His hands were so dirty. Graphite was a bitch to work with, especially when he was doing it on such a big piece of paper larger than the size of his table (he should probably be doing his canvas he brought home but he really didn't want to).
Jungkook stretched out, his limbs sore after stuck crawling around his work in a tensed position. He rested his head on the sofa, which didn't have his usual occupant on it. It was stupidly lonely without Yoongi, who he had gotten so used to having around or Jin who would pop in to check up on them.
He shook his head, firm in his own scolding. "No, Jungkook. You can't be so dependant on them - you're not a child anymore." This was, of course, dismissing his love for banana milk (and if he liked being called baby and other sweet endearments, who cared?).
It was getting late, and he promised the two hybrids that he would look after himself - so a shower it was.
Jungkook came out soft and warm, huddled in fluffy pyjamas and slightly damp hair. Flopping into the bed, he rolled around before checking his phone. There was suddenly so much space on his bed...and he wasn't sure if he liked it.
The weather was terrible - heavy rain and he could hear the wind blow even when his windows were closed. His phone dinged with a new text message, making him perk up in excitement.
Oh. It was only Yugyeom.
"Kook-ah, stop moping. Your hybrids will come back alive. Anyway, our dance group is going out for a drink - come join us! We miss you!"
Well, his heart was still warmed. He still had such great friends (that he honestly didn't deserve to have).
He texted back a brief reply, agreeing to the outing. He had been cooped up in his apartment for so long, but tomorrow he was going to be out for the whole day - so it was a great compromise (wow was he going to be tired).
His eyes fluttered sleepily; he had worn himself out today. There was a missing warmth from a certain cat hybrid that was sorely wanted, but he wasn't going to be a petulant child and demand him come back. He hoped their trip helped them get closer, otherwise he would have wasted his efforts (no, Jungkook! It was for Jin and Yoongi. He couldn't be such a spoilt, selfish brat).
It didn't surprise him that he didn't have restful sleep that night.
-
"This is Kim Taehyung. He'll be your partner for this collaboration project, okay?" His art teacher left after the quick explanation to him to sort out the rest of the the students.
"...what is this?" He mumbled, still left in utter confusion. The boy (well, man, but he still had that boyish charm) grinned at him, showing off boxy-shaped mouth and pearly whites.
"You don't know either? Haha, we're in the same position then. Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Taehyung!" He extended his hand, grey ears lined with black twitching excitedly.
"...I'm Jeon Jungkook. Nice to meet you." The handshake was returned, the large hand of the Siberian Husky hybrid a soothing warmth against his. 'Ah... he's a dog... I don't think Yoongi-hyung will be happy...'
The other male cocked his head to the side, slightly confused by the mild panic on Jungkook's face. "You okay?"
Jungkook laughed nervously. "Just...not that good with meeting people. Sorry." Taehyung nodded, humming in agreement.
"That's fine! Besides, your awkwardness is cute." He beamed at him, lightly tapping Jungkook under his chin. "You don't mind, right? I hope I haven't overstepped any boundaries."
Jungkook shook his head. Taehyung's friendly nature was not off-putting or overbearing, so he was... comfortable? He felt a bit unsure, but his warm attitude was nice, nonetheless.
"Alright, kids. We've introduced you to your partners, so now we'll explain what you're here for. You've been paired up as one art student and one fashion design student to create a project integrating the two subjects." The teachers gave out a booklet per group about the basic aims of the project.
Taehyung skimmed the booklet briefly, before handing over it to Jungkook to read. "Sounds interesting." He chuckled, sitting down in a seat. Jungkook plopped himself down next to him, still looking at some of the examples of projects that were provided.
"Um...what do you want to do? A-any ideas?" He grabbed a piece of paper on the table, preparing to jot down some ideas. The hybrid hummed thoughtfully, getting closer to peer at the pictures. His ears brushed lightly against his cheek, making him want to bury his face in his hands so Taehyung would notice the pink on his face (it was so soft though...he wondered if he would let him stroke them).
