a big part of him, thinks that this can’t be that bad of an idea.
Would it kill him if he had to keep it for a few days? Probably.
Yoongi has never really experienced a full-blown allergic reaction so he wouldn’t be a hundred percent sure, but he’s pretty sure allergies can be quite bad. If maybe he kept his distance with the damn thing, he would be fine. Yeah. He’ll be fine.
His pondering silence makes Jungkook’s eyes sparkle with hope, “Is that a yes?”
“I hate you.”
He initially regrets his decision, but that’s soon forgotten once he sees Jungkook’s face breaking into a gleeful grin, growing larger and larger if possible. Suddenly, Jungkook engulfs him into a hug, the cat pressed between their two chests, and Yoongi has definitely lost the ability to function.
“Thank you hyung,” Jungkook says, his words amplified by the close proximity of his mouth to Yoongi’s ear.
Jungkook then reaches for the bag full of what Yoongi supposes are cat stuff and promptly hands it over to the elder. The cat is then delicately passed into his free hand, Jungkook’s hands brushing against his skin and Yoongi hates himself for even noticing their softness.
Yoongi lowered his head to the cat’s level, surprised by her lack of agitation. He deeply hoped it will stay this way for the remainder of her stay. Which reminded him of the fact that he didn’t know exactly why he has to play dad.
“Why do you even have it in the first place?”
Jungkook shifts awkwardly, “I’ll tell you after, I’m gonna be late now,” he says, and then adds “I’ll come this weekend after my shift ends, okay?” There is a sudden shyness in his voice that makes him sound hesitant, contrasting drastically to the enthusiasm with which he showed up with.
Yoongi closes his mouth and nods.
With one last smile Jungkook turns around and makes his way to the staircase, leaving Yoongi standing still in the doorway, staring into the distance. Shutting the door, he quickly releases the cat on the floor, careful not to bring his hands to his face and then sighs.
Yoongi blinks at the cat. The cat blinks back.
“It’s just me and you, I guess,” he says awkwardly.
As if on cue, the cat scuttles to hide beneath the sofa.
“Great.”
//
Normal illnesses can be anticipated to come in waves however, allergies come completely haphazardly. None of Yoongi’s symptoms appeared in the first twenty-four hours; it almost made him believe that some kind of miracle had occurred and he had suddenly turned immune to cats’ allergens, later he would reflect on his childish naivety to think such a thing.
Of course they eventually appear, slowly but surely, right as Yoongi was slaving away in his studio, working on a new track for the gig next saturday. The pain and itch in his throat built up as if they were a slowly forming bruise, shortly followed by the swelling of his eyes and nose; succeeding in shattering the suspense created regarding when and how his symptoms would kick in.
Surely this had to be some kind of sign from God... no?
It was in his last year of University, the last time Yoongi suffered an allergic reaction to a cat, when he had learnt the hard way that the neighbour’s cat enjoyed curling up into his pile of clean and fresh clothes. He still remembers pulling on a clean pair of jeans and then somehow ending up with a flaming rash covering his skin. He was sure to move out from his old apartment straight after graduation.
The point being that it has been a long time, several years even, since Yoongi has had to take any medication for his allergy. Fortunately, he’s pretty sure he still has a bottle of his meds lying around somewhere, if he remembers correctly. It was one of the things that Yoongi decided to take with him when he moved out of his old place.
With that in mind, Yoongi rummaged through his supplies in the bathroom cabinet, looking for his antihistaminic. Once he found them, he quickly checked the expiration date on the bottom of the container.
He shrugged.
Expiration dates are just a product of consumer society and capitalism anyways.
//
Yoongi’s eyes snapped open at the sound of his studio door being slammed open, not realising he had even dozed off. The most unfortunate side effect of the medication was easily the severe drowsiness he always experienced after taking it.
Looking towards the source of the offending noise that woke him up, he saw a silhouette that vaguely resembled his best friend. He sat up straighter in his seat, releasing his tight grip on the armrests from when he was startled awake. As his eyes started to better adjust to the light, he could identify that it was in fact Hoseok who had woken him up.
His studio was not supposed to be a public space, everyone knew that. Well, maybe everyone except Hoseok. Yoongi should definitely make it a no-Hoseok zone by changing his passcode to something less obvious.
When it’s obvious that Hobi isn’t coming any further into the room, Yoongi sighs and twists his chair around to face him, still rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes, “What do you want?”
“Why is there a cat in your apartment?” Hoseok asks, tone lower than usual, leaning against the doorframe in an attempt to convey his desire for a serious conversation.
