The Ongoing Struggles of Being A Mall Gay

Part 2

Yoongi listens to rap music. He also really loves Slam Dunk. Hoseok doesn't watch a lot of anime, or any at all really, but he adores the idea of Yoongi watching a basketball anime. He'll watch it with him anytime he wants.

Hoseok doesn't dare ask how old he is, because it'll shatter the illusion. If he knows how old he is, it'll only fuck things up. He doesn't want to saddle anyone with the burden of dating him. Still, he just wants to sit on a couch with him and maybe cuddle him and watch Slam Dunk with him. Is that so much to ask?

Yoongi has started responding to texts in the group chat. This is more progress than they've made with anyone else they've tried to add to it. People always just remove themselves after a few weeks, so it's beyond exciting for Yoongi to engage with them. It's starting to seem like he might stick around and that is the best news ever. No longer six of them, they'll have a seventh. That's a perfect number for playing board games. Hoseok has been trying to host a board game night for months, but they all have busy schedules. It's something that they have to plan for two weeks in advance so that Seokjin and Namjoon, the two who make the schedules, can coordinate.

"Do you like mafia?"

"The... the mafia?" Yoongi asks.

"No, like the game mafia. Not the actual mafia."

Yoongi blinks at him a few times. "I don't know what that is."

Hoseok smiles. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to play."

"Are you going to order something or are you just harassing my coworker?" Jimin asks him teasingly. Hoseok shrugs. He supposes he could go for a smoothie right now.

"Sure, just make me whatever," he says. Hoseok likes pretty much all of the smoothies at Orange Julius so he's not picky.

"Yup," Jimin says turning around to make him whatever. "Extra fruity because you're gay."

"That's homophobic," Hoseok says. Yoongi's ears or heart or face or something turn a violent red. Hoseok is... gay? Which means that he... has the capacity... to like Yoongi? In a gay way? Well this isn't going to be good for his poor little heartstrings.

Jimin gives him a glare. Yoongi starts to feel like an idiot in this moment. Namjoon and Seokjin: married. Jimin: openly gay. Taehyung: has that personality. Jungkook is... Jungkook. Jesus Christ. All of them are gay. Why didn't that occur to him? Is he literally a victim to heteronormativity? He was so caught up in the fact that most people are usually straight that it didn't even process in his brain that they all gravitated towards each other to form a mall family. Because they're all gay. Wait... if they wanted Yoongi to join their ranks does that mean...?

"Wait – so all of you are gay," Yoongi states. He doesn't think that he means for the words to come out of his mouth. They just tumble out of him without his consent.

"Uh, yeah," Hoseok nods. "Was that not clear?" Now he's trying to determine what tone of voice Yoongi is saying that with. Please oh please don't let this beautiful boy be a piece of shit. Hoseok will be heartbroken if someone as pretty as him is an asshole. It'll break his heart in two. Now obviously, Namjoon isn't allowed to fire anyone for their moral beliefs or complete lack thereof, but it will make things a little uncomfortable. But then again, Yoongi does work under Namjoon, a very transparently gay man, so if he was a homophobe, you'd expect that to have come out by now.

"Is that why you invited me to the group chat?" he asks. Hoseok makes an "oh" sound. That makes sense. He doesn't give off any energy at all that suggests towards anything, gay, straight, or something outside or in between. But now that he's looking at Yoongi, he understands the confusion.

"Oh," Hoseok draws out the word for a long moment. "You too?"

"I keep telling you!" Jimin bursts out. "We're magnets for the gays! I don't know how this keeps happening!" Jimin has noted a few times how peculiar it is that the six of them gravitated together, completely ignorant of each other's sexualities at the time until they had already been assimilated.

"This just means that Yoongi will stay, right? You're not going to leave our family, right Yoongi?" Hoseok asks, looking brightly at him. Yoongi blushes and shakes his head. He's pretty sure he looks like a strawberry right now from how embarrassed he is. Of course he isn't going to leave their circle, he thinks they're the most charming people he's ever met. Especially Hoseok with his cute nose and energetic personality. "Oh my god, is this why we drive away everyone else? Why did that never occur to me, holy shit. Straight people think we're weird!"

"I think it's because you're you," Jimin says brightly. "I wouldn't want to be friends with you."

"I think you're alright," Yoongi says, and then has a look of sheer panic, which looks good on him in a bizarre way.

Hoseok's not going to be okay. He's going to combust from how much he likes Yoongi. Every little thing, ever last tiny thing, it's perfect. If Hoseok were to create a boyfriend in a laboratory, not only would that boyfriend look a lot like Yoongi, but he'd also act the same. He doesn't want a boyfriend who's loud like him, because they'd annoy everyone and drive people away. He wants someone who can get invigorated when talking about the things he's passionate for but is soft spoken and wise in casual conversation. He wants someone doesn't sugarcoat their feelings and opinions. He wants someone who's sarcastic and too smart for his own good. He wants someone exactly like Yoongi.

Also, Yoongi's got those holes in his ears where piercings go when he's not at work, and Hoseok is unreasonably turned on by that. Literally everyone he knows has a slew of earrings, but it's way more attractive on Yoongi than anyone else. He wonders what Yoongi looks like when he's not at work. Does he look like Jungkook, all black outfits and stomping boots? Or maybe like Seokjin where everything is three sizes too big? He can't possibly dress like Taehyung who wears prints and styles that can't ever look good on anyone except – miraculously – him. Call him vapid, but Hoseok cares a lot about fashion, and he just knows that Yoongi must look good in anything. He can make an ugly Orange Julius uniform look good, because he's got that face, so surely, he must look like a million dollars in street clothes.

Hoseok absently looks over the counter, he tries to be subtle about it, but he checks Yoongi out. His pants don't flatter him, but he must have toothpicks for legs based on what Hoseok can see. Hoseok could probably lift him, and he isn't that strong. Jungkook could probably lift him with one hand.

The only problem is that Yoongi is too young. Why couldn't he just be a few years older? Maybe if Hoseok were in his thirties and Yoongi was in his late twenties it wouldn't be so bad, but he'd feel like a creep to date someone who's barely out of their teens or still in college.

Yoongi catches his eye. Maybe he knows that Hoseok is looking. Maybe Yoongi can sense the change in the atmosphere now that Hoseok knows he's gay. Maybe that's why the look they share is so heavy. Yoongi shouldn't be allowed to be that beautiful, yet there he is.

"Oh my god, I have a job," Hoseok's eyes bulge and then he turns around to run back to his store, not even bothering to take the smoothie that Jimin sets on the counter for him.

***

Hoseok walks through the definitely not haunted employee entrance of the mall. He has his apron over one arm, because it's been a little too long since he last washed it. In his defense, he hates supporting the evil capitalism that is coin laundry machines.

He can't prevent himself from thinking about Yoongi from earlier. This isn't good news for him. Yoongi is gay, which means that hypothetically speaking, Hoseok could date him. Hoseok isn't going to be able to scrub his brain of thoughts of Yoongi now. Yoongi might actually let Hoseok cuddle him to watch Slam Dunk if he were to ask, which he is not going to do because then he'd have to face the terror of being in a relationship.

As awful as it makes him sound as a person, he doesn't want his first relationship in seven years to be with someone who he likes and respects so much. He'd rather get practice on someone who will be inconsequential to him. Then again, he doesn't want to date someone that he's not interested in, so he's come to a standstill. Maybe he'll just die alone. Ugh, that won't work, because Hoseok really does need someone to sleep next to him at night, be his best friend, go on vacations with him, fuck him, cook dinner with him, watch movies with him, and have arguments over the dishes with.

He pushes the door open and is exposed to the summer night. The night is chillier than the day was, but it's nothing you'd need to put on a layer for. The streetlamps lining the mall parking lot wash the world in a calm, yellow light. Someone nearby is having a bonfire or cookout, because the smell of wood burning is in the air, and it makes Hoseok hungry. Maybe he'll stop by the store and get a nice cut of meat for dinner.

He considers this when he sees a familiar figure standing on the sidewalk a little way down from him. Hoseok approaches him, his face lit up with a faint blue light from his phone.

"Yoongi?" Hoseok asks.

Yoongi turns to looks at him and gives him a half-there smile. "Hey, Hoseok."

"What are you standing there for?"

"Oh, my Uber is like twenty minutes away still," he says with a shrug. He turns to look back at his phone like he expects that to be the end of the conversation.

"What? No, fuck that. I'm your Uber driver now. But you don't need to pay me," Hoseok says, assuredly.

"No, it's fine," Yoongi says, waving off the suggestion.

"Um, yeah. I'm going to drive you. Cancel your driver so that you don't get charged for it, come on."

"Hoseok, you really don't need to-"

"Yoongi, remember when I told you that we're a family? That wasn't for show, we really are like a family. I'm not going to have you paying for a ride when I have a car that will take you places. Now come on, I'm not going to argue with you about this."

"It's just... we barely even know each other." At this point in their friendship, that doesn't even seem like a very accurate statement. They've eaten lunch together a few times, and even if it only has been about a month and a half, that doesn't mean that Hoseok doesn't trust and care for him. Especially since he's possibly crazy about him.

