Chapter 1: A New Start
Chapter Text
It was a peaceful morning in Seoul. Birds were chirping happily, and leaves ruffled as a light breeze moved them. Today was a perfect day to sleep in before college classes start. It’s a week before school starts and all types of students will be commuting from home to school.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
That peace didn’t last long as a loud beeping could be heard throughout the whole house. It signified something was backing up.
It sounded like a huge truck!
Lee Chul groaned as she sat up slowly. Her hair was a mess, and she was slightly annoyed. She ran her fingers through her long-tangled hair as she yawned loudly. She turned her head to see if she could peek out through her window. She let out another groan and rubbed her eyes as she got the covers off her body. After planting her feet on the soft carpeted ground, she made her way to the bathroom. She used the toilet, took a shower, brushed her teeth and hair. Once done with her morning routine, she walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped tightly around her body. She looked through her closet to find a nice comfortable outfit. Chul wasn’t very feminine. Her style could be described as loose, baggy, and comfortable, but she had her times where she wore more form fitting and revealing outfits.
Since it was the beginning of Fall, and it was getting chilly, she settled with a loose white knitted sweater with a white shirt underneath. She put on a pair of black leggings with some sneakers to match and was ready to head out the door. Before she left, she went over aloud what she had to do for the day. “Get breakfast, visit Ha-Joon for lunch, go to work, buy dinner and head home.” She mumbled to herself. She grabbed her bookbag, made sure her wallet was inside with enough money for dinner. She slung her bag over her shoulders and grabbed her keys. She made her way down the street and checked her phone for the time. “I have enough time to sit and eat breakfast slowly before I have to go to Ha-Joon’s house” She mumbled again to herself as she smiled softly and placed her phone in her bag. As she walked down the street, the opposite way of her new neighbor’s house, she didn’t notice the huge moving truck and the set of seven boys wearing masks coming in and out carrying heavy boxes. She lived blissfully ignorant of how these boys would flop her whole life just by becoming her new neighbors.
Well…
For now.
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Chul made her way to a small café that was about a 5-minute walk from her house. She was a regular at that café coming every morning since she didn’t have time to make herself breakfast or get a snack when she was too lazy to make herself something. She walked into the café and smiled as the warmth of the café hit her. She took her wallet and went to order her usual. The cashier saw her coming and smiled at her already knowing who it was. He had short black hair and a pair of round glasses perched on his nose. Choi San was the cashier’s name, and he was the most caring, softest, and brightest man Chul has met. They slowly became best of friends after meeting about a year ago. After their faithful meeting she came to the café every day and ordered the same thing every day, a flat white coffee with something sweet on the side. As San became closer friends with Chul he noticed the girl’s massive sweet tooth, she could eat a whole plate of pastries if you handed it to her. He also noticed she had a big appetite for most foods. The two could never really meet up outside of the café because of their different schedules but the boy was always happy to hang out with her during his breaks.
The café was quite empty today so San and Chul could talk for a bit while she waited for her food. “The usual?” The boy asked with a raised eyebrow knowing what was coming next.
“You should already know the answer to that!” The girl grinned letting out a laugh while the boy chuckled and signaled to another man behind him that was working today too.
“So Lee Chul, how are you feeling about classes starting soon?”
“Well Choi San, I’m basically crying and sobbing that the summer is over.” He playfully rolled his eyes at the use of his full name but then instantly started to laugh.
“I’m excited to see you on campus more often! There’s even the chance we’ll get a class together. We’ll just have to plan it out for next semester.” He said it quite excitedly. Chul rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.
“San~ I’m starting to think you have a crush on me. How would your dear boyfriend feel about that?” She was happy that she was going to see the ravenette a lot more. Especially since they were a part of the same concentration! Chul giggled and the boy’s face warmed up with a slight blush as he shyly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He rolled his eyes at her with the smallest smile.
“I'm excited to be able to hang out with you more though. We barely get to see each other.” She pouted as San started to laugh and shook his head at her. Chul’s food was done and was placed carefully on the counter. The younger took out the amount of money she owed and placed it in his much bigger hand. Before Chul could take her food, San started to climb over the counter ready to take her food to her table. The girl waved her hand in front of her and shook her head frantically.