It has the effect of waking Yoongi up almost immediately. Straightening up in his chair Yoongi swallows, “Because I love them… and their cute…little.…uh.… nose.”
“Yoongi, you’re allergic to cats.”
"No, I'm not," he immediately argues, and looks away.
On a scale of how convincing he is, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, Yoongi would have to give himself a solid -3.
It’s not hard to see that Yoongi is lying. They both have been friends since high school, and Hoseok had definitely been around the older long enough to be able to tell when he was lying. He simply raises an eyebrow at Yoongi, "I'm sure everybody knows that you’re allergic to cats,” he pauses for emphasis, ”except maybe Jung--"
"Don’t,” Yoongi interrupts, leaning back into his chair, groaning. "Don’t say it out loud, It makes everything seem so much fucking worse."
Hoseok huffs. “This is crazy, you know that, right?"
Yoongi shrugs and look away.
"Why do you even have it?"
Yoongi plays with his fingers and mumbles, "Jungkook.”
“Come again?” Hoseok inquires.
"It's Jungkook’s!" he says more clearly now, finally looking up to meet Hoseok's eyes.
Hoseok's face breaks out into a grin. "Interesting."
“Don’t you dare tell him.”
Hoseok looks at him, amused. “Are you gonna wait 'til you're half dead on your couch to tell him?"
Yoongi crosses his arms on his chest, “I'm doing fine now."
“Sure,” Hoseok says, tilting his head. "Your face just looks like its been stung by a dozen of bees but sure, must just be a nice new makeup routine?"
Maybe Yoongi noticed that the medication he takes aren’t as effective as they were before, but he isn’t going to voice that thought. Instead he rolls his eyes, "I just need to take my medication again, and then I'll be fine."
"You can be incredibly optimistic when you want to be."
Yoongi just shrugs and looks down at his feet, not knowing how to respond.
It’s not like he didn’t consider all of the possibilities of how all of this is gonna end. He was just afraid to upset Jungkook by rejecting his request.
"You know that saying no wouldn’t make Jungkook dislike you?" Hoseok says, as if reading his thoughts.
Yoongi blinks back at him and huffs indignantly “Who said anything about about liking ?”
Honestly, Yoongi would do anything for this conversation to end, right now, before it took a worse turn.
Hoseok snorts and finally stands up properly from his leant position against the doorframe, "Alright, ring me up when you’re about to actually die, I'll come and save you from your own stupidity."
//
Sleep doesn’t come easily to Yoongi that night, the main cause being Hoseok’s words playing on repeat in his head, like an annoying bubblegum pop song, over and over slowly driving him insane.
“You know that saying no wouldn’t make Jungkook dislike you?”
Yoongi has been pining long enough to know his chances with Jungkook are poor, if not completely non-existent. If something could even slightly increase his chances he would do it without any doubt. So, Yoongi was definitely keeping the god forsaken cat, no matter the cost.
//
Jungkook dropped by his apartment after his shift like promised, claiming his usual spot on the couch, the cat perched in his lap as he lovingly pet her chin. Leaving Yoongi to miserably fold his laundry in the corner of the room.
“Care to enlighten me about why you are now a father to a stray cat?” Yoongi asks.
Jungkook blinks at him before answering, “She's been roaming near campus for around a month now. So I just took her in to warm her up and ended up keeping her," he shrugs.
The cold weather could be deadly at this time of the year, so Yoongi understands the act. Any person with a conscience would have probably done the same thing, even himself. Except that, he would have probably taken it to the shelter instead of bringing it home, considering his allergies.
“Why are you keeping her here though? not that I mind but…”
This question seems to bother Jungkook because he picks at his fingernails and fidgets in his seat, mouth set into a thin line. “It wasn’t going well, you know, with Tae’s snake being at home too,” he finally says, then looks away. “They attacked each other. So I thought about bringing her here instead.”
Yoongi gapes at him and then nods, until he feels the familiar and unpleasant itch in his throat and then coughs, several times. The coughs were coming thick and fast, making it hard for him to get enough air.
Jungkook frowns, sitting still, “Are you okay?” he asks. “You’re quite red in the face.”
Yoongi gives up on folding his laundry and instead slumps pathetically onto the couch with a groan. He cautiously glances at the cat before looking up at Jungkook, “I must have caught a cold, or something” he lies, and coughs a few times to reinforce his point.
“Oh, Do you want me to stay here?” Jungkook asks quickly, then blushes at the implication of his own words, “I mean, wouldn’t it be hard for you to take care of her if you are ill?”
‘What would do me good would be to get rid of the cat altogether’ is what Yoongi wants to say, but instead holds up his hands, shaking them, “No! No way. You go to college. I’ll be fine.”