"Then we can get to know each other when I drive you home," Hoseok says. "Are you scared of me? I promise I'm not scary, but if it seriously would make you uncomfortable, I'll leave you alone. I just hate the idea of you standing out here by yourself, and I also hate making you pay for a ride when I'm here and I'm free."

Yoongi sighs and looks down at his phone. "Alright."

"Awesome!" Hoseok says, excitedly. He watches as Yoongi opens the app and cancels his driver, before he gestures for him to follow. "We're going to become best friends, Yoongi. It's a requirement. I'm pretty likeable, though, so it won't be too difficult."

He turns to look at Yoongi and sees the briefest of smiles on his face, this one genuine rather than put on. Hoseok's smile is a thousand times wider and brighter than his which makes Yoongi self-conscious.

"We've got to go all the way out to the far ends of the earth to get to my car," Hoseok says, pointing at one of only a few cars left in the lot, which is at the very outer reaches of the mall parking lot. "I can't even begin to tell you how many parking tickets I got when I first started working here." He tried bribing mall security, but they weren't into that, so now he parks where he's supposed to very dejectedly.

"How long have you worked at the mall?"

"I started when I was in high school, 16 actually. And then I just never left. My first job, believe it or not, was at the Orange Julius with Namjoon. He and I were both just crew members back then like you are now. But then, when they put the Build-A-Bear in, I knew that was where I belonged. Had to work up the ladder, but me and Jin got the store to ourselves a little over five years ago."

"So, you're a lifer?"

"Probably," Hoseok says, nodding. "I really like my job. I get to stuff bears and make people's lives a little better every day. There's nothing in the world like watching a little kid hug the teddy bear you made them for the first time. It just gets my heart beating." Hoseok is content at this point in his life. He's not sure if content is really what he wants, but he's at least happy. Sure, he did basically give up his one true love in this life, dancing, but at least he's making money and has his best friends around him. That's enough, right?

"That's sweet," Yoongi says. He thinks about Hoseok making him his bear, who has kept his name of 'Little Hoseok'. The way energy and joy radiated off of Hoseok that day is still just as vibrant now as it was when he was on the clock. He doesn't stop looking at Hoseok until they finally arrive at his car. It's a beat-up old thing Hoseok bought secondhand from someone else who bought it secondhand which has somehow lasted all these years despite being old enough to get a license and drive itself.

"What about you, Yoongi?" Hoseok says unlocking the car, which he has to do the old-fashioned way, with a key that you put into the lock instead of one of those magical buttons. Also, the passenger's side door doesn't unlock automatically so Hoseok has to climb into the car and stretch across the seat in order to unlock the other side manually.

"Um I've worked at Orange Julius for about a month now," he says when he's able to open the door, and Hoseok smiles, realizing that Yoongi just made an honest to god joke. He's obviously shy because he doesn't know Hoseok very well, but he's happy that maybe he's coming out of his cocoon a little bit. Usually, Hoseok finds people to immediately fall in with him, but if they're shy like Yoongi or Jungkook, it can take a little while.

"You're cute," Hoseok says casually, and since he's the one who's getting the car ready to drive, he doesn't notice how Yoongi blushes magnificently at that. "Where were you at before you landed here? Tell me your life story."

"I work at Applebee's too," he says. "But they cut my hours, so I had to get a second job." Yoongi instructs him on where to go as they pull out of the parking lot. He lives right next to Applebee's, about fifteen minutes away.

"That's a bummer," Hoseok sighs, and then looks over at Yoongi. He's got his seat belt on, which is always what Hoseok checks whenever someone new enters his car, because you can never be too cautious. "But at least you chose the second-best place to work. Build-A-Bear is the best, of course."

"Yeah," Yoongi blushes again, and Hoseok notices it this time. "Namjoon is really nice."

"He's the best in the world," Hoseok corrects him. Ever since his crippling crush on Namjoon, he tries never to feel things for his friends. It's mostly been easy, because none of his friends are really his type. There's something different about Yoongi, though, which makes him feel a little weird around him. Yoongi has a vibe to him that makes Hoseok's heart go boom.

"I think the job just takes getting used to," Yoongi says.

"You'll be fine. We're all amazing and I can tell you're already fitting in. You already have one thing in common with all of us," Hoseok says. "Jimin is pretty great to work with. He's my roommate, I would know."

"Oh? So, you've all known each other for a while it sounds like." Yoongi is desperately intimidated walking into a circle where there are already deep bonds. Seokjin and Namjoon are literally married, Hoseok has known Namjoon for years. Now Jimin is his roommate, he feels like he should've known that already. He doesn't think there's going to be anyway for him to ever fit in with people who have all known each other for that long.

"Some of us, yeah. I'm always open to meeting new people, but my personality can be a bit much, so people don't always want to keep me," he shrugs. Yoongi wants to scoff and tell him that can't be true, but he hasn't known Hoseok for very long. He likes how extra Hoseok is, but he doesn't actually know what other people might think.

"How did you and Jimin meet?"

"Well, I met Jimin in college. We both studied dance and we also conveniently both needed a roommate at about the same time. There was a little while where we literally and figuratively danced around the idea of dating, but we chose not to," Hoseok shrugs.

"Oh, okay," Yoongi says, clearly processing his thoughts. What it is he's processing, Hoseok doesn't know. He smiles a little bit at the way that Yoongi's face is so soft. He looks delicate, like if you were to poke him, he'd just fall apart. "You dance?" Yoongi is intoxicated by the idea of Hoseok dancing. He barely knows this man but Hoseok is the most alluring man he's met in years. Hoseok's got his hand on the wheel and eyes on the road which means that Yoongi pretty much gets to look at him all he wants. He's very pretty to look at. It's very nice being up close to him and this is the closest he's ever been to him.

"I do!" Hoseok says, laughing. "Jimin's the successful one, though. His job at the mall is only part time, he teaches at the community center."

"Do you still dance?" Yoongi looks all doe eyed and cute when he asks. Hoseok looks over at him briefly and wants to just pinch his goddamn cheeks.

"Here and there," he shrugs.

"You miss it though," Yoongi says with total confidence.

"I do?"

"You don't give up things like that," Yoongi says. "When I left college, I never thought I'd get stuck still working at fucking Applebee's. I thought I'd be the biggest rapper in the world by now."

"When you left college?" Hoseok asks, more than a little caught off guard. Yoongi carries a backpack around everywhere. Maybe Yoongi graduated from college really early?

Then again, if Yoongi is working two jobs, where would he even have found the time to have a college career anyway? Does this mean...?

He's been sure that Yoongi is like 19 tops. Any more than 19 will require a lot of reorganizing in his brain. If he's out of college that means he's got to be at least 22? 23? More? "Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm 27."

"Whoa, what the fuck! Seriously?" Hoseok asks, nearly screeching the car to a halt in surprise. This guy? The guy that Hoseok thought was a teenager? The guy who he was absolutely positive he was older than? Who he thought was definitely too young for him to flirt with? That guy?

"Yeah... how old did you think I was?" Yoongi looks over at him, eyebrows furrowed together. Sure, he's younger than he looks, but no one has ever had a reaction like this before.

"I definitely didn't think you were older than me." It would be embarrassing if he told Yoongi that he thought he was nearly a decade younger than he actually is.

"I think that's a compliment."

"You're actually 27?" Hoseok asks looking at Yoongi again trying to detect a lie. He really doesn't look like he could possibly be that old. Not that Hoseok should complain. 27 is the perfect age. No, Hoseok, stop thinking like that. His age isn't the only reason why you haven't asked him out yet.

"I am," Yoongi says with a laugh, "Do you want to see my ID?" Now that Hoseok knows he's not like 6 years older than this guy he looks at Yoongi sitting beside him a lot differently than he had before. He likes the way that Yoongi laughs. A lot. He decides he likes a whole bunch of things about Yoongi now that he's 27 and not 19. He likes his cheeks, his smile, his eyes, his thighs.

"I thought you knew that," Yoongi says. When Hoseok glances between him and the road several times, he sees Yoongi blushing.

"You carry a backpack everywhere!" he responds. "I just assumed you were a college student." It's entirely possible that he projected what age he wanted Yoongi to be in order to prevent himself from feeling things. He's not going to let himself think about any of that.

"Well, I'm not," he says. Christ, Yoongi wonders if this is why Hoseok hasn't made a move on him yet. Not that he expects him to, but it's felt like there's been something there since the day Hoseok stuffed his bear.

Yoongi's liked him for a lot long than that. Hoseok is beautiful. All of the people he works with are beautiful, but there's something about Hoseok that just gets to him more than anyone else. It's probably because of how vibrant and smiley Hoseok is. He's completely irresistible.

Yoongi bites his lip and only realizes now that they're on his street. He points to his house and Hoseok, who's oddly silent, follows his instructions until he pulls into a driveway.

