Times Six

2

Seokjin attempts to hoist Jeongguk up by his shoulders but ends up trying to haul him up with his arms around his waist, but since Jeongguk is grinning and limp, he's not getting very far.

"Joonie, help, we've gotta lift up our champion!" Seokjin drags Jeongguk a little farther away from the table and Namjoon grabs his legs, pulling up him while Seokjin does the same under his arms. Jeongguk is a rag doll suspended between them, giggling and wriggling and making the task of overenthusiastically praising the winner very difficult. That's how it goes. The winner gets the penalty of being loved too hard.

The balcony doors are thrown open to let the cool breeze in because everyone's sweaty and hot from the alcohol and the dancing to the deep bass French electronica Yoongi has switched on. Speaking of alcohol, Hoseok is right on time with the next round, and they're going to do haircuts, because apparently this is the night they're having, which Jimin loves and Taehyung won't participate in. Hoseok just won a round of Just Dance so he gets his first. He tips his head back for Jeongguk to pour the vodka and Red Bull into his mouth and then shakes his head dramatically when he's drank it all. Namjoon gets to go next since he's the leader and, even if he insists he doesn't care, they still give exaggerated deference to him. Namjoon gets on his knees and lets his mouth hang open while Jeongguk stands above him drizzling the liquids into his mouth and suddenly there's a weird twist in his stomach as their positions – his, everyone's – transports him right back to the day he came back and they stood around him, giving him imperatives and laughing, and Namjoon feels all tight and itchy, but the twist in his stomach shifts lower and he's thinking about his mouth open underneath Jeongguk, like this, but without alcohol in his mouth and then the tight and itchy feels transforms into something hot and, god, the pairing of those feelings, of those situations, is making him feel all weird, like he's being run through a clothes dryer. Jeongguk puts two fingers below his chin and shuts his mouth for him, since apparently he can't do it himself.

"Drink up, hyung!" Jeongguk beams. The thrum of the beat makes him feel drunker than he is.

He's drunk . Very drunk. Like stupid drunk. Hoseok and Taehyung quite drinking two drinks ago and he's thinking they had the right idea. He just wants to lay down, preferably in someone's lap.

He wakes with a start. There's a loud clang in the kitchen and someone swears and Namjoon is sure he's going to die . There's a damp spot of drool on the pillow (pillow... seems like Taehyung's) under his mouth and Jimin is breathing absolutely foul post-drinking breath right into his face, still snoozing and totally undisturbed by the clatter in the kitchen, even though he's sleeping half-propped up between the couch and the floor. But even his heinous morning breath carries the scent of Jimin, something prickly that makes his nose smart in pleasant way. He looks awful, under-moisturized, lips chapped, dehydrated. Jimin's usually good about his nightly routine even when they've been drinking, so it's a good gauge for Namjoon of just how last night went, if the pounding in his head weren't sign enough. A Yoongi-sounding grunt from behind him, the culprit of the leg thrown over his back, alerts him that Yoongi was not so lucky to sleep through the noise in the kitchen.

"Seokjin... coffee... " Yoongi says, sounding like a frail, weak, hungover baby who stood on the balcony and smoked the six to ten cigarettes that Jimin had split with him from an old, crushed-up pack in one of his jackets. It's always Seokjin and Taehyung in the kitchen after a Night, making coffee what Seokjin calls 'the old fashioned way' (meaning with a French press he's weirdly attached to) and rice and warming up the ppyeo haejangguk if it's there. Jeongguk appears in his line of vision, looking like a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed bunny rabbit, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead like he'd been working out (and he probably had, probably had done crunches and squats and whatever else right here in the den where everyone was passed out).