The last thing Yoongi needed was for Jungkook to see him with swollen, teary eyes and snot cascading from his nose during an allergy attack.
Jungkook presses his lips into a thin line, clearly conflicted between the want to stay here and the need to leave in order not to fuck up his entire college schedule. And honestly, Yoongi wished Jungkook would be less stubborn just this one time. He didn’t.
“Will you still be able to perform at the gig next Saturday?”
Yoongi had almost forgotten about that. The song still had to be perfected and he was already late.
“Of course,” he says, but still nods hesitantly. “Are you coming?”
Jungkook smiles knowingly, “Only if you come to my football game.”
“It’s a deal.”
Yoongi would not miss his chance to freely fanboy over Jungkook without being questioned.
Jungkook starts to chew his bottom lip, the frown still visible on his face. “Yoongi?” he asks, making the older turn his head in a swift move. “You know you can count on me, right?”
“Uh?” is all Yoongi could express.
“I mean--, fuck,” Jungkook says, and then pets the cat’s chin, eliciting a long purring from her. “I know you already said I could count on you, but I want you to know that it’s reciprocal.”
Yoongi nods, a small shy smile on his lips. “Is it?” he asks teasingly.
Jungkook feels the blood rush to his cheeks and then proceeds to kick Yoongi’s chest “Oh, fuck you.”
That’s when Yoongi notices the domesticity of the scene. Jungkook has a lap full of a sneaky cat, he’s laughing on Yoongi’s couch, and Yoongi can’t help but stare. He stares at him silently, mouth slightly opened in awe.
Yoongi finds himself craving his little domestic fantasy. Minus the cat.
//
After seventy-two hours with the cat, Yoongi feels like a worn out housewife with five children. He looks terrible from head to toe. From the crusted snot spread all around his nose, to the puffiness of his eyes. Sometimes his eyes tear up a bit but Yoongi claims that it’s a consequence of his tiredness and definitely nothing to do with his fifthteenth consecutive rejection by the cat. Even though, he’ll admit, it does bruise his ego.
Running after the cat was a frequent occurrence in the mornings since he wouldn’t even glance at the food Yoongi tried to give him. Letting the cat starve was not in his plans, so he quickly looked for alternative solutions. But those all involved trying to entice the cat into eating by hand and that wasn’t quite something Yoongi would risk doing. After reading three other posts on a cat-helping forum, he came to the conclusion that the cat hated him as much as he hated her. Or at least distrusts him, as if being allergic to them wasn’t enough. However, that would explain her reluctance towards his food.
Yoongi tried out different pieces of advice from the forum. He filled the food dish and then sat on the opposite side of the room as the cat, a mask on his face. Yoongi could not believe he was actually doing that. He inched very slightly towards the cat, sliding the dish with him, being careful not to move too quickly or it would make the cat tense.
The little shit literally glanced at him and took off without eating.
“You fucker.”
Yoongi was left alone in the room, crouched on the floor like an idiot. He looked back at all the decisions he made in life that lead him to this, where he was currently try to bond with a cat without touching her.
Bond with a cat. God.
//
Having to keep the cat at home was a blessing in disguise, purely because Jungkook visited his place more often, sometimes even every day of the week. Yoongi was more than happy to have him at his place, especially as the cat would behave better in his presence. The irony.
Jungkook was laying down on the carpet, the cat lying on his chest as Yoongi tried to vacuum his carpet full of cat hairs. He would playfully kick Jungkook’s legs whenever he needed to pass the vacuum under them, Jungkook only extending his legs a bit more to piss him off, completely unaware that it did the exact opposite.
Yoongi likes those moments, as cheesy as it sounds, where he can just appreciate Jungkook’s presence without asking himself too many questions.
“Hyung,” Jungkook says as Yoongi makes his way back over to the couch, after putting the vacuum away. “What do you call her?”
Yoongi blinks at him, “I don’t.”
Jungkook playfully kicks his leg, mimicking what the older had done to him earlier, unfortunately Jungkook’s ‘playful’ kicks aren’t quite as playful as the brunette probably intends, aka they hurt like a bitch. Used to being tormented by the younger Yoongi just grins and bares it, or rather he clenches his ass and does his best to keep a straight face.
“Don’t act like you don’t have a heart. It doesn’t suit you.” There is a small smile on Jungkook’s lips when he says that, and, surprisingly, it’s enough to make him feel embarrassed.
“Got very small one, then,” Yoongi answers and Jungkook hums as if to say ‘keep talking’.