Man, he can't believe Yoongi has his own little house. He probably rents the place, but it's still cool to think about living in a house, not sharing your walls with three other apartments. Damn. Namjoon and Seokjin have a house, but that's because they're a married couple and married couples are allowed to live in houses. Yoongi living in a house makes Hoseok feel like an even bigger idiot for thinking that Yoongi was so young.

"Thank you for the ride, Hoseok."

He takes a deep breath and reminds himself that he's a normal person who's just talking with his friend. He can do this. "Yeah, any time, honestly. I can also pick you up before work if we have similar schedules too, Yoongi. I don't like thinking that you have to call an Uber just to get to work."

"Well, I usually take the bus," he says. "But it doesn't run this late, so..." Yoongi isn't sure why he's not getting out of the car. Maybe he's waiting for Hoseok to lean over the gear stick to kiss him goodnight. He knows it isn't going to happen even as he daydreams about it.

"Thanks again," Yoongi says after a silence fills the car for way too long. Hoseok smiles at him, and for some reason, his smile doesn't seem entirely genuine. Yoongi wonders why that is. He doesn't think he did anything wrong, and yet he feels as though he must have. Hoseok is always so alive and bright. Maybe he's just tired, Yoongi assures himself.

Whatever the case, he pulls his backpack up from the floor by his feet and opens the car door. If he can't spend the night with Hoseok than he might as well go spend the night with Little Hoseok.

***

Jimin is beating the shit out of him at Mario Kart. Hoseok can usually beat him with one hand behind his back, but he's been very much off his game the past few days. He's too distracted by the bag of chips resting against his thigh to look at the screen for too long. He's also distracted by the fact that the excuse he made for why he can't like Yoongi has fallen apart. It's been very inconvenient for him to recognize the fact that there are no barriers between him liking Yoongi anymore.

Honestly, it was so easy to just assume Yoongi was too young for him. Assuming he can't is a whole lot simpler than wondering if he can.

"Did you break your hand and not tell me about it?" Jimin asks, looking over at him.

"Hmm?"

"You suck," Jimin says, pointing to the screen. "It's no fun when you let me win. I'd rather you beat me fair and square."

"Oh," he says, and blinks a few times, trying to invest himself in the game. It's pushing one in the morning and all he can think about is how Yoongi spent his lunchbreak at Build-A-Bear today. He's starting to melt into their circle like butter. Even though the store had been busy as all hell, Yoongi still sat by. Hoseok offered to let him sit on the floor in the store, and he sheepishly accepted, just so that he could escape being around people for a little while. Hoseok stood in the middle of the concourse helping to stitch up animals while Yoongi looked up at him eating his food. He looked like a goddamn dumpling and all Hoseok could think of was squishing his little cheeks. Also, he admitted to liking Daily Dog Digest and that's the most Hoseok could ever ask for in a man.

"Did you know that Yoongi is 27?"

"Yeah," Jimin says, unfazed.

"What? Really? You knew?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, like it's obvious. "Did you not know? Wait, how old did you think he was?"

"I thought... I don't really want to admit," he says.

"So does you thinking he was younger have anything to do with why you haven't asked him out yet?"

"Please don't do this to me again," he sighs, putting the controller down because he simply cannot think with all of this Yoongi in his head. "It's just... I haven't dated anyone in so long. The last time I had a boyfriend was in college, Jimin. We talked about this a few weeks ago, and it's starting to fester rather inconveniently for me. You were the last date I went on. You! You and I went on one date and gave up halfway through. Hell, we split the goddamn bill! You don't split the bill on a date. I don't even know what it's like being in a relationship as an adult; I don't know how to do it."

Jimin blinks. "So... you see yourself wanting a relationship with Yoongi?" Is that really all Jimin got out of that?

"I'm just terrified of disappointing someone since I don't know how to be in a couple. I don't know what to, what to say. I just don't know."

"It's not that hard, you know. Treating someone well is the easiest thing in the world, and you're already my best friend so I know you can do that part," Jimin says. "Dating is just like having a best friend, except closer, physically and emotionally."

"You can call it easy because you've done it!" Hoseok says. "My longest relationship lasted for a month."

"Bottom of the line, Hoseok. Do you like him? Do you want a relationship with Yoongi?"

"That's what I think about whenever I see him, yeah. He's completely my type, and he's so goddamn pretty," Hoseok thinks about Yoongi's pretty lips and his neck and his goddamn hands. Also, the small smile and embarrassed laugh he does when you say something nice about him, and the fact that it's hard to catch him not sneaking sips of iced coffee when he's at work. "But Jimin, I don't think you understand how scared I am that I feel this way. I thought I liked being single. But now, here I am, and all I can think about is him. I don't even know how to ask someone out."

Jimin makes a thoughtful face. "You could try just asking him?"

Hoseok's eyes bulge out in terror. "But what if he doesn't like me back! What if I ruin our friendship and then he leaves the group chat, and then he quits his job all because I made things awkward between us and we never see him again?"

"Did that happen when you and I dated?" Jimin says, giving him an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but-"

"Just ask him," Jimin says. "Here's what happens if he doesn't like you back: you ask me him out, and he says no. You're both adults who can be mature about it. We went on a date, it didn't work out, now we're best friends. You're literally the friendliest person I know, you'll be fine. Just ask him out."

"I don't know how!"

"Do you want me to do it for you?"

"I'll cut your balls off in your sleep," Hoseok says. Jimin just blinks at him, not particularly surprised by this threat.

"I could at least make sure he's single for you?"

Hoseok considers that. He really is terrified. The feelings he has inside of him are new. College boyfriends aren't real boyfriends, just like Jimin said. Or at least, they weren't for Hoseok. Most of his boyfriends were stress relievers between tests when he just needed to fuck something, or he'd pull his hair out. He's moved on from that life, thank god. His stress levels are actually minimal which is an amazing feeling that he never thought he'd achieve. Yoongi's presence has made his stress levels heighten back to the days when he had projects and tests due.

What would dating him be like? Does he pay for meals, open car doors, hold hands? The most important of all questions: does he like to cuddle? Christ, he wants to cuddle someone so much. That's what he most wants in a relationship actually, someone to cuddle him. He wants to be a big spoon and hide under a blanket when it's cold outside and hold his boyfriend like a teddy bear. Maybe that's why he has such an addiction to buying bears; he just wants to hold someone.

"Only if you do it subtly."

"How about 'when was the last time you got laid?'" Jimin asks. Hoseok blinks at him. "Alright, I'll workshop it."

"I will kill you if you fuck this up for me, Jimin." Hoseok is saying things without consulting his brain first. Caution is being thrown at the wind. Right now, he just needs to get the ball rolling with Jimin before he chickens out and tries to pretend he doesn't have feelings for Yoongi. Besides, if Jimin finds out he's not single, maybe that will put his crush to rest. Or even if he is single, that doesn't mean that Hoseok has to go for it, right?

"So, you are going to try with him? You're not just going to say you will and then chicken out?"

Hoseok makes a face. Jimin's words are deserved, but he feels a little like a child, and he's supposed to be the older one. "We'll see."

"I just want you to be happy, Hoseokie. You've never acted this way before. You've never had an actual crush since I've known you. I think it would be awesome for you to have someone in your life. Maybe I'll even get a boyfriend too, so we can go on double dates. Oh, or triple dates if we invite Jin and Joon."

Hoseok rolls his eyes. If Jimin just opened his eyes a little bit, he'd realize there's someone who would trip over his own tongue in order to date him. If Hoseok were to date Yoongi, wouldn't that mean Jimin has to open up about Taehyung?

Maybe they're both hopeless.

***

Yoongi rests his head on his hand, bending over the counter with the most bored expression conceivably possible. Across the hallway, Seokjin is helping a family with three kids while one of Seokjin's high school employees is spraying and wiping down the store. It's almost closing time, but since it's a Tuesday, the mall is completely dead. Namjoon is the kind of manager, god bless him, who doesn't start closing the store down until 8:01. The other two managers get ready to shut things down ten minutes before close, but Namjoon is very by the book.

Nevertheless, he has started counting the register while Yoongi daydreams about his bed. He misses his bed, but Yoongi missing his bed is the baseline of his existence.

Yoongi looks over at Namjoon who's trying to get work done but can't seem to tear his eyes away from his husband across the hall. It must be hard seeing him all day and not getting to be with him. He supposes that he understands both Namjoon and Seokjin's perspectives in how easy it would be to fall in love with either of them. They make a lot of sense; you just can't tell until they're stood beside each other. Namjoon is a great person when Seokjin isn't around, but once Seokjin is around him, they both lose most of their braincells and resort to jokes, giggles, and helpless ease. Namjoon is less serious around Seokjin, who is never serious to begin with. Seokjin only gets louder and more confident. They're the love story that you don't believe is possible until you see it.

He wonders what Hoseok is like in a relationship. He's already at a level 100, he might make people go blind if he were to be in a relationship, but Yoongi would like it. He wants someone who's personality is that bright to counterbalance his tendencies toward laziness. Yoongi's hand would probably fit very nicely into Hoseok's. He wouldn't be the cute one in the relationship, but that's okay. He'd be able to show off his boyfriend to everyone and they would be jealous of him.