“No! No! San!” She kept repeating the same words over and over again, but San didn’t stop. He got to the other side of the counter and grabbed her food. He turned to look at her and smiled cutely.
“Lead the way cutie.” He stood there with his shit eating grin as the girl stood there looking at him with disbelief. San laughed at her, the smile on his face never wavering. "Relax! I have a break right now and the shop is empty either way. I don’t have much work to do.” He smiled reassuringly to the smaller girl motioning for them to go sit down. She sighed and then huffed to go sit down. Chul sighed and then huffed, giving into the boy’s antics. He smiled his cute heart shaped smile and cheered. They sat down at the table as Chul placed her bag underneath the table. She took a sip of her coffee as San placed his elbows on the table. His chin was poised on his hands as he looked at her with bright happy eyes. “How has everything been? I haven’t been able to talk to you in a while. I have no clue what’s happening in Lee Chul’s life.” San chirped as he stole a piece of her blueberry muffin. She glared at him as she placed the coffee down but neither the less answered his question.
“Well…” She started as she took a bite of her tainted muffin with a smile, "It’s been quite the ride!” San laughed as he knew where this was going to getting comfortable in this seat while she spoke. Chul told him about her “adventurous” break, which mostly consisted of visiting her brother and playing around with her animations as well as photographing, and the boy nodded his head, chuckling softly at how she thought this was adventurous. Knowing that his friend wasn’t one to go out much nor be online much just made this a tad more entertaining than it should. Once she finished the last sip of her coffee the girl ended her story time.
“That was quite an eventful time you have been having.” He chuckled softly as she let out a small whine.
“You know I don’t go out much! I also don’t have a lot of friends either.” Snorting and shaking their heads they had a bit more conversation until they started saying their goodbyes. San hugs her saying one last goodbye and watches her until she is out of sight. Chul walked down the way to where her brother’s house was. There was a nice breeze flowing that made Chul’s hair dance along as she walked. She looked at the shops that passed by her and watched people walk in and out of stores with bags in their hands. Glancing over, a store caught her eye.
It was a mini convenience store. It looked small and cute, a little rustic. It seemed like a hole in the wall place that not many people knew of, and she smiled. ‘Maybe I should get some snacks.’ The brunette thought as she crossed the street to the store wishing to herself that she had brought her camera. She walked in and was greeted by an older woman. Giving her a smile and a small bow as a greeting to the older. Looking through the many different aisles she hummed looking at things her brother and nephew might like. Once she decided on what snacks to get, she walked up to the small line in front of the cashier that had formed while she looked for her items. As she was waiting, she noticed a man with a hood and mask walking into the store. He seemed a little suspicious along with intimidating with his height, but Chul didn’t pay much attention to him. The line moved slightly to where there were only two people in front of her and that’s when the man with the hood stopped behind her. He had a lot of junk food in his hands from what she could see from the corner of her eye. She got a little tense but tried not to think about it so much. ‘He’s just here to buy stuff just like you, stop being so paranoid you idiot!’ She scolded herself furrowing her brows not noticing the small confused look the man was giving her.
The line moved up and so did Chul, but as she moved forward one of the bags in her arms fell without her noticing. The man behind did notice though, he bent down, struggling a bit as he did so, and picked up the bag for her. He shifted the majority of the bags onto his other arm and proceeded to tap on her shoulder lightly. When he pulled his hand away, he pulled down his mask so he could talk better. “You dropped this miss.” The girl stiffened a bit in response as she turned around and looked at the man. As she saw that his mask was down, she was shocked by what presented itself before her. The male was young and had chestnut brown eyes and a smile that almost made him look like a bunny. She had also noticed how softly he spoke. ‘He’s so cute!’ She thought as her face slightly heated up. She was going to reach for the bag and utter out a thank you until the boy blurted out the next couple words. “You’re really pretty!” This caused her to instantly heat up with the compliment.
The boy noticed what he said and instantly started to blush and stutter out an apology. “I-I’m so sorry!” He squeaked out and Chul couldn’t help but chuckle a little at his reaction which caused him to blush even more fiercely.