Yoongi does have a heart, sure. It’s just been longing and longing for one person in particular and certainly has no place for a cat, commonly known as the spawn of Satan.
“Bbibbi.”
“Huh?” Yoongi frowns.
Jungkook sits up straight, the cat still on his lap as he strokes her back. “I called her Bbibbi,” he says. “Because the first night she slept at yours she pissed on your blue beanie. Bbibbi.”
When Yoongi’s face shows no reaction, Jungkook snorts and gets up with the cat in his arms. “C’mon don’t be like that. That’s funny”
“That’s highly debatable.”
“Stop being a grump.”
Jungkook sits next to him on the couch and grabs Yoongi’s right hand, forcing him to pet Bbibbi. Yoongi immediately tenses but doesn’t retreat back. He starts stroking Bbibbi, moving his hand like a robot, and to his surprise, the cat meows and starts purring.
Perhaps the cat is just putting on a show in front of Jungkook and will revert straight back to the devil she really is as soon as he leaves. Either way, Yoongi doesn’t find it in himself to be angry at the little thing right now.
Jungkook started cooing at her next, his own hand stroking the cat’s fur, brushing Yoongi’s hand every now and then. Yoongi hates himself for flinching at the simple and innocent contact. Luckily, Jungkook doesn’t seem to notice his sudden tenseness and keeps smiling. His lips stretching into a full smile.
Yoongi finds himself gazing intently at each divot of Jungkook’s lip. He was staring so hard that he was scared to look up and find himself at the mercy of Jungkook’s questioning eyes, pleading to know what he was doing. Yoongi didn’t even know what he was doing either.
Suddenly Jungkook taped his thigh which only succeeds in gaining him a very confused glance from Yoongi.
The cat makes an excited noise, quick to climb on top of Yoongi's lap, getting up on his legs to paw at his chest.
Yoongi freezes, all the muscles of his body tense, whilst Jungkook just giggles. “I taught her that! It’s so cool, right?”
Yoongi remains stoic, unable to let out a small fake laugh because all he can focus on is Bbibbi nosing the side of his cheek and Jungkook’s hand that still has not left his thigh. This is too overwhelming.
When he opens his mouth to talk, he takes a sudden quick breath in. His nose twitches with an invisible itch. There is a pause. A moment of silence where the world freezes around him, and he barely has time to understand what is happening to him before he turns his head to the right and sneezes. Very loudly , very watery , and very much onto Jungkook’s face.
A dainty sniffle leaves his mouth, and then it is quiet again.
A hue of red spreads across his cheeks as they burn from embarrassment. His face stills in mortification. As if it was not enough, Bbibbi chooses this time to start meowing again and paw at his chest, bringing all the attention onto him as if his spotlight wasn’t already bright enough.
Yoongi would cover his face with his hands if they were not holding the cat, and if it wouldn’t mean bringing more allergens onto his face.
He’s about to apologize when Jungkook chuckling interrupts him, quickly blooming into a full blown guffaw. Yoongi looks back at him, mouth wide opened.
Jungkook wipes his face with a tissue, his shoulder shaking from laughing, and hands Yoongi some tissues. “That’s quite the bond there, hyung.”
Yoongi looked at him through wide red-rimmed eyes, his mouth slightly open and a glisten of snot above his dry, cracked lips. He then quickly loosens the grip he had on Bbibbi and tries to blow his nose is the sexiest way possible, which is inevitably a failure. What even is the point in trying to be presentable considering what just happened?
“Sorry,” he doesn’t know what else to say, looking away abashedly.
He’s pretty sure that if there were several steps to follow in order to make someone like you back, he messed them all up.
“That was cute of you.”
Yoongi turns his head so fast that he almost hears the bones of his neck cracking at the motion. “What?” Nothing makes sense. What was cute about his snot landing all over Jungkook’s face?
“You didn’t wanna sneeze on her. That’s cute.” Jungkook looks back from the cat to him, to emphasise his words, and then grins.
The urge to play along is very present.
“Did you really just come to that conclusion?” he asks.
Jungkook nods.
“Because that’s totally what I was doing..,” Yoongi pursues. “Yeah, definitely didn’t want to traumatise Bbibbi and drown her in my snot.”
“See, I knew you had a heart.” The corners of Jungkook’s eyes crinkle. “You hear that, Bbibbi? Hyung likes you!”
Yoongi never thought he would be reduced to fake liking a cat in order to get on Jungkook’s good side.
How much more desperate can he get?
When Yoongi embarrassedly tells Jungkook about the snot still left in his hair, he didn’t think it would be an implicit invitation for taking a shower at his apartment. And when Jungkook came out of the bathroom, Yoongi totally didn’t stare at his chest. No, instead he ran into the kitchen with the excuse of making tea. He doesn’t even have fucking tea.
