Really, Baby (I Will Be Just Fine)

20

As Taehyung opens his mouth to speak, Hoseok suddenly feels an arm around his shoulders as the weight of someone’s chest is pressed against him. The person has a few inches on him and feels significantly heftier than Yoongi or Namjoon, so Hoseok turns curiously to see who had interrupted them. It’s Seokjin, and for the second time in the past five minutes, Hoseok feels his face heat up and burn a bright red.

Seokjin has never once laid a hand on him, let alone gotten this close, and Hoseok feels his heart racing in his chest. He can’t tell if it’s because Seokjin is all over him for the first time or the way Taehyung is looking at him, confusion and something else he can’t quite pinpoint painting his expression.

“Hey, Hoseok,” Seokjin starts, turning to smile and Hoseok feels like backing up a little. He’d always wanted Seokjin this close, but all he wants right now is to put some space between them. “We’re throwing a party over at Farren Hall tonight. “You’re more than welcome to join.”

“I, uh,” Hoseok says, stumbling over his words. Jimin’s eyes are encouraging, urging him to accept the invitation. “Yeah. Yeah sure, I’ll be there.”

Similar to Yoongi and Namjoon, Jimin also knew about his little crush on Seokjin and his goals to get his attention. Now with Seokjin embracing him with his arm, Hoseok can see that Jimin is just as surprised as he is. But the excitement of a year’s worth of longing is lost on Taehyung, who doesn’t know who Seokjin is to begin with.

“Great,” Seokjin smiles, pulling back a little and squeezing his shoulder. “You guys are invited, too. Invite your friends!”

“Yeah, I’ll call my parents later,” Taehyung responds jokingly. “They’re really cool.”

“If you're any indication, they probably aren’t” Jimin deadpans. When Taehyung looks at him, offense flashing across his features as his jaw drops, Jimin caves and throws his arm around Taehyung’s shoulders, mirroring Hoseok and Seokjin.  “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I love your parents. Why else do you think I come over for the holidays?”

“For me,” Taehyung scoffs like it’s obvious. They turn back to Seokjin, and Taehyung flashes a thumb’s up. “We’ll be there. Time to get smashed and forget our own names and where we last put our pants, woo!”

“Right,” Seokjin says, slightly overwhelmed at the dynamic that is Jimin and Taehyung. He nods again, turning to look Hoseok in the eyes and smiles like they’ve just made some kind of promise. “I’ll see you there. Farren Hall, don’t forget!”

After Seokjin disappears into the back, Jimin kicks him lightly against his ankle, wriggling his eyebrows. Hoseok’s face is still burning, and he pretends to shield his eyes from the sun to cover half his face.

“Shut up,” Hoseok sighs, running the hand down his face. “Just shut up.”

Before Jimin can make another smart remark, Yoongi is shouting for his help somewhere near the slide. Being the human sized puppy he is, Jimin jumps to his feet, not before wriggling his brows at Hoseok once more, and runs off towards Yoongi (“Hey, don’t you fucking run or you’re going to slip and fall like the last time!”).

Hoseok stands awkwardly near Taehyung, hovering over him as he sits crisscrossed on the floor. He thinks he should be ecstatic, bouncing off the walls from finally getting Seokjin to notice him after a year’s worth of effort. This is him finally getting his foot through the door, yet he can’t help but feel like it’s the wrong one, like walking into a room and forgetting why you’re there in the first place.

“So,” Hoseok begins, but Taehyung cuts him off.