“It’s okay. You’re cute so I’ll let it slide.~” She said with a small smile that stopped the man’s heart. “Thank you by the way, I’m Lee Chul.”
“I’m Jeon Jungkook.” He gave her another bunny smile, a red blush dusting the tips of his ears and cheeks.
Chapter 2: Starts With A Smile
Notes:
Omg I finally posted-. I hope it's good and yall enjoy it!
Chapter Text
Jungkook and Chul spoke and joked around a bit more before they had to go their separate ways. They ended up exchanging numbers with Chul insisting it was necessary in case they needed some kind of help. What kind of help? Chul wasn’t sure. She just wanted an excuse to have the cute boy’s number. Walking to her brother’s house, a new skip in her step that wasn’t there before, she ran over what her Kook talked about. She learned that they were going to the same school along with him being a Freshman which meant he was younger than her. Another piece of information she had found out was that the man was new to the area and had asked her if whenever she was free, she could show him around. She smiled to herself when the image of the taller man came to mind, how happy and bright he looked when she agreed to do so. By the time she came back from her thoughts she realized she had made it to her brother’s house. She rang the bell and knocked on the door for good measure bouncing on her toes as she waited for the door to open and to be let in.
She zoned out again seeming not to be able to shake off the thoughts of the cute man she had met. She was pulled out of these thoughts when the door opens, and her brother stands in front of her eyebrow raised as he looked her over judgmentally. “Why did you take so long, huh?” He asked leaning on the doorframe. Chul let out a breath looking her brother over and realizing he was in slippers, shorts, and t-shirt.
“Are you not cold?” She asked incredulously while he narrowed his eyes at her.
“Don’t change the subject. Answer my question.” He said, no demanded. She rolled her eyes at him and whined a little shaking the bag of snacks at him.
“I got caught up! I was buying us some snacks and getting the little man a little gift.” She pouted, giving him puppy dog eyes. “Can I come in now Ha-Joon? It’s cold out here-.” He eyed her and the bag before sighing and nodding, stepping to the side and letting her in. She cheered with a laugh, giving her older brother a big hug as she entered. The bag was handed to him while she took off her shoes slipping on her own pair of slippers that she kept there. She bounced inside while Ha-Joon shook his head walking into the kitchen to put the snacks away.
She looked around with a hum smiling at the comfort the house always gave her. Living alone wasn’t a problem for Chul but sometimes she hated how quiet everything was. “Where’s my little man?” She called out and as if on cue she heard the pitter patter of small feet and tiny squeals. She laughed when her leg was attacked with a hug crouching down and quickly snatching her nephew and holding him in the air.
“I’m here!” He squealed out wiggling in her hands with giggles slipping from his tiny lips.
“Min-Joonie.~ My little baby.~” She cooed at him pressing little kisses to his face which just caused another group of giggles to escape him.
“What did you bring me Auntie?” He asked trying to put up his cutest face knowing that it helps get information from the older woman.
“Hmmm I might have brought you some snacks.~” She smiled big when the little boy squealed in delight knowing very well his Aunt knew everything he liked. “But you have to finish dinner first.” She said with raised brows. He pouted a little but nodded his head, shaggy black hair covering his eyes as he did so. He agreed this was a valid deal and promised to finish his dinner before touching any of the snacks his Auntie had brought him. Ha-Joon came back into the room with a small smile spreading on his face as he saw Chul and Min-Joon together. Being a single father was hard for Ha-Joon so having his son be so close to his Aunt made his heart warm. He knew Min-Joon would never be alone as long as Chul was around. He took him from Chul’s arms, attacking him with kisses, smiling more when the same giggles from earlier came exploding out of him.
“Alright, dinner time you two.” He said, leading the way to the dining table, Chul following right behind with a smile. She sat down, putting her phone on the table as she dug in and started to serve herself food. Ha-Joon’s cooking was the best cooking. It was quiet for a while, them just enjoying their food and the company they had until her brother decided to break it.
“So, I don’t believe you on why you were late. Real answer please.~” He mused looking at her through his glasses, eyebrows raised while he took some noodles into his mouth. Now interested in this new information Min-Joon also looked towards her, his own small eyebrows raised. Quietly they both looked at her and she pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing at the two of them.