"Can you count this for me?" Namjoon asks him, pointing at coins in the register. He nods and focuses on the coins instead of on the very real hollowness in his chest that soars through him every time he thinks about Hoseok. Yoongi confirms the number with Namjoon and double checks all of his other counting when he asks.

Namjoon starts closing down the register once everything's counted and Yoongi turns to look around. He already cleaned up everything because they've been so slow. Now it's just a matter of waiting out the clock.

"Namjoon, you've been friends with Hoseok for a while, haven't you?"

"Nearly a decade," he nods, not really looking up from what he's doing. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he shrugs. Then he starts to doubt himself. He could just ask... he could just be honest and ask Namjoon what he thinks. Namjoon seems like the kind of guy who can keep a secret. And yeah, he is Yoongi's boss, but only during work hours. With the number of times he's seen Namjoon use memes in the group chat, it's very difficult for him not to think of him as a friend.

"Actually, maybe I do have a reason."

Namjoon looks up at him. Instead of asking a question, he just gives him an inquisitive look. Namjoon has too much control over his eyebrows.

"Is he single?" Yoongi asks, not bothering to decorate the question.

Namjoon is taken aback. He blinks at Yoongi like he's a new species of animal that has never been seen before. "He's very single."

"What does 'very single' mean?"

"That he hasn't dated in over five years. His life sort of revolves around his job," Namjoon says. "Do you... well, I guess I mean obviously you do or you wouldn't have asked. You like him?"

Yoongi nods. "Yeah."

"Well..." Namjoon considers it. He likes Yoongi, he's a very nice guy, but Hoseok is obviously his best friend in the world besides Seokjin. But he could see it. Actually, he can see it easily. He can picture a way too loud Hoseok clinging to a quiet, concise Yoongi. They'd be a perfect balance of calm and energy. "You'd certainly be taking on an interesting case. He's certainly out of practice when it comes to dating."

Yoongi's mouth forms a straight line. "I don't think I care."

"Well then," he nods. "You don't need my blessing or anything, but I think you two would make senses. He's my best friend, Yoongi. I would do anything for that guy, literally anything in the entire world."

"So, you'll kill me if I broke his heart, basically?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Yoongi laughs. "You're not very threatening, Namjoon."

"Fair," he shrugs. Namjoon looks at him with a pleased expression. Maybe Namjoon actually really does want him to go after Hoseok? Everyone wants their friends to find love, though, right? And if Namjoon says they would make a good pair, well that's the best he could possibly ask for.

"You're not going to tell anyone, right?" he asks.

"Of course not," Namjoon looks almost offended. "Not even Jin. You have my word."

"Good," Yoongi nods. "Then I also have another question."

"Yeah?"

"A little while ago, Jimin asked me if I was single. You don't think he likes me, do you? Because it's not that I don't like Jimin, but I just, like I really like Hoseok, and-"

"Jimin is definitely not interested in you," Namjoon says. "But in just the same way that I won't tell anyone your secret, I can't give you any more information than that."

Yoongi nods. "I see." So, if Jimin, the roommate of Hoseok, wants to know if Yoongi's single that might mean that Hoseok asked him to find out, right? In which case, Hoseok likes him back? Not like that part isn't obvious. Yoongi scrunches up his face. What is he going to do with this information?

***

"You're still making music?" Hoseok asks excitedly. They're sitting at the food court, Yoongi with his Panda Express which Taehyung turned him onto, and Hoseok with a packed lunch, because he's thrifty.

"Well, it's not... it's not good music."

"Are you a SoundCloud rapper, Yoongi?"

"What? No!" He gets very defensive at the thought of it. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with people who are, but he has big plans. He has big, big plans. He's not going to be a lifer at Applebee's or Orange Julius. He's going to be the next big thing. Well, he's going to be the next big thing after the next big thing who's after the next big thing. It's a work in progress. It's hard to become a famous rapper when you haven't even finished a demo tape yet.

"I don't need to ask you if you're any good," Hoseok says, taking a bite out of his food. "I already know you are."

He blushes, "how could you possibly know that?"

"Because you're Yoongi."

Yoongi doesn't bite his lip. He absolutely does not bite his lip. He looks at his food, messing around with the chopsticks and trying to calm his heartbeat. Why does Hoseok look into him like that?

It's very unclear why neither of them has made a move on the other. How many months have they known each other? Two? Three? They're both too stupid to know how to deal with their feelings for each other. Yoongi is a hard person to read, so Hoseok truly doesn't know if Yoongi feels anything for him. Hoseok's heart is on his sleeve, there's no getting around that. Everyone who knows probably knows that he likes Yoongi. But Yoongi talks way more to Hoseok than he does to anyone else in the group so it's more difficult for him to figure out if it's mutual. Now Yoongi does of course suspect that Hoseok likes him, but there's a whole lot of tumblers that need to move into place before you can tell someone you like them. Unless you're Seokjin in which case balls to the wall.

"I haven't finished anything yet. I've been working on demos for years now. They're either never right or they're never finished."

"Hm, but see," Hoseok says, "the more time you spend on something, the more you see what's wrong with it. If you take a step back or let someone else see it – or hear it, as the case may be – they won't see all the problems that you see."

"Are you trying to tell me that you want to hear my music?"

Hoseok gives him a look that is almost annoyed. "Um... duh."

"It's really not polished or perfect or anything like that."

"You're selling yourself short. Have you ever played your music for anyone before?"

"No... or I mean, I guess I played it for a few professors in college, but that was really rough stuff. I've kind of tried to erase that from my memory. And computer." Yoongi went to school for sound design and a hodge-podge of various music production minors. All this is something they've discussed before, but he's never told Hoseok that he's actually still making music. Hoseok might have guessed it, but there's something special about Yoongi saying it out loud. Like he trusts him.

"When are you going to become famous and forget me, Yoongi?" he says wistfully.

"Oh, I'll never forget you." Well that sounds a little gay.

Hoseok doesn't notice it, he just grins.

"You're going to play your music for me someday. Right, Yoongi?" Usually, it's Yoongi who likes to say Hoseok's name too much. He can't help it, Hoseok's name tastes just right on his tongue.

"Maybe someday..."

***

Hoseok hates waking up before eight in the morning, but here he is, sitting across from Seokjin on a phone call with their district manager. They didn't meet their sales goal the last month and every time that happens, they have to have a meeting with her, but thankfully, she's far too lazy to travel to them.

Hoseok is running on a cup of coffee which tastes like the dredges of the old coffee maker that he and Jimin refuse to replace. Seokjin looks like he was pulled out of a sewer recently, because if there's anyone who is less of a morning person than him, it's Jin. It's a mercy that the store doesn't open before 11 or they probably would have killed each other by now.

"We've been working on our DPT, but no matter what bait I throw into the sea, I can't force the fish to bite it," Seokjin explains. "We've been working with all our associates on this, and I've been seeing a subtle increase the first week of this month."

Hoseok doesn't speak the same language that Seokjin does. Hoseok makes bears, asks customers if they want to put things in the bears, and gets them all dressed up. Sure, he can define retail terms for you, but that's not where his expertise lies.

This phone call is a lot of Seokjin talking and Hoseok nodding in agreement which she can't see over the phone. The district manager complains and they both roll their eyes at each other, because she's never even worked in a store before. Both of them have literally worked at Build-A-Bear for longer than she has, it's just that they've both turned down any promotions that would land them into her spot. What's the point of working at Build-A-Bear if you don't get to literally build bears? That's like working at a zoo to water the grass.

"What upselling techniques are we using?" she asks like she's talking to two children. Hoseok is just glad it's a phone call and she's not here personally, because she and Seokjin do not get along very well. People that don't get along with Seokjin are a very rare breed, but it's happened a few times.

They give her the answers she wants to hear. She talks at them rather than to them for another several minutes, detailing the metrics for specific days like they're both supposed to remember what happened on the sixteenth of last month that made them miss goal. She also tries to single out individual employees which they don't stand for. Even if their high school employees aren't their best pals and refused to join the group chat, they are still their hires and their people. Unsurprisingly, she praises Taehyung's numbers because Taehyung could sell water to a fish.

Eventually they get off the call with her and Seokjin makes an exasperated sound and then puts his head face down on the table. The mall is empty right now and it will be for another hour or so, which is good because Seokjin's sound echoes throughout the lonely hallway.

"I can't with that woman," he shakes his head. "It's not my fault that the Kang family doesn't want to spend sixty bucks on scents and accessories."

"It's fine. It's whatever," Hoseok says. Seokjin has a spreadsheet in front of him looking down at things he's highlighted. The store isn't any actual danger. It's not like missing a month is going to shut them down, but the iron grip of the higher ups gets tight whenever they're even a few dollars off. They only missed their monthly goal by less than three thousand, which is almost nothing at all. Bureaucracy needs to understand that they don't have complete control over what customers want.

Seokjin puts his hands to his temples and tries to rub sleep out of his eyes before shaking his head like a dog. "The children have exams coming up." He often calls their high school employee's children, because why not? He still sometimes still calls Jungkook a child too. "I got a whole bunch of availability changes which are going to fuck with our hours."

