Times Six

2

"It's not very balanced, Seokjinnie," Yoongi says over his phone. "We're going to get stomach ulcers from this, can't you teach him something light for once?" But his voice is soft and teasing, even as Hoseok tries to slap his hand over his mouth to silence him.

"Yah! If you don't like it, you can tell JK that to his face!" Seokjin plops petulantly down in front of the table, beautiful mouth curving up mischievously.

Beautiful mouth, what the fuck is that . Namjoon casts his eyes to the side. Why does he have to make everything weird? Why does he always do this? He made it fucking weird when he couldn't just play along with the imperatives on that day, made it weird when he put his head between his knees and lost time during dance practice. Made it weird when he made his knees shake thinking about Hoseok's powerful hips pistoning into him. Made it weird when he moaned while imagining Yoongi's tongue technology . Worst of all, he's making it weird right now , thinking about this shit out of nowhere and feeling his neck get hot. He thinks maybe someone is in pre-rut and it's probably just making his thoughts feel crazy. Maybe Hoseok, maybe Yoongi.

Guiltily, he looks around to see if anyone noticed. It's something they get on to each other about a little, now, in a friendly kind of way – how they can detect in the air if someone's feeling frisky, if someone's jacking off. They do mostly politely ignore it, but sometimes they'll have a round about it – mostly it's Jimin and, occasionally, Taehyung, teasing Jeongguk about being a little horn dog, about popping a knot over a stiff breeze.

No one really teases Namjoon about it, and he notices. He's not sure if he wants to be teased about it, so they can pretend they're all still the same, or if it's better if they just pretend they can't tell. Maybe they all feel uncomfortable about it, about his weird and different body. Probably.

Taehyung elbows him and snaps him out of his episode of self-loathing horny-hatred. Namjoon grins at him, big and relaxed. He hopes. Taehyung presses a bottle of soju into his hand and taps the necks together with a clink. Looking around, Namjoon raises his bottle, and everyone follows suit. This feels familiar and good, everyone's handsome faces beaming up at him like little individual suns. This is his family.

"To Jeonggukie, our littlest cook! May he feed us as well as he feeds his muscles!" Jeongguk laughs, bright and open-mouthed, while everyone cheers. The chorus rings out:

"To Jeonggukie!"

The rule is that the first person to stop chugging their bottle of soju has to be on drink duty for the rest of the night. Because Their Night isn't just about watching movies or talking. It's about getting hammered. Because it's not like they can drink like this all the time. And it feels good to get crazy together, in what Namjoon had started calling their 'safe space'. (It doesn't feel that safe, anymore).

They all tip their heads back in perfect sync, emptying the bottles down their gullets. The first to break is Hoseok, tongue-out cringing at the bitter bite of the soju. Namjoon and Jimin are the only ones who finish their bottles on the first go. As always. Neither of them have ever been on drink duty, ever. When they play drinking games, they're not allowed to be on the same team. Jimin high-fives him and they jump up to bump their hips together, their little victory dance. It's good.

The night begins.

Jeongguk is arm-wrestling Jimin across the table, their food long having been cleared away. Jimin's very strong, much to some people's surprise, and usually gives Jeongguk a run for his money during these matches. During wrestling matches, not so much, since Jeongguk's bulk really gives him the advantage. But as it is, Jimin and Jeongguk are shouting and grunting as their locked arms battle for dominance. Yoongi, as per usual, is leading the Jimin cheer squad, flushed from the alcohol. It's mostly a question of Yoongi supporting a fellow short person. It's a matter of principle. Seokjin's loyalties lie with whoever has flattered him most recently and Jeongguk just ten minutes ago had looked so earnestly and cutely at him and thanked him for teaching him his recipes that he locked in his loyalty (it doesn't matter that he had immediately tried to put Seokjin in a headlock after – they all know Seokjin kinda secretly likes roughhousing with him like that). Hoseok is playing referee, slapping Taehyung's hands away when he tries to poke Jeongguk's sides to give Jimin the advantage. Namjoon himself has taken up with Jeongguk tonight as well, but mostly because Jimin had taken the last sausage out of the stew and he hadn't quite forgiven him yet. They all scream as Jimin's hand starts to overtake Jeongguk's – Jeongguk lets out a guttural shout like he does when he's deadlifting and finally slams Jimin's hand flat onto the table, who shrieks and falls dramatically to the floor while Jeongguk slams his palms on the table in victory.