“You two are so similar its scary.” She muttered, opening her mouth to defend herself until her phone vibrated with a message.
‘Hey! It’s Jungkook.’
‘I’m sure you saved my number…but just in case you didn’t it’s me! ^^’
She read over the messages and blushed a little at the look her brother had given her. Min-Joon was confused as he tried to read over the notifications trying to understand what they meant. “Who’s Jungkook. Hmm?” Ha-Joon said with a questioning look, Min-Joon following his dad more so finding this amusing and fun not really understanding what was happening. His name being brought up made her blush even more, face going from a blushy pink to a bright red.
“He’s just…someone.” She muttered, putting some rice into her mouth so she didn’t over speak.
“Someone? Who? You only have like 3 friends, and I know all of them. Who is he?” Chul gasped offended at his words and scoffed.
“I have many friends.” She said sighing when her brother gave her a face knowing damn well, she was lying. She didn’t have the normal social media platforms, preferring to stay away from them. She didn’t see the need to post her life online and only really posted her pictures, using it more as a portfolio of sorts. Because of this she didn’t have many friends, but she was happy and okay with that fact. Groaning as she knew that she wasn’t going to be left off the hook that easy, deciding to come clean. “It’s a boy I met at the convenience store I went to. He was cute and I had to ask for his number.” She purses her lips, looking away from her brother’s eyes, who so happens to be boring into the side of her head. “He’s new around and wanted to get to know the area and I may have also offered to show him around some day.” She heard a small ‘oh my god’ come from her brother before he spoke.
“He’s a stranger. What if he’s a serial killer!”
“He’s too cute to be a serial killer!”
“No! That’s not how that works Chul!” She whined and swayed from side to side knowing her brother was right. She let the charms of a stranger get the best of her senses and she was most possibly going to pay for it by ending up on some crime show or in the video of a true crime fanatics YouTube channel. But before she could speak the youngest in the room spoke first.
“Objection!” He yelled his little fist hitting the table top before looking at the two with a stern face. Both of them paused, blinking, and looking at each other. They both laugh once a second passes Min-Joon looking at them before joining them.
“You need to stop letting him watch those judge shows.”
“They’re educational. He could end up being a lawyer.” Ha-Joon rolled his eyes but smiled, kissing the side of Min-Joon’s head, and ruffling his raven black hair.
“Just be careful, yeah? I don’t want to get a call that my sister is hurt. In anyway.” He hummed looking at her with sincere concern. Chul smiled back and nodded her head knowing that her brother was just worried about her well-being.
“I promise I’ll be careful.” She mused, going back to eating and making a mental note to text Jungkook back eventually.
Deciding it best she just stayed over instead of walking back home in the dark, Chul stayed in her brother’s guest room for the day. She took a quick shower and got into some clothes she had left the previous time she had stayed over. She lay down, happy and relaxed, deciding to read a book on her phone before going to sleep. She sent Jungkook a quick message back saying that she had saved his number and that she hopes they can hangout soon before the semester begins. She turns to her side, opening up and book she had started reading and never finished. She got sucked into the world of fantasy and dragons, the main couple gripping her attention that she almost missed the notification of someone texting her.
‘Hey do you want to meet up before your first class next week?’
Ah, yes. Classes start next week. Chul was aware of this information but had thought they would start a little bit later than next week. San had made it sound like a month honestly. But she smiled happily she caught the notification knowing right away who it was.
‘Hello to you too Hongjoongie! ^^ I would love to hangout with you next week before class.~’
‘…Are you okay?’
‘Yeah. Why?’
‘Nooo reason. But bets I’ll meet you before your class, I don’t have any that day either so if you want to do something after you’re done I’m open.’
Chul smiled as she kept texting her childhood friend, Kim Hongjoong. They spoke for a bit longer, deciding on where to meet up and what to do afterwards. Her eyes grew heavy slowly falling sleep hit her suddenly mid conversation. She said a quick goodnight before wrapping herself in blankets enjoying the warmth and yawning falling asleep almost instantly.