"It's not like I have much of a life outside of here anyway," Hoseok laughs. He doesn't have a boyfriend, so what's he really missing out on by being at work? He'd rather be at the store doing something and getting paid for it than to be in his apartment doing nothing and making nothing. Also, whenever he has free time, Jimin pesters him for not coming to the community center to practice dancing.

Seokjin on the other hand has a husband. They coordinate their schedules so that they can see each other as much as possible. Changes in scheduling are always tough on him because of that. This means that Hoseok usually takes on more hours than he probably should, but as has been well established, he doesn't have much of a life anyway.

"We're going to need to start hiring for the holidays," Seokjin says. "I'd like to get four or five seasonal and keep on three of them."

"Got it," Hoseok nods. Between the two of them, Hoseok is the one who would better be termed as the 'hiring manager.' He's a good judge of character and tends to see the potential in everyone. It's a lot easier to hire at Build-A-Bear than it is at Orange Julius, because there aren't two assholes scaring people so much that they quit.

"I also think I'd like to hire on Yoongi. See if we can't steal him from Applebee's."

"No!" Hoseok says so quickly that he surprises himself. "You can't do that."

Seokjin raises his eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Don't make me say it." Is Seokjin playing dumb or is he actually dumb?

The two of them look at each other for several seconds. Seokjin's tired, puffy eyes meet Hoseok's more alert ones.

"Say what?" Seokjin asks, and it occurs to Hoseok that he might genuinely have no clue. Jimin sees right through him, but that's because he lives with the guy. Jungkook can also tell, because Jungkook is kind of superhuman.

Hoseok groans, knowing that there's nothing he can do to avoid admitting it at this point. Yoongi is obviously a perfect candidate for the job. He hates working at Applebee's, he's already a part of the family, he has great work ethic, and he's easy to get along with. He's a hiring manager's dream.

He wishes he didn't have to tell Seokjin, because he'll give Hoseok endless shit for falling for one of their friends. Now, to be fair, he'll give Hoseok endless shit for dating anyone since he's had one boyfriend in the time Seokjin has known him, but that was too many years ago to count on one hand.

Hoseok sighs and looks at a spot behind him. "It would be totally inappropriate for a manager to date one of his employees."

Seokjin's eyes open wide. He's normally a much smarter person than this, Hoseok honestly can't believe he didn't figure this out. "You and Yoongi are-"

"No, we're not. But if he works for us, we won't be able to, and I need... I need..."

"Okay, absolutely. No hiring Yoongi," Seokjin says, resolutely, but only because he wants all the dirt now. "How long have you liked him? When are you going to ask him out? When are you getting married?"

"I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know. Maybe I've liked him since I met him? I just think he's pretty and funny and sweet and serious in all the right ways." It's been well over a month since Jimin reported back to him of Yoongi's singleness, and Hoseok has done absolutely nothing at all to change that fact. Yoongi should not be single. But also, no one should ever be allowed to date Yoongi besides Hoseok.

"How did I not know about this?" he asks. Seokjin looks fully devastated. How could he, the man who prides himself in being in everyone's business, not have realized that his own friend, his own coworker, his own godfather to the adopted children he doesn't even have yet, is in love with one of his other friends? This is just unbelievable. He needs to step up his game. If he doesn't have gossip to fling, then what is the real purpose of his life?

"Are you in love?" he asks. Seokjin tries to use a tone that sounds teasing to cover up the mild panic he has over that fact that he didn't see straight through Hoseok in the first place.

"No, of course not!" Hoseok says. "We haven't even gone on a date. I don't even know if he likes me. I mean, I think he might like me, but I can't know for certain. All I know is that my feelings are super legit. Like, I feel serious about this."

"You having a crush on my husband serious or...?"

"Okay first of all, I knew Namjoon first, and second, no, it's not like that at all. This feeling I have is so serious it hurts. It's 'I feel like I'm going to die whenever I'm around him but I kind of like it' serious. 'He makes my ears blush whenever I even think about his name' serious. 'I think about him in the shower' serious." All of those statements hit home, but probably the shower one goes the furthest for Seokjin.

"Whoa."

"Yeah."

"Whoa."

"Yeah!"

"You're not just going to sit on your tail and do nothing, are you?" Seokjin asks. "You've got to make a move. What are you waiting for?"

This is why he didn't want to tell Seokjin. He doesn't want to deal with both Jimin and Seokjin knowing at the same time. He could easily take care of their constant pestering him if he were to just go and make a move on Yoongi, but making a move requires confidence and balls, and he's not sure if he has either.

"It's scary! What if he doesn't feel the same way and I ruin our friendship? I'm terrified! I haven't dated anyone in years. It's just nerve wracking."

Seokjin shakes his head. "I asked Joon out like two weeks after meeting him." Hoseok remembers that. He was gutted. He was even more gutted when he saw how much they were made for each other, in a way that he never was made for Namjoon. He feels differently about Yoongi, because he can look back on the way he felt about Namjoon and it feels very juvenile. It feels like a little kid had that crush on Namjoon. He was basically a kid back then, he was still in high school and had had one boyfriend in his life, which lasted about two weeks.

Yoongi is different. A lot different. His hunger for Yoongi's words, body, voice – his everything rampages through Hoseok's entire body. He forgets how to breathe around him.

"I'm not you, Jin! I'm not as confident!"

"Well, obviously. No one is. No one has the right to be, I'm perfect," Seokjin loves talking about himself and his sentence drifts off until he remembers that they're discussing Hoseok, not him. "You have to rip the band aid off, Hoseok. Just ask him out. Tell him he's pretty. Buy him chocolate. You know how I asked Joon out for the first time? I marched on over to Orange Julius, told him how pretty he is, and we went on a date as soon as his shift was over. That's how you've got to do it."

"Okay, but I've already known Yoongi for a few months, so I think it's a bit late for that."

Seokjin is more aggravated now than he was on the phone call with their district manager. Seokjin is a punch-you-in-the-face-"that's life" kind of a guy.

"You just have to do it," he says eventually. "There's no pomp and circumstance. Just tell him you like him. Do it however you want. You'll probably be a fumbling mess and it'll be cringey as all hell, but you have to. What if Yoongi is your Namjoon? If I was you and I thought even for a second that I could feel the way I do about someone that Seokjin does about his husband, I don't think I could waste a minute. That's how I landed the best man in the world, Hoseok."

"You're probably right," Hoseok says, shaking his head. "Yeah. You probably are right."

***

Hoseok is waiting for Jungkook's shift to be over so that they can go get noodles. It's Jungkook's turn to buy and Hoseok has been waiting literally all day to get some goddamn food in his face. All he's had so far is a very sad packed lunch and smoothie that Jimin may or may not have spit in because Hoseok ate his leftovers last night. He certainly threatened to spit in the smoothie, but whether he did or didn't is largely dependent on where Namjoon's eyes were at the time.

Hoseok is hiding in the back of Hot Topic next to the socks, pretending like he works here which anyone would be able to tell is not true because he isn't wearing a black T-shirt with a band logo on it. Jungkook, who actually does work here, is ringing up two white girls who very clearly have a thing for him, so Hoseok crouches down because he doesn't want to deal with them seeing that he is also a very pretty boy. He has girls like that at his store all the time, and it's very weird being flirted with by girls when you're building a teddy bear for them. Jimin has the worst of it, because he's Instagram famous and sometimes gets recognized. Hoseok needs a boy to hold hands with to scare off girls whenever the situation arises. Jimin will do that for him anytime he asks because of their shared problem, but Hoseok also wants to be able to kiss whoever's hand he holds, and he doesn't want to kiss Jimin ever.

Staring at the wall of clothes, he wonders vacantly if he would look good in fishnets when a voice from behind him says his name. Hoseok's entire body clenches and he turns around to see the prettiest boy of them all. He constantly thinks about Yoongi when they're not near each other. It's hard not to. He still doesn't know if he's going to attempt anything with him, but he knows that he certainly wants to.

"Hey, Yoongi, how are you?" he says, trying to act casual. Why is he trying to act casual when Yoongi is his friend and he acts casual around him all the time? That's what having friends is like. So why does it feel like this all of a sudden? He hasn't been avoiding Yoongi, but he certainly hasn't been seeking him out. It's been a little over a week since he came clean to Seokjin, and he has very much gotten used to Seokjin's heavy gaze on him. It feels like the clock is ticking now with two people – and also probably Jungkook – knowing about his crush.

It's not like things have changed. He's given Yoongi a ride back to his house twice just in the past week and that hasn't been weird. A little uncomfortable when he looks too closely at his face and feels his insides melt, but he's living through it.

But right now, well... Yoongi isn't in his work clothes right now. Hoseok has never seen him outside of work clothes before, because he would remember it if he had. Usually, Yoongi is in baggy black pants that don't show off his assets, and he has the signature blue shirt – Hoseok has always wondered why it's not, you know, orange.