Having Jungkook more often at his apartment was nice, yes. But oh, how it does mess with his heart too.
//
“Where are you going?” Taehyung asks, shoving his sports clothes into his bag
“To see my cat.”
“We just ended practice; don’t you want to shower first?”
Jungkook shrugs, “Yoongi has a shower at his place you know.”
Taehyung squints at him for a while before uttering, “I’m not sure you’re going to his place just for the cat anymore.”
Jungkook grins. “Bye hyung.”
//
Jungkook turning up at Yoongi’s apartment becomes a regular occurrence. In fact, it becomes so regular that the sight of Jungkook slumped on the living room couch when Yoongi comes home from a studio session with Namjoon does not make him anxious anymore, on the contrary, the sight is oddly appeasing. It’s like he made Yoongi’s apartment his second home.
Everything is so perfect that Yoongi has to keep reminding himself that the reason of Jungkook’s coming round doesn’t actually have anything to do with him, but everything to do with the sneaky ball of fluff that pissed on his favourite blue beanie.
Honestly, Jungkook feels like a breath of fresh air in his usually quite dull life. Whether he’s annoying Yoongi in his studio, watching movies late at night with him or cooking. Yoongi wouldn’t ever admit it out loud but he likes it.
There was something about Jungkook that drew people to him, one of them being Yoongi. He guess it didn't hurt that he was a good looking boy; but it was more than that. He was quiet, but not out of painful shyness. It was a reservedness that made him charming.
He was an easy listener, worked hard and got his work done. Only once in a while would he sink into a sulk over getting some school work wrong, but Yoongi knew how to handle that. And it wouldn’t hurt to admit that the pout looked cute on him.
After all, it’s what made him take the cat home.
//
“You look like shit.”
“Thank you,” Yoongi says.
Jungkook steps up to their table, lightly kicking Hoseok on the way,“Leave him alone.”
The strong aroma of coffee beans being brewed floats in the air, melding with the sweet scent of fresh baked pastries. The mix smelling as sweet as Jungkook looks right now, dressed in his green apron and white collared shirt, teasing a sliver of his collarbones.
“I’ll have a chocolate white mocha,” Taehyung starts off, Hoseok ordering the same thing.
When it’s Yoongi’s turn to order, he opens his mouth as if to speak but the air gets stuck in his throat causing him to cough. It was whooping cough for sure. Yoongi was hacking continuously for a while taking in desperate sharp gasps of breath. Jungkook glanced at him, his eyes tight and worried, before placing a soothing hand on his hyung’s back until he regained his breathing.
Hoseok just stayed silent at the table, watching the oldest.
Yoongi doesn’t fully understand how he could even have a reaction when he’s not in his house, but he has a feeling the scarf he tightly wrapped around his neck before leaving this morning has something to do with it. The cat surely rolled himself on it, so he takes it off.
When he finally regained control over his breathing, Jungkook straightened up, taking the warmth of his hand with him. “I’ll make you a hot tea with honey. It’ll help with your cold.”
And with that Jungkook left their table.
Yoongi doesn’t even have to turn around to figure out that Hoseok is staring at him. “So, a cold huh?” He can hear the annoying grin in his voice.
“What?” Taehyung asks, making both of their heads turn in his direction.
Yoongi throws a death glare towards Hoseok. Unfazed by the threat he has received a plentiful amount of times, Hoseok just says, “Nothing. Just, Yoongi still has a long way to go before mastering the art of auto-derision.”
It only adds up to Taehyung’s confusion, but he drops the subject.
“How do you feel about the gig, Yoongi?” Taehyung asks. “Jiminie said he’s excited to see you perform.”
Yoongi raises an eyebrow, “Did Namjoon spill something about it to him?”
“My lips are sealed.”
“So that’s a yes then.”
Hoseok laughs at the end of the table, “Namjoon doesn’t know how to keep it shut.”
“Have you seen his mouth, I wouldn’t want him to shut it too,” Taehyung says.
“Ew,” Jungkook says as he drops their orders on the table. “Just ew. We’re changing subject if I’m willing to spend my break with y’all.”
“Don’t be a prude Jungkook-ah. I know for a fact that you like petite rosy lips which reminds me of a certain someone-,”
“I think we got it,” Jungkook interrupts him, a hue of red speckling across his cheeks, before joining the other 3 at the table.
Taehyung’s face breaks into a winning grin before taking sip of his white chocolate mocha.
