Marshmallow

Laugh

"Jungkookie!"

Jungkook just hummed in response, knowing Taehyung was just going ask for food. He stuck his head out of the kitchen and scowled at his friend. "I said give me a minute. Talk to Jimin-hyung."

Taehyung stuck his tongue out, but Jungkook ignored it, returning to the task of getting snacks. He was halfway sure Taehyung just liked an excuse to call him by his nickname, not that he needed one. Shaking his head, he exited the kitchen, depositing the snacks on the dining room table as he passed.

"Food."

Just that single word was enough to make Taehyung stop talking mid-sentence, eye lighting up, and dash to the table where he proceeded to immediately stuff a cookie in his mouth. Jimin laughed at that, making Jungkook smile a little too. He was slightly discomforted, as he couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so easily, but mostly he just felt good, which was odd.

"Jungkookie..." Taehyung talked around his mouthful of food.

Jungkook scowled and slapped his friend's shoulder. "Swallow your food first, hyung."

"So abusive," Taehyung chuckled as he gulped down his glass of water. "I wasn't asking about the food. I know you only work as fast as you want to. I was going to ask if you still have those video games I lent you."

"Of course, what else would I have done with them?" Jungkook through the living room toward the entertainment center and opened a cabinet. "They're in here. Are you going to take them back finally?"

Taehyung, having finished his initial snacking, followed the younger through and peeked over his shoulder. "No, I want to play them."

"Hyung, you know I do homework after school."

"Yep, and today you have an extra person over, so you're gonna be nice and play with us." He murmured it so that Jimin wouldn't hear.

Jungkook sighed. "You can play by yourself. That's what you do usually."

"Just because I like your nice, big TV doesn't mean I don't want a friend to play on it with me."

"You have Jimin. Why are you bothering me?"

Taehyung put his hands on the younger's shoulders. "Jungkookie, you're in high school now. We'll be seeing each other every day and so you might as well get to hanging around more people. You need more friends, or at least one more. I've brought you the perfect candidate and if you'd just give it a chance, I think you two will be great friends."

Jungkook was surprised by the earnestness in his friend's voice. Taehyung had been encouraging/teasing him for years to get more friends, though he'd never seen the need for them. He had Taehyung, wasn't that enough? But now, looking over at Jimin - who seemed a little uncomfortable at being left out of secret conversations - and who caught him looking and smiled warmly, Jungkook decided maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if he had just one more friend.

He knocked Taehyung's hands off his shoulders. "Okay, fine," was what he said, but there was no bite in his tone, and Taehyung smiled.

"Good! I'll pick the game. Go and talk to Jiminnie, he looks lonely."

Jungkook left Taehyung to mumble over the (rather large) stack of games (since Taehyung really did like Jungkook's nice, big TV) and sat down beside Jimin on the couch.

"Sorry for leaving you out. Taehyung likes whispering."

Jimin half-smiled again. "He does, doesn't he? He's an odd one."

"Yeah, he is."

"Does he always call you Jungkookie?"

Jungkook wrinkled his nose a little. "I tried to make him stop at first, but Taehyung doesn't easy stop anything. It's nice, I guess. There's nobody else to call me a nickname except my mom."