This Yoongi is a breed of creature he was not and will never be prepared for. His jeans are black and way too skinny, with giant holes in the knees, and Hoseok confirms that Yoongi has indeed been walking around on chicken legs this entire time. The rest of the look isn't intimidating in anyway, it's just very nice seeing him look like a normal human person who is attractive and knows how to dress. Hoseok nearly has a heart attack when he notices that his piercings are in. Hoseok needs a life alert, because he is about to fall and he will not be getting back up. His heart is going to give out. He's going to die right here in this Hot Topic because of Yoongi, and he doesn't know what to do.

"Yoongi!" he says, his voice sounds breathy and he hates it.

"You into stockings?" he laughs, pointing at the display directly behind him to a pair of stockings with cats on them.

Hoseok blushes furiously, and shakes his head, "no, no, no. I'm just waiting for Jungkook's shift to end." He points over at Jungkook who is trying to bat off the girls as politely as possible without pulling out a spray bottle.

Yoongi gives him a wide smile. "I know, I was just teasing you." Something is different about Yoongi today. Maybe it's because he's in human clothes rather than work clothes. He seems happier, brighter, more excited. Hoseok is barely able to stay sane being around Yoongi when Yoongi is bored out of his mind at work, so how is he going to handle a Yoongi who's this sexy?

Hoseok is now self-conscious that Yoongi is here looking like an entire buffet while he's in black dress pants and a dull white T-shirt. No one wants to fuck a guy dressed like this, and he wishes to god that Yoongi knew he has an actual fashion sense when he's at home. Not like he ever gets to show that off because he works almost every day of the week.

"What, uh, brings you by?" Hoseok asks.

"Well, I actually work just a few stores down," he says. Hoseok fakes a laugh that is so plastic that it makes Jungkook turn his head as he's trying to shoo away the girls. Hoseok wants to bury himself in a very deep grave.

"It's just- you're not... I mean you're dressed a little differently," Hoseok tries to play it cool, but that mission failed several minutes ago before Yoongi even walked up to him.

"Well I had to buy a few things before my shift started, and I hate walking around like a corporate whore," he says, and then gestures to his backpack. "I'll change before I actually have to clock in."

"Oh, okay," he nods. "When is your shift? Jungkook and I are getting food."

Yoongi pulls his phone from his pocket to check the time. "An hour. The bus schedule doesn't really take into account my own schedule."

"Yeah, yeah," he nods. In his right mind, he should be far away from Yoongi when he's looking this dangerous, but he can't help himself. He wants all the time with Yoongi he can get, even if it means he just looks at his piercings and exposed knees. "So, would you want to get food with us? Me and Jungkook, I mean."

"Yeah, absolutely!" Yoongi says, because he was waiting for Hoseok to ask him that since he mentioned food. Hoseok smiles sweetly at him and is saved from trying to form words when Jungkook pops up behind Yoongi. Jungkook is too smiley to be too punk rock. Also, he listens to a lot of pop music. He gets made fun of for his music taste a lot at Hot Topic, but he's still intimidating because he's Jungkook and you can even see how ripped he is through most of his shirts.

"I'm off the clock!" He says happily. "Hi Yoongi!" Yoongi waves back at him. Hoseok doesn't see them interact too much because Jungkook doesn't work down the hall like the rest of them, but they seem to get along just fine whenever they're together.

"Jungkook, is it, uh, okay if Yoongi comes to get food with us?"

"Sure," Jungkook says, unphased. Hoseok doesn't know why he thought he might say no. "Just give me one second to go grab my things," he says, and then squeezes past Hoseok in the trademark Hot Topic aisles which are way too narrow. Hoseok looks to see that the two girls have left and one of Jungkook's coworkers who has more facial piercings than Hoseok has brain cells is now manning the register.

If Yoongi is coming along, they'll have to eat at the food court. He and Jungkook were going to get black bean noodles at a restaurant on the other side of town, but if they were to do that, they wouldn't be able to get back in time for Yoongi's shift, and he desperately needs to be near Yoongi right now so that he can fully drink in this look of his. If for nothing else, he needs to engrave pierced Yoongi into his mind.

"Did you have a good day?" Yoongi asks.

"Yeah, kind of long, though. Glad it's over. Er, sorry," he says, remembering that Yoongi's shift hasn't started yet, and the poor guy must be closing if he's going in at this hour.

"Don't worry about it," Yoongi says. He can tell what he's doing to Hoseok. Hoseok is trying to be subtle about it, but he's very much checking Yoongi out. And Yoongi knows exactly how to drive the nail into Hoseok's coffin. "Cool if we go over there? I've got to go get some earrings, that's actually why I came in."

Hoseok gulps physically and audibly. Yeah, Yoongi had a feeling that would work. Hoseok follows after him as Yoongi goes to look at the display case with all the various earrings. Hoseok's mouth is very dry as Yoongi crouches down to look at them. Hoseok isn't okay, he wants a pretty boy with piercings and squishy cheeks and who wears jeans with holes in them. Does Yoongi even know how pretty he looks right now? Does Namjoon know what he's robbing the world of by not letting him have his earrings in? Hoseok doesn't feel good.

"Ready?" Jungkook again pops up, and Hoseok startles, both because he's a scaredy cat, and because he was too concentrated on Yoongi to hear him approach.

"Can you open the case for me to get some piercings, Jungkook?" Yoongi asks, standing up straight again.

Jungkook gives an exasperated sigh, "I've already clocked out for the day, Yoongi." Yoongi pouts his bottom lip. Jungkook isn't bothered but Hoseok's lifespan reduces by at least a year at the sight.

"Fine, fine," he says, and then goes over to his heavily pierced coworker to ask for her keys. He returns and Yoongi points to the ones he wants. Hoseok decides that the ceiling looks lovely this time of year. He drifts off to stand near the doors, trying to recover while Yoongi pays for his things and Jungkook stays to let him use his employee discount, which he's not allowed to do, but Hot Topic employees ain't snitches.

Hoseok has to breathe deeply. He can do this. He sees hot guys all of the time, they just walk around the mall. But this is a hot guy who also happens to be his friend, so he knows he likes his personality. Hoseok will be fine someday. He just needs hot tea and a fireplace to sit beside while he grapples with existence.

They meet him at the door and Hoseok smiles at Yoongi, completely disregarding Jungkook's existence.

"All set?"

Yoongi nods, and Jungkook stares at the two of them with a facial expression that doesn't have a word. He's judging them both for their very obvious attraction towards each other. Yet neither of them has said anything, because surely, if they had, everyone in the mall would've heard about it by now. Inter-mall dating is a serious topic. That time the girl from the Foot Locker started dating the guy from the Go! Calendars store was monumental. Namjoon and Seokjin are sometimes revered as gods amongst men.

"It's my turn to buy food," Hoseok says.

"I thought it was my-"

"Nope, it's mine," he says, giving Jungkook a pleasant but evil stare. Of all the people who could find out about him having a crush on Yoongi, Jungkook is the least worrying. Jungkook isn't going to tease him, he's Jungkook.

Hoseok looks at Yoongi's hand as they walk out of the store. It looks like it would be nice to hold. It's either intentional or pure luck that Jungkook decides to walk behind the two of them. Jungkook just wants to see what will happen.

"How is your demo coming along?" Hoseok asks.

"It's pretty much the same as it was a month or a year ago, I'm just trying to make it more and more perfect," Yoongi shrugs. He works on his music pretty much every day, but he's only one person, so it feels as though every second of every song takes an eternity. Someone who has access to support and money would be able to make something of all the effort he's put into his music, but he's literally all by himself in his house doing his best. The only reason he lives in a house is so that he can make music at all hours of the night without neighbors complaining about the noise levels, and that means he has to work two jobs. It's a nightmare. Maybe he'll date Hoseok and then he'll move in with Yoongi, and then they have two salaries so he won't have to work two jobs, and then he'll release his solo album and everyone in the world will buy it and he'll be famous and he'll show off Hoseok as his date on red carpets. He's getting a little ahead of himself.

"I'm sure it's better than you think it is. You know, if you spend so much time with something, you begin to find flaws that aren't there. It's like looking at your face in the mirror every day. You see your nose and think, 'huh, I wish I had a better nose' but then people around you think you have a really great nose. It's just that you don't see it, because you have to look at it every day and you get tired."

"I like your nose," Yoongi says, and Hoseok rolls his eyes and nudges him. Not wanting to be the only one on the chopping block, he says, "You, Hoseok, should dance more often."

Jungkook pitches in, "he's right you know, Hoseokie."

"Okay, I dance! I dance all the time."

"You don't," Jungkook says, shaking his head. "Jimin said you never stop by the community center anymore, and it's not like you're stomping around on your third-floor apartment, are you?"

"It's just... I mean," If Hoseok were a computer, he would need a hard-reset right about now. "I didn't know I was going to get this sort of pressure put on me today."

"Come on, how do you keep that kind of passion inside?" he asks. "As an artist, it's hard to keep your creativity down."

"I just invest my life and soul into that store," Hoseok says. "I really, really do. I care so much about my job. I know it's stupid. People who are married to their job are usually in offices or whatever, and here I am, making teddy bears for a living, but I love it."