Yoongi can't help but feel a pinching in his heart at the thought of Jungkook lusting over somebody else. He doesn't let it show on his face, though.
It’s Hoseok who brings up the subject again, “What are you planning on performing then?”
Yoongi shrugs, “A new song, I can’t say much. I haven’t finished it yet because…” I’ve been sick more often than not, is what he wants to say. “I’m not really feeling it anymore.”
“Are you sure?” Hoseok asks, and Yoongi nods before looking away at the entry, watching as streams of people constantly enter the warm cafe, half of their smiles hidden in their scarfs.
“You should rest,” Jungkook suddenly says, biting his lip. “You’re not obliged to come to my football game by the way, health comes first.”
Yoongi quickly shakes his head, “No, I’m still coming to the game, don’t worry. I’m just not sure about performing anymore cause it takes way more energy.”
Jungkook nods in understanding, but there is the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Now drink,” he points at the cup of honey tea.
“Believe me Yoongi, I gave Jafaar a similar tea when he wasn’t at the top of his form and it helped,” Taehyung says.
Yoongi takes a while to remember that taehyung’s pet snake is named Jafaar. And there comes the frightened look on his face. “I don’t know whether I should feel afraid or special that your snake has drank the same thing as I am about to.”
“How is he doing by the way?” Hoseok asks.
The corners of Taehyung’s mouth immediately shot upwards. “Fantastic. I’ve been training him so now he can bring me my shoes.”
Somehow, this does not impress anyone.
“Good thing the cat’s in my house then,” Yoongi says. “so you don’t have to worry about Jafaar eating her.”
Taehyung tilts his head. “What do you mean?”
“The cat,” Yoongi starts, feeling Jungkook tense beside him. “Jungkook brought it to mine because it wasn’t going so well with your pet snake.”
Taehyung furrows his brows, “I have no idea what--,”
“I told you Taehyung,” Jungkook interferes.
Taehyung frowns, “You did?” he asks again, and then Taehyung’s eyes suddenly shoot wide open after Jungkook giving him ‘the look’, “Ah, yes actually, you did. I was very sleepy but now I remember. Nice talk.”
“Yeah, nice talk,” Jungkook clicks his tongue before getting up and dusting off his apron. “Gotta get back to work, see y’all at the game tonight.”
Now it’s Yoongi and Hoseok’s turn to look at each other in confusion.
//
The sound of raindrops crashing against the windows is what woke Yoongi up from his post-medication nap. The raindrops thundered down to the ground, the harsh wind sending them in a whirlwind one moment and diagonal the next. The wind was like a wild beast, shaking and sweeping piles of dead leaves in unyielding, raucous whips.
Yoongi glanced at the clock on his nightstand, the 5:02pm on the display glared back at him, letting him know that there would be no point in napping again since he would have to go to Jungkook’s football game soon.
He stumbled ungracefully into the kitchen and began preparing himself some tea, a sudden foreign tightness in his throat causing him to panic. The boiling kettle was long forgotten as he gripped the edge of the counter to stabilize himself, one of his hand encircling his painful throat.
Yoongi tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down but only succeeds in panicking even more when the thing he can do is wheeze desperately. Yoongi tried to breathe in again, but it still wasn’t enough. He couldn’t get the air in, as if his lungs were surrounded by constricting metal bands.
It felt like there was a ten-pound weight on his chest, stopping him from functioning properly. In his state of panic he didn’t go against his instinctual need to get low on the ground. Yoongi could hear the air struggling to get into his airway, creating a strange sound as if it was some kind of weird instrument. He could only describe it as an ugly concoction of choking and wheezing, craving sufficient oxygen.
At this point his panic had reached an all-time high, leaving him completely helpless. Yoongi sat curled up into a ball, his chest pressed onto his knees as he tried to regain control over his own body.
The rain and the wind we unrelenting, so violent and loud that it became impossible for him to distinguish his wheezing from any of his surroundings.
Yoongi doesn’t know for how much longer he can keep this up before he passes out, he quickly makes the smart decision to call Hobi before he finds out the answer to his question.
That’s when Bbibbi decides to enter the kitchen and approach Yoongi, flicking her tail at his legs.
Yoongi leans back his head and closes his eyes, trying to follow the instruction of Hoseok’s voice through the speakers, telling him to take deep and long breath.
*
“You’re a grade A idiot.”
Hoseok stood there, in the centre of the living room. His tone of voice laced with irritation but the lines of his face showing nothing but worry. His eyes conveying gentle concern, akin to his mother.
Yoongi lowers his head.
Hoseok just runs a hand through his hair, letting out a deep sigh. “You know I was actually joking, right? I’m still recovering from the fact that you called me up whilst you were basically dying!”