For the rest of the week, she had left of vacation there wasn’t much that happened with Chul. She didn’t run into Jungkook even though they did text regularly trying, and failing, to make plans whenever the other was free but it seemed impossible. Chul had this week realized that the house next to hers had been occupied. For how long? She has no clue. Now feeling like a bad neighbor had decided that soon she would go there and introduce herself with a nice plate of cookies. Very friendly, neighborly and movie like. The only eventful things she managed to do was hangout with San whenever him and his boyfriend, Jung Wooyoung, hung out. Hongjoong was busy with a Summer job at a vinyl store, one they would go to a lot as kids, which she visited to say hey and have a small conversation with the man before he got too busy. She recently had made a friend…more so acquaintance on a walk in the park. Her name was Kyung Mi and they hit it off right after Chul apologized to her repeatedly after bumping into her and spilling ink all over the sheets she was writing on. After that nothing really interesting happened.
The day had come though, the day of wrecking.
First day of classes.
Chul sighed walking down the scenic way to school, not being able to get much sleep as she was nervous about school. Her camera was hanging from her neck taking quick pictures of whatever caught her eye. She hid her face in her fuzzy, chunky white turtle neck standing in front of a tree that had looked pretty in the light. She stood looking through the pictures she had taken deciding which ones were good enough to place into her portfolio. She was bumped into by someone, causing her to look up. The person quickly apologized, running towards an area she remembered had a small park. She hummed, looking in its direction, noticing a small crowd had started to form. Interest instantly peaked and she walked up to the crowd. She tried her best to dodge people and not bump into anyone as she tried to get a look at what was happening. She let out a breath as she got to the front and groaned when someone bumped into her again. She huffed slowly deeming whatever was being surrounded was not worth it until she looked up.
Her eyes laid on a man. It wasn’t just any man though. He was beautiful almost as if the gods themselves created him to be the most perfect being. He looked like he should be on magazines or in movies. Her eyes couldn’t move from him, and she didn’t realize he was looking directly back at her. He looked at her almost the same way she looked at him. ‘She’s so beautiful.’ He thought to himself looking her over. Even in casual clothing that was meant to keep her warm over anything else she looked perfect to him. Everyone else noticed him staring at the woman, confused as to why he was paying attention to such a common and normal girl. While they both were lost in their own little worlds, Chul didn’t realize she instinctively took a picture of him with her camera. You couldn’t blame her though; it was her job to take pictures of what was pretty and beautiful.
The sound of the shudder pulled them both out of their thoughts. Just now realizing that the handsome man was staring at her back when he gave her a soft smile. She went completely red, frozen from realizing what she had done. He stepped forward wanting to say something, anything really. Anything to get the pretty woman to stay so he could keep looking at her. But before he could she turned and ran away, screaming inwardly and berating herself for everything she had done. The man couldn’t even process his thoughts until he started to get swarmed again smiling and accepting gifts along with pictures with his fans. The image of the woman in the back of his head.
Chul whined to herself as she walked to the front gates of the school pouting as she waited for Hongjoong to appear and walk her to class. They had decided it would be best to talk instead of going anywhere just to enjoy each other’s company since it had been a while, they had been able to really enjoy some alone time. Hongjoong stopped in front of her, sitting on his motorbike and quirking an eyebrow at her when he took off his helmet. “What’s with the pout buttercup?” He asked, kicking out the stand of the bike making sure it was in a safe place before turning to look at her. She whined more, pout getting bigger as she crashed into his chest. Joong blinked in surprise patting the back of her head, stroking her hair softly.
“I’m so embarrassed.” She muttered into his hard chest. Her answer just caused more confusion to spread on Joong’s face.
“Alright…let’s walk to your building and you can tell me everything that happened. How does that sound?” He said gently, rubbing her back patiently. He was always gentle and Chul loved him for it. She nodded, pulling away and holding onto his arm as they walked into the campus, her rambling about everything that had happened just a mere minutes ago.