"You don't need to work so much," Jungkook says. "You never have days off." Hoseok purses his lips. He has days off! One a week usually, but that still counts! Right?

"It does seem like you work too much," Yoongi says. Hoseok really didn't think he was going to get interrogated on his way to the food court. He spares himself from having to talk about it anymore when the smell of food hits them like a wall. Hoseok uses it as an excuse to jog over to the small food court to give a quick survey of his options. Panda Express, arbitrary not Panda Express but wishes they were, arbitrary burger place, arbitrary healthy option, and arbitrary pretzel place. Hoseok's feet decide on a burger before his brain does.

He doesn't check but Yoongi follows him while Jungkook aims his sights on the Panda Express wannabe, because they have better noodles. Hoseok said he was buying, but apparently it's only Yoongi he's paying for.

"Is there a reason for why you work as much as you do?" Yoongi asks.

"I think I just work in order to have something to do," he says. The line to the burger place is a few people long so they have a few minutes to talk. Yoongi doesn't even know if he wants a burger. He'd probably prefer a pretzel. His biggest preference is being near Hoseok.

"You could spend that time dancing," he says. "I've seen a lot of people do dance covers on the internet. I wish you would do something like that. I think if I were to try to keep my love for creating music inside, I'd probably be just... well honestly, I'd be so depressed. I wonder if you ever feel like something's missing?"

"I really do just spend all of my time at work. Like, all of it. I don't think I should even tell you how much overtime I put in, because I think you'd choke."

"You need to relax, Hoseok," Yoongi says. Maybe you should find a boyfriend. Someone who's standing right beside you perhaps. "You know you're going to burn out eventually if you do that for too long."

"I guess someday," he shrugs. "I'll find a good reason to take a few steps back from work." Like maybe a boyfriend. Maybe someone who's standing right beside him.

They order their food and find Jungkook at one of the tables on the edge of the room. They usually sit in the same section of the food court if not at the same table every time. Jungkook is already halfway done with his noodles, watching a video on his phone. Jungkook always looks like a little kid when he's eating, there's just something about the way his cheeks puff out and he chews in a pout that makes Hoseok want to give him Werther's Originals.

"Jimin posts videos of himself dancing to Instagram, Hoseok. You should too," Jungkook says. Yoongi beams, because he just said the same thing!

"Let me see," Yoongi asks, gesturing to Jungkook's phone. Yoongi makes a little aw sound in his throat that he hadn't planned on when he sees Jimin dancing his goddamn heart out in a big studio with a mirror on the wall. He makes a mental note that he's going to have to download Instagram now.

Hoseok gets very jealous of Yoongi looking at a video of Jimin, because he's just as good as Jimin. Yoongi should be watching videos of him dancing. Oh jeez, does he need to download Instagram now?

"He's good," Yoongi says, not like it needs to be stated. He is a professional. So is Hoseok, but he doesn't brag about it, and lift his shirt up for the views.

"Yeah," Jungkook says looking happy, and taking his phone back.

"Let's all stop trying to convince Hoseok to drastically change his life today, okay?" Hoseok says.

They nod and move onto other topics such as the woman who came into Hot Topic to ask Jungkook what gauge her nipple piercings were and then proceeded to flash him so that he could give her an answer. He hid in the backroom for like twenty minutes, and hissed at anyone that tried to disturb him, which sounds kind of on brand for Jungkook.

"You know, you could always come back to Build-A-Bear," Hoseok says. "Jungkook 2 has been keeping your apron clean and ready for you." Jungkook makes a noise, but it doesn't sound like he's brushing him off nearly as much as usual. Wow, nipple lady really got to him.

"The worst thing is that this isn't the first time this has happened," Jungkook sighs. "Why do... ugh. These people could just ask when they get pierced, you know? They could ask the piercer what gauge it is before it goes in their body. It's a Hot Topic, we sell anime and heavy metal shit. I'm not a piercer? I don't know these things. Why would I know these things? I don't want to see your nipple. And why do they never ask if it's okay before they just pull their shirts up? I feel like that's the kind of thing you need all parties to accept is going to happen before you do it."

"Ah, the ongoing struggles of being a mall gay," Hoseok says and holds up his drink as if he's about to toast to it. Yoongi snorts and covers his face, but Hoseok would probably find it sexy anyway.

***

"This has come out of nowhere," Jimin says. He's very sweaty and out of breath as Hoseok finds a seat on the floor of the studio. It's Jimin's room every other weekday from 5 until the community center closes at 10. Perks of working here. Jimin gets to earn money teaching and then has several hours of time where the room is all his, and that's how he managed to get a few hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, posting videos that Yoongi thinks are amazing. That and because of Jimin's abs which people are into apparently. Hoseok doesn't have an Instagram because Jimin intimidates him a little bit too much. Jimin is just too good at being perfect. Hoseok has known him for years and still isn't sure he can name any of his flaws.

"I'm having an emotional crisis," Hoseok says.

"You've been having an emotional crisis ever since I met you. Your whole life is an emotional crisis."

"I have not! I'm usually never stressed," Hoseok says.

"Nah, you just think you're not stressed because you distract yourself with work," Jimin says. He takes a very long sip of water and then goes to sit beside Hoseok on the floor. Jimin's the kind of asshole who smells good when he sweats. Piece of shit.

"Christ, did you guys have some sort of summit? Have you all been conspiring to tell me I'm a workaholic who doesn't have a personal life?"

"Who said that to you? I need to give them a hug."

"Fuck," Hoseok says, resting his head on Jimin's shoulder. He's sweaty but Hoseok is in distress so he doesn't care. He could use someone to cuddle; ideally someone with black hair who raps and has cute cheeks and a sweet little smile.

"Alright, low blow. Talk to me, Hoseokie," Jimin says, putting an arm around him. "What's got you so panicked?"

"Okay, so Yoongi and Jungkook basically told me that I don't make enough time for myself, and that I've basically given up dancing because I spend too much time at Build-A-Bear," he says. He dropped Jungkook off at his apartment an hour ago, stewed in the apartment for that hour staring at the TV without turning it on, and then drove directly here. Jimin's got another class to teach in about thirty minutes, but that's enough time to vent. It's enough time to get half of his venting done, at least.

"I really hate to be an asshole, but you know they're right, don't you?"

"I do know they're right," Hoseok says, nodding. He hasn't been here in nearly a year now. He can't dance in their apartment, because the floors are just too thin, so it's been about a year since he last did, he always credits dancing as being his favorite thing in the whole world. There's a saying having to do with a dancer's true death being when they stop dancing. His excuse is that he's been working more and more, but he's the one who keeps choosing to work more and more. He hates confronting this, but it's about time he starts. How long is he going to be able to be a happy person if he isn't doing his favorite thing? He spent many thousands of dollars to go to school in order to be the best dancer in the world and he hasn't even been inside the goddamn community center in a year.

"Does this mean you're going to dance again, Hoseok?" he asks. Hoseok picks his head off of Jimin's shoulder to look at him. Jimin notes that he certainly looks like he's having a hard time. He's not crying, but the sadness is there on his face anyway. It's almost like defeat. The dam can only keep the water at bay when the walls are strong.

"Stay for my class, okay?" Jimin says. "Jump in or just sit here, but you've got to stay here. And when the class is over, we can just dance for hours, okay? I think you need that. You've got to un-rust these joints." Jimin slaps at Hoseok's knee and pretends like he's going to stretch his leg out for him. Hoseok laughs sadly and slouches further against the mirror. It's heartbreaking, actually. Hoseok is the brightest star in the entire sky, so his light shouldn't ever flicker. It's harder to be near a sad Hoseok than it is be around a sad anyone else, because Hoseok is the first person to cheer everyone else up.

"Jimin, Yoongi saw one of those videos you posted to Instagram," Hoseok says. "He saw it and he was like... ugh, he looked very into what you were doing."

"Uh oh, that's why you're like this," Jimin says. "It's not just because you're finally seeing sense. It's also because you're jealous. We both know that I don't like Yoongi-"

"Yeah, but what if he likes you? What then, Jimin? You asked him if he was single, and now he's watching a video of you dancing and being all sexy. You're his coworker so he talks to you more than me, and also you're... you're Jimin."

"But you're Hoseok," Jimin says, saying his name back to him like it has the same gravity as his own.

"Jimin," he whines.

"Maybe he was just trying to make you jealous. I think it's possible that he already has a crush on you," Jimin says. Jimin actually doesn't know Yoongi that well yet. They're certainly friends, but that doesn't mean he can read the inner most workings of his mind like he can with Hoseok. Jimin never works at Orange Julius for more than a few hours, and his shifts usually only overlap with Yoongi's for an hour at the most. Hoseok certainly does spend more time with Yoongi than Jimin does.

