Beauty in the cracks

Would he?

Jungkook took a deep breath and pushed it out as he adjusted the glasses on his face and then fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater "relax" he startled at the voice beside him, not that he forgot Hoseok was next to him, driving the car he was sitting in. He just wasn't expecting him to break the silence they had been in since they started their drive.

"I'm trying" he mumbled "I should have brought wine or something"

"Kook" he smiled over at him "They're your friends. You guys have history, and over the last few days, you guys have been texting regularly. In the past, or even now in your messages, have they given you any reason to think they wouldn't be happy with just your presence?" Jungkook shook his head "You're totally fine. And I'm here too, okay?"

"Thank you" he smiled softly, he really owed Hoseok a lot, he knew he'd never be able to repay him for everything he'd done so far (not to mention everything Jungkook could only imagine Hoseok would do in the future) but he figured he could start somewhere. He already had a night planned for the two of them where he could take Hobi out for once since he's been paying every time.

But for now, Hoseok was taking him to NamJin's apartment, and he was going to stay with him for dinner and meeting his friends after so long. He could have gone by himself, but after they heard how Hoseok was helping him, they extended their invitation to include him and Hoseok beamed at the prospect of meeting 'Kookie's favorite power couple' as Jin referred to them.

"You ready?" Hobi asked as he parked the car in their driveway, Jungkook nodded. Hobi got out first and opened the door for Jungkook

"Thank you" Hoseok smiled and put his hand on the small of Jungkook's back as he led them to the front door, with one more deep breath Jungkook knocked on the door, it immediately swung open to reveal a smiling Jin

"Kookie!" He screeched and wrapped him up in his arms, Jungkook tensed at first but melted in his hold and laughed as he hugged him back

"Hi Jinnie"

"Holy fuck, I've missed you so much!" He pulled back and kissed his cheek "and you must be Hoseok!" He reached and pulled him into a hug too "thank you for looking after my kookie"

"Of course" he chuckled as he hugged Jin and patted his back, eventually Jin dragged them into the house where they went through the same treatment with Namjoon. It caught Jungkook off guard at first because Namjoon wasn't really one for physical affections but he chalked it up to the fact that it had been so long, and his friends must have genuinely missed him as much as he'd missed them.

"Food is done, are you guys ready to eat?" Jin asked

"I am" Namjoon smiled "come on" he led Jungkook through to the kitchen, it had been a long time, but he still remembered where everything was. The familiarity of his friends and their home had him feeling warm, that feeling only intensified when he caught Hobi's eyes already on him with a smile on his face.

Namjoon and Jin sat together on one side of the table while Jungkook and Hobi sat on the other "dig in and help yourselves, I cooked thinking I was feeding an army" he snorted

Hoseok laughed but reached to gather some of the different foods on his plate "all of it looks and smells incredible, Jungkook says you went to school for culinary?"

"I did,'' Jin nodded "but it wasn't something I wanted to make A career out of, if that makes sense? It's my passion, and I didn't want to ruin that"

Hoseok nodded as he put the loaded plate in front of Jungkook then grabbed another for himself "no, I get that a hundred percent" he nodded "it's kind of why I'm a stripper and not an actual dancer. I tried it for a while, but the pressure was a lot and I didn't want to resent dancing"