The husky's lips quirked up a little, glancing at the cute blush on his face. "Aww, is little Jungkookie embarrassed?" He teasingly tickled him underneath his chin, which only furthered the heat in Jungkook's cheeks.
"Stop," He whined, pushing his hand away and placing his cold hands to try and reduce his blush. "How do you even know I'm younger anyway?" His lips jutted out, making Taehyung laugh and ruffle his hair.
"You're a cute one, Jungkook-ah. I'm twenty-two, by the way." The human next to him sighed and pouted even more. Taehyung patted his head, nodding along. "I see you're younger than me then."
"... I'm twenty." He mumbled.
"Good for you, bunny." Jungkook huffed at the nickname, sticking out his tongue childishly.
"You're only proving my point right, bun!" Taehyung singsonged.
"Shut up...hyung." Jungkook just wanted to be buried so he wouldn't have to deal with his own embarrassment anymore.
"Okay, Kook-ah, I'll stop joking now. Shall we start brainstorming?"
Jungkook doodled on the paper, sketching out some couple ideas for the project.
"Hey, they say you can do sculpture here!" Taehyung poked at the paper enthusiastically, showing Jungkook. "Do you wanna try? Sounds like fun."
"I've never tried sculpture..."
"Same, me neither! Don't you think it'll be pretty dynamic though - a sculpture of a model's walk showing off the clothes? A real life snapshot of the collaboration of a designer's work and the model's presentation of that? Something like that?"
"Sounds hard...and I don't know anything about fashion, hyung." Jungkook kept on drawing Taehyung's portrait on his paper, finally realising that he was wearing some very fashionable clothes. "Well, at least I have you. Hyung seems to dress well."
"Thank you, Kookie! You look cute too." He adjusted his beret, pleased at the compliment.
"You look like an actual art student wearing that," Jungkook giggled quietly, amused by Taehyung's sudden posing for him.
"I do love my art. It's a pastime for me, visiting art exhibitions and museums and stuff." He shrugged. "Plus, it's good for designers to know how to draw their designs out, right?"
The time quickly passed by, with them discussing more ideas and talking a little more about themselves.
"Here, Kook-ah. Save my number, okay? I'll take you to a fashion show so you can see some of my inspiration." He handed out a thin strip of paper, which Jungkook gingerly took and stashed it away carefully. "I'll see you soon; bye bunny!" He waved cheerily and walked away.
Honestly, his cheeks felt like they never stopped burning during that whole lesson. Goddammit.
-
"My darling Jungkook, you have finally arrived!" Yugyeom slurred a bit, clearly tipsy. He hugged on him tightly, patting him as a parent would do to a child.
"...Yugyeom, are you drunk? How much soju have you had already?" He pushed his face away from trying to land a kiss on his cheek. "Uh uh, mister, no thank you."
Yugyeom whined. "Cmon, Kook-ah, no bromo! Why can't I give you my love and affection?"
"...you have BamBam for that. Look, he's right there!" He patted his head with fondness and then promptly went to dump the responsibility to BamBam - thank lord for him (although he sounded like a shitty friend, he promises he really isn't).
He wandered around a bit to find a quieter seat on their extended table, away from all his dance group members who would try to smother him to death aided by their drunkenness.
"Hey, Jungkookie! Didn't know you were coming today!" Hoseok beckoned Jungkook over, hair tousled slightly to show his forehead (the ever so glorious forehead which was even more rare than the display of abs). If Jungkook wanted to fanboy a little at the sight of such a rare scene, well he wasn't making it very subtle because of the slightest drop of his mouth and the frozen functioning of his speech.
Hi, Hoseok-hyung... Yugyeom invited me...I hope you don't mind." He cautiously sat next to the squirrel hybrid, afraid he was bothering Hoseok. The other shook his head and pulled him closer to give him a light noogie, which made Jungkook's heart pound as he was literally in his lap.
"Hyung...aren't I heavy? I'll get off so I don't kill you." He attempted to shuffle off before a hand clasped around his waist and pulled him gently back into his embrace.