The aftermath isn’t as brutal as the crisis itself, but almost. An asthma attack was a frightening experience. When Yoongi closes his eyes, he can practically feel all the sensations again, the tightness in his chest, the pounding of his heart. The thought of going through another one makes him quiver.
Hoseok laid his hand lightly on Yoongi’s shoulder, crouching in front of him on the couch, and instead of flinching like he usually did, the older was soothed by it. He left his touch there, gentle and calming. “You scared the shit out of me,” Hoseok murmurs.
“At least I didn’t die.”
Hoseok huffs indignantly, “I wouldn’t have let you.”
Yoongi’s lips turned upward as he tightens his grip on the hot cup of coffee in his hands. The strong scent of brewed coffee beans making him relax.
“Come to think of it, we really do take breathing properly for granted,” Hoseok says.
And this time, Yoongi cannot help himself from letting out a small laugh. “You sound too fucking serious. I’m fine now.”
“For how long though.”
Yoongi knew he reached the stage where he was facing a dead-end. Since the start, he set himself into this stupid and endless mess, that feels at most times unyielding, and yet the solution was within his range. But stubbornness and pride were the enemy of human relations. A true poison, coursing through his veins. One that only himself could find the cure to.
Hoseok scoops up the cat from the floor, cuddling her to his chest. “I’m taking the cat to mine until you figure your shit out.”
Yoongi though that he already had.
Just before he leaves, Hoseok stops and turns around in the doorway.
“You should just tell Jungkook.”
As soon as the name left Hoseok’s mouth Yoongi’s eyes shot wide open.
He missed the football game.
//
The next day, things are as bad as they were the night before. Sleeping doesn’t soothes away the guilty feeling building up inside his chest for missing Jungkook's football game, and just being an idiot in general.
Yoongi felt the need to move almost without end; if his limbs were moving then the overthinking and the self-deprecation were gone, or at least partially. He washed the entirety of his house, from the sheets to the floor. Everything went through his hands in order to get rid of anything that could potentially trigger his symptoms again.
The other thing is that Jungkook's texts and calls go unanswered for hours, until Yoongi has given up on planning responding.
//
Jungkook knows that Yoongi is not a fan of texting and honestly, Jungkook isn’t either. However, there is a clear difference between not being an eager texter and not answering texts at all. Jungkook wasn’t over analyzing the situation, right? He had a reason to be worried...
There is no denying that Jungkook felt a little bit hurt at Yoongi’s absence from yesterday’s game, but after careful reflexion, he figured there would be some big issue for him to not come. Yoongi wouldn’t just stand him up for nothing.
So Jungkook did the only thing that he could think of, which would seem very invasive to some, and went to Yoongi’s apartment unannounced with a tight feeling in his stomach.
When he entered the apartment with his spare key, he was met with silence. Yoongi wasn’t at home.
Jungkook shrugged, thinking he could wait a bit and went to search for Bbibbi to pass the time.
As Jungkook silently scanned the living room, he suddenly realised he could see no sign of her. He started to move towards Yoongi’s room, his eyes darting more wildly with each passing second, looking for anything resembling a yellow ball of fur.
But nothing.
“Bbibbi?”
He ran through the list of places she could be in his mind, god knows she could be anywhere. Yoongi once told him that he found her in the washing machine one morning, innocently blinking back at him.
As he went into each room, his eyes were constantly on the lookout for any gleam of yellow. By the time he inspected every corner of the apartment at least three times, he finally stopped to think of the many possibilities of her absence. Maybe Yoongi took her out. Maybe she left. The second though brings instant panic.
Not long after, Jungkook heard the key inside the lock and rose from his seat. Jungkook completely forgot about his football game absence as he runs towards Yoongi, inspecting his arms, expecting Bbibbi to be snuggled into his chest. But there was no Bbibbi, only shopping bags filled with groceries in Yoongi’s hands. “Where’s Bbibbi?” he eventually asks, his patience running low.
Yoongi opens his mouth then promptly closes it again. All possible excuses leaving him. Yoongi stared into his eyes, and his heart dropped. Yoongi couldn’t will his lips to move. As if stuck underwater, everything was slow and warbled as Jungkook took a step toward him.
“Did you lost her?” Jungkook dares asking. "Get rid of her?"
Yoongi lets go of the grocery bags to rub his neck. “Not technically?”
Jungkook only blinks back at Yoongi in a deafening silence. He’s trying to hold his temper, but eventually says, “What the hell, hyung?”