"I hate you," Hoseok pouts, and then puts his head on Jimin's shoulder again. He's thankful the mirror is at his back so that he doesn't have to look at himself right now. He probably looks pitiful. He's not the crying, balling on the ground kind of depressed right now, it's more of a dull, sharp feeling that makes him feel like he's never going to achieve any of his dreams and also, he'll die cold and alone. He does not need this right now, he really thought his life was going great a few months ago, but now he's realizing that he's missing so many things and he doesn't know what to do about it.

"I've got an idea, Hoseokie," Jimin says, and the very way he says it makes Hoseok know it's an evil idea.

"What might that be?" Hoseok doesn't actually want to know. Jimin's got a very strong, very defined Slytherin streak running through his veins and it's best to always be careful around him.

"You said Yoongi liked my video," Jimin says. "Well, what if we were to post a video of you dancing?"

"I don't even have an Instagram, dipshit," Hoseok says. Jimin already knows this. Hoseok doesn't have the time or patience for social media. He stalks celebrities and dog videos on Twitter and that's the extent of his social media usage.

"Well, but I have several thousands of people who follow me on Instagram. So, what we'll do is make you an account, and then I'll take a video of you on my Instagram and tag you in the video. Then I'm going to send it to the group chat to make Yoongi thirsty and voila, you and Yoongi are walking down the aisle. Simple as that."

"That's ridiculous."

Jimin sighs exaggeratedly and then looks at Hoseok for several moments. His head is still against Jimin, and he doesn't seem to be paying all that much attention. Jimin grabs Hoseok's phone on his lap. He doesn't even do it sneakily, Hoseok is just too apathetic to argue. He lets Jimin use his face to unlock the screen and accepts the reality that Jimin is making him an Instagram without fighting him on it. It's hard to fight Jimin. He's too cute to be mad at, and also he gets scary when he's mad.

"Let's see, password... Yoongisfuturehusband69."

"I hate you," Hoseok says, covering his face. "Just because you're making an account doesn't mean I'm agreeing to anything."

"Okay, but we both know that you're super sexy when you dance. If Yoongi were to see that, I don't think he could even contain himself anymore. I think he'd fall in love as soon as he saw your bulge, I mean eyes."

Hoseok punches him in the arm.

"Come on," Jimin says, standing up. He pulls Hoseok onto his feet which isn't hard when you're as lanky and pathetic as Hoseok. "Time to stretch and get ready to make Yoongi fall in love with you."

"I still haven't agreed to anything."

"You will," Jimin says, sounding sure of himself. When Jimin is sure of himself, it's best to assume he's right. Hoseok doesn't know how he's going to manage to pull it off, but he's sure that he will.

***

Jungkook : holy ship

Jungkook : *holy shit

Jungkook : hoLY SHIT

Jungkook : HOLY SHIIIITTTTT

Jungkook's texts to the group chat come in at about midnight and Yoongi rubs at his temples, sitting in front of his keyboard, looking down at the incoming texts with confusion. He picks up his phone and tries to determine what's happening. It's hard to tell if these are good "holy shit"s or bad ones. There are certainly a lot of them.

Everyone else starts to ask what he's talking about before Yoongi has to, so he waits as little dots appear under people's names. Seokjin is first to ask, and then Taehyung. All Jungkook sends is a link. Yoongi clicks it, because Jungkook is being far too mysterious for him not to be intrigued. It sends him to an Instagram video which he can't open because he doesn't have an account or the app. He rolls his eyes. Whatever it is, it can't be that important. He doesn't really want to create an account just to find out what Jungkook is freaking out about.

Taehyung : IS THAT HOSEOK?!?!?!?!?!

Hoseok : ...

Jungkook : HOSEOOOOKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

Seokjin : Dude

Seokjin : Bruh

Hoseok : ...

The dots appear by Hoseok's name repeatedly, but he doesn't respond to anything. At the sight of Hoseok's name, Yoongi immediately goes back to click the link and creates an account so fast that he's worried he spelled his own name wrong. It takes him the three longest minutes of his entire life to create an account, but he's finally led to Jimin's page, the same one where he saw the video that Jungkook showed him. The most recently uploaded video, though...

Yoongi immediately runs out of the spare bedroom he uses as his studio. He doesn't know why but it's vitally important that he's on his bed when he watches this. Once he's on his bed, lying on his side, trying to mess with the orientation of his screen so that he can see the video as big as it'll get, he clicks on it and unmutes.

There he is. Beautiful, pretty, sexy, gorgeous Hoseok. Dancing. The music is all beat, no real tune, perfect for dancing to. Yoongi's mesmerized by it. Hoseok moves like water, but his movements are firm and coordinated. He looks like every bit of a professional dancer as Yoongi knows he is. His clothes are baggy, not at all what he's normally in at work. There's no real figure to his body in those clothes, it's all in the way he dances that shows Yoongi how hot he is.

Yoongi doesn't even realize the video is over until it starts over again by itself. It's far too short, because Yoongi could watch this video for hours. He watches it again. And then again and again. Then several more times. It's probably on his tenth watch that he finally reads the caption. "he hasn't danced in over a year and he's still better than me." Jimin links to another account, which has to be Hoseok's, only for Yoongi to hurriedly click it to find that it's a completely empty Instagram. Not a single post, not even a bio. The only thing that gives away it's Hoseok's account is the fact that it's his name and the profile photo of Hoseok which Jimin most definitely took without his permission.

He'll have time to worry about all of that later, right now it's more important to watch Hoseok dance several more times. He pushes away notifications from the group chat every few seconds as he watches Hoseok over and over again. Oh god, he is not doing okay right now. He is not well. He's got a fever or an alien virus. Something is wrong and he needs a paper bag to breathe into.

It's on the twentieth or thirtieth watch of the video that he realizes that Jimin is literally in the background filming Hoseok. He's sitting on the floor, visible in the mirror. He also appears to laugh excitedly at one point, clearly having the time of his life watching Hoseok be the sexiest man on the planet. Has Jimin been in the video this entire time? Hoseok literally eats the cameras attention so much that there could be a Godzilla attack out the window and you'd still only notice Hoseok.

Yoongi doesn't know how Instagram works. He clicks like, and then tries to see if there's a way to download the video to his phone, because he needs this in his life until he dies. He's not technologically savvy so all he can do is just follow Jimin on Instagram, follow Hoseok, and then send the link to the video to his email in case he ever loses it for any reason.

Then he notices how many people have actually watched the video and his grip tightens. Thousands of people? The video was only posted like an hour ago. How many of those views were Yoongi? He blushes, and then checks to find out that apparently lots of people follow Jimin on Instagram and a quick scroll through his feed makes it easy for him to determine why. Jimin looks alright without a shirt. He looks more than alright.

So, what are people saying about Hoseok then? Yoongi looks at two different comments thirsting over Hoseok before he decides to turn his phone off and lie on his back. He closes his eyes and lets his phone rest on his chest. The phone has stopped vibrating and he wonders when that happened. How long has he actually been in his bed watching that video? Enough to know that Hoseok probably doesn't have bones and also is probably the sexiest man on the face of the planet. He whimpers softly to himself. He's not okay right now.

He opens his phone up again after taking a minute to breathe. Lots of people are thirsting over Hoseok. Too many people. Yoongi's jaw tightens. He knows that most of these are just horny girls scrolling through Instagram before sleep, but he feels himself disliking every single one of them. It's not like they have a chance when Hoseok is as bent as a boomerang, but he still feels uncontrolled jealousy. If he didn't already think Hoseok was the prettiest boy in the universe, he certainly thinks so now.

Yoongi opens up the messaging app again to catch up on all the missed texts. Everyone is freaking out over the video. Everyone's names appear in troves, except Hoseok himself. They're all ragingly excited that Hoseok has actually danced for the first time in forever. None of them appear to be excited about his body or the way he uses it nearly as much as they are excited for him to have danced at all. Yoongi can't say anything about how attractive he finds Hoseok in the group chat. That would be inappropriate and embarrassing.

Yoongi thinks about the conversation he had with Hoseok only a few hours ago, which, now that he thinks of it, surely is the cause of this video's existence. Yoongi and Jungkook maybe put the pressure on him a little too hard, but this is what happens? He goes out and posts a video on Jimin's account of himself dancing? They must have really gotten through to him. Hoseok wanted to prove to them that he could still dance, and that he hasn't lost a single one of his skills even in all the time he was away. He certainly achieved his goal.

Yoongi whimpers again. He doesn't know how to respond to the group chat but he knows that he has to. Everyone else is proud and happy for Hoseok, and yet he's been radio silence for... fuck, it's been over an hour since this all started.

He labors over it, trying to contain all the excitement and desire he now feels. He's going to watch the video for a lot longer and then wait agonizingly hoping that Hoseok posts more videos to his own account. Yoongi's heart will probably give out, along with thousands of girls, but Yoongi's broken heart will hurt the most.

Yoongi : Wow. Just wow.

It only takes a few seconds before Hoseok's dots appear. Yoongi holds his breath. Hoseok responds with a smiling emoji and that's it. It's his first correspondence all night. Yoongi wonders if the video was posted specifically for Yoongi to see it. He closes his eyes and puts his hands over his face again. Yoongi scoffs. Jungkook doesn't even know the meaning of "holy shit."