Jungkook relaxed in the hold, soothed by the warmth emanated by the older. Hoseok hooked his chin over his shoulder, taking a peek at the partially pink but relaxed face of Jungkook. "You don't mind, do you, Kook-ah?"
"No... it's okay. It's...just a bit weird to see my idol in real life...I'm sorry if I'm so awkward!" He sighed, rubbing his eyes to try to cover his face. "It's just... I've been a long time fan - and I never thought this would ever be possible."
Hoseok laughed at the cute admittance, sniffing lightly at his skin. "That's adorable, Jungkook-ah. Well, I'm just Jung Hoseok now, no longer the street dancer J-hope. That might be a bit disappointing to hear that your idol isn't as special as you thought he was, huh?"
He denied this statement strongly. "Hoseok-hyung, can I be honest with you? Can I talk to you as both your friend and a fan?" He felt the soft orange hair move against his neck.
"You know, I became your fan because you genuinely enjoyed dancing. I saw you dance and I thought that I wanted to dance just as good as you did; I saw your enthusiasm, your energy and it pushed me to want to practice more.
Obviously, while you are very well-known, it's still difficult to connect with you as the street dancer because we only knew you from your dance but never truly you as a person. So...I don't think it was disappointing at all to get to know Jung Hoseok as the person he truly is." Jungkook reached out to get a glass of beer, which he sipped quietly, feeling a bit ridiculous for talking so much.
He felt a wet sensation dripping on his neck; Hoseok was sniffling and rubbing his tears further into his skin, which made him shiver a little. "Ah, hyung, did I make you cry? I'm sorry, don't cry!" He put down his glass and twisted around in Hoseok's lap. Pushing Hoseok further into his neck, he stroked his hair gently, rubbed his back and muttered soft words into Hoseok's ear.
"I'm sorry..." Hoseok muffled out, clutching tighter on Jungkook's shirt and hiding even more in Jungkook's neck.
Jungkook sighed a little, feeling that it wasn't the most appropriate place for Hoseok to start breaking down. "Hoseokie-hyung, do you wanna go outside?" He got off, clutching the hybrid's hands gently and crouching down to make eye contact with him.
Hoseok nodded, eyes still slightly red, making Jungkook smile encouragingly. Hoseok managed a small grin and dragged Jungkook up, letting the younger lead him out.
The two sat outside on the steps, huddled together as it was still quite cold. Hoseok inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, the cold midnight air doing wonders.
"Hyung, you want anything?" Jungkook asked, pointing at the nearby convenience store.
Hoseok stared at Jungkook in disbelief. "Are you still hungry? Literally, we just ate plates of beef."
The human shuffled silently, at a loss for words himself. Hoseok shook his head, dabbing at his tears and chuckled, shooing the boy off into the store.
Ah, he was a wreck. He wasn't expecting Jungkook to say something he desperately wanted to hear, even as a child. He rubbed harder at his eyes as an attempt to stop the waterworks.
"Hyungie, still upset?" Jungkook's sweet lilting voice was back, placing a hot chocolate drink in his lap and a small bag of snacks beside him before sitting down. He put his elbows on his knees, cupping his face in his hands, taking a good look at Hoseok. "My poor, poor Hobi-hyung, you wanna talk about it? I can lend an ear."
It was weak, but a faint smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Jungkook-ah, but I don't want to bring down the mood anymore. It's not what I should be doing."
Jungkook squinted at the hybrid confusedly. "I'm sorry, but are you Jesus? Are you God? Why are you obligated to not have your bad days too?" He reached out for Hoseok's hand, squeezing encouragingly. "It's okay; there are people that care and will listen to you when you aren't feeling good. I'm here too...so don't feel like you're completely alone."
Tears dripped down Hoseok's face; his grip on Jungkook's hand tightening as he sobbed silently with his head facing down. It was almost like a dam had been broken and all the water had spilled out. Jungkook hesitantly put his arms around the trembling hybrid, holding him closer as a show of comfort.
They remained in that position for a while, among the stars sparkling in the sky and the faint, joyous cheers coming from the inside of the restaurant.