Yoongi sighs, not meeting his gaze, “Listen I—,”
“Not technically ? What does it even mean? Did you get rid of Bbibbi and that’s why you've been avoiding me? Because you’d eventually have to tell me?”
Jungkook’s mind could make quick connections when he wanted. In this case, his analysis of the situation went a bit too far.
Yoongi’s mouth opened wide, “What? No—,”
“Then where is she?” Jungkook raises an eyebrow at him in defiance. Jungkook definitely lost his patience. “You could’ve told me if she was bothering you so much,” he says as he threw his hands in the air. “I thought you liked having her here… “ then murmurs, “having me here.”
Yoongi thought a lot about it and even in his worst-case scenario, it did not take this bad of a turn as right now.
Yoongi clears his throat, “I liked… having both of you here.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“She’s at Hoseok’s,” Yoongi blurts out, and then adds “but not for what you think.”
Jungkook crosses his arms on his chest. He wouldn’t say that he’s angry, irritated might be a better word to describe his state right now.
“You have to promise not to laugh at me.”
“You could hardly make me laugh with all the efforts in the world right now, but sure.”
“I—,” Yoongi starts, running a hand through his hair, “fuck.” There wasn’t any way to say it without sounding like an idiot. “I’m very allergic to cats.”
“You’re allergic,” he says, then pauses, narrowing his eyes. “To cats?”
Yoongi nods shamefully.
“You don’t have to make that up, hyung. Just tell me if you let her escape, or sent her to a shelter.”
“No, you don’t get it. I’m allergic to cats, and Hoseok took Bbibbi because my medication wasn’t doing anything and my symptoms were quite alarming.”
Jungkook face relaxes a bit at those words, his brain making all the connection with what happened the last few days. “So when you were ill, you didn’t actually have a cold?”
“No."
The tension in the room slowly dissolved at the same time realisation hit Jungkook’s face. “And you took Bbibbi anyways?” Jungkook asks, but it sounds more like a fact rather than a question.
Yoongi sighs before nodding slowly.
“You’re an idiot.”
“You promised not to—,”
“I’m not laughing at you right now, I’m telling you that you’re dumb.”
Yoongi’s shoulder slumped in defeat. It’s fine. He did that to himself.
“God,” Jungkook says, before letting out a small chuckle, and rubbing his face, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Yoongi shifted from one foot to the other, “It’s not that important.”
“You’re not going anywhere before telling me what made you think this dumb idea could ever be a great one.”
As Jungkook stepped closer, Yoongi let out a deep breath. “This is gonna sound dumber.”
Jungkook shakes his head, “That sounds unfeasible but go on.”
“Because you like her, and… I wanted you to like me.”
Yoongi is sure that a kid in third grade would be better at a confession than himself. He barely dares to look up, but is forced to do so as the silence stretches into the room. Jungkook’s eyes were searching for him, they held a softness to them, there was something so welcoming in the rich brown colour.
“Wait,” Jeongguk has a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “does that mean you…?”
Yoongi’s blush seared through his cheeks and for a minute he thought his face was on fire, “Shut up,” he says, unable to think of anything else to say.
Jungkook had never seen Yoongi blush like this, he was always stoic, in charge and to be honest, annoyingly self assured.
“Do you like me, hyung?”
“Something like that,” Yoongi murmurs, picking at his nails, and Jungkook understands that it’s the closest he’ll get to a confession if he doesn’t intervene.
“Now, this is funny.”
Yoongi’s shoulder slump at that.
“Not like that,” he says. “I just haven’t been quite honest with you myself.”
“You haven’t?”
He shook his head, “Hyung, why did you think I spend so much time at your place?”
Yoongi frowns, “To see Bbibbi?”
Jungkook’s face remains blank. And Yoongi opens his mouth to say something, before closing it almost instantly. Yoongi’s mind was blank and his eyes wide as he stared at him in shock. Jungkook’s eyes desperately searched his… waiting.
Yoongi had to say something, but nothing reasonable enough came to his mind.
Jungkook has always been better at talking than him.
“Essentially because it’d give me a reason to spend more time with you,” Jungkook says, then huffs, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“You could’ve just asked me to hang out.”
Jungkook looks at him unimpressed, “Better said than done Mr “I’m keeping Jungkook’s cat at mine despite being allergic to wordlessly say ‘I like you’.”
Yoongi sputters at that, feeling all of the blood in his body rush to his face in a record time.
“Don’t die on me though.”
“I almost did once; I’m not risking it again. Especially now.”
The look on Jungkook’s face is priceless. “W-what?”
//
“I’m in love,” Jungkook says to Taehyung.
“You almost killed him.”
“I’m. In. Love.”