Chul huffed as she heard Hongjoong’s laughter fill her ears. He was laughing at her. How dare he! When she was having a crisis, he was laughing. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He said repeatedly trying to calm himself. “It’s just not something I would think would happen to you.” He motioned to the camera before continuing to speak. “Let me see the picture. He might be a popular Junior or something, I might know him.” She nodded, pouting a little at his other comment, handing over the camera. Joong looked at the picture intently, eyebrows scrunched. “He looks extremely familiar.” He muttered, handing the camera back.
“Well, if you happen to remember who he is, please let me know. So, I can apologize to him.” Joong snorted and shook his head ruffling her hair.
“It’s not that bad. Maybe he was looking at you because he thought you were pretty.” Chul shook her head quickly in disagreement.
“Nope! Impossible! Now if you excuse me,” She stood up dramatically turning away from him, Joong just laughing more. “I have to go to class.” She flipped her hair even more dramatically, Joong standing and waiting for a second knowing she was going to come back. And he was right she jogged back giving him a quick hug before jogging back to her building. “I’m still mad at you!” She called out Joong shaking his head another time, a fond smile on his face as he waved her off walking back to the front gates and to his motorcycle. Inside the building she pressed the call elevator button. She patiently waited for it to land, stepping into it, and pressing the 4th floor button. The doors started to close before they could fully close though a hand quickly stuck out causing the doors to reopen. The person stepped in and stood next to her. She wasn’t fully paying attention, unsure as to who it was, and the other person was too busy with their music to say anything. By some miracle though they made eye contact both perking up as they realized who it was.
“Jungkook!”
“Chul!” He laughed, giving her a small hug, and realized they were going to the same floor. They stepped out and smiled at each other. “I didn’t expect to see you here. What are you doing here?” A realization hit her as she smiled sheepishly. “I never asked what your major was.” Kook giggled under his breath his iconic bunny smile stretching on his face.
“It’s alright, I didn’t ask either. I’m a Computer Science major.” He said with a proud smile and his chest puffed out a little. ‘Cute.’ Chul thought giving a soft chuckle and smile.
“I’m an Animation major with a minor in Photography.” She said with her own proud smile while Jungkook looked at her with sparkly eyes.
“You take pictures and animate? I bet everything you do is amazing!” Chul giggled a small pink blush dusted on her cheeks. She waved her hand dismissively at him.
“It’s not that amazing.”
“Nonsense! You lie and I won’t listen to it.” He covered his ears playfully and shook his head. Chul laughed more covering her lips with the back of her hand. While she was busy laughing Jungkook smiled down at her, a little fond with a small blush dusted on the tips of his ears. Her laugh sounded like such pleasant music and her smile was to die for. He never wanted to stop hearing or seeing either one.
“Since you’re a Computer Science major why are you in the art building?” Chul asked, pulling Kook out of his little fantasies, his blush growing darker.
“Oh, I’m here for a painting requirement. Which starts in like 5 minutes!” He said a little frantic, starting to speed walk towards the direction of the class. Chul bit her bottom lip to hold back a laugh especially when Kook turned and walked backwards waving at her frantically. “Bye! Let’s meet after our classes end! I’ll text you when I’m done.” He called out, she waved back nodding her head along to what he was saying. She turned to walk to her drawing class, texting Hongjoong a short message saying she might be a little late to meet him since she will be catching up with a new friend. The only response she got was a little shock emoji which caused Chul to roll her eyes before stepping into her class.
She smiled as she sat down, finding she couldn’t hold it back even if she tried.
She was actually looking forward to this.
Chapter 3: Familiar Faces
Summary:
Jungkook and Chul meet again by pure chance. Their friendship is blooming with them getting a lot closer, Chul even getting to meet one of his close "friends". Featuring a little of Jimin getting into trouble.~
Chapter Text
‘Hey my class ended early! :D’
‘My room is 309, down the hall’
‘Come down when you’re done’
Chul smiled at the messages, sitting at her easel as her class took a break. The teacher had been going through what to expect in the class along with starting a PowerPoint on what they’ll be practicing for the first week. She ate her own snack that she brought because of long class hours, texting Jungkook back as she did.
‘Lucky! I have one more hour’
‘I’ll see you then’
Jungkook answers with an okay, deciding to stay in the room while waiting. Chul finishes her snack and goes back to her notes, doodling little flowers and characters along the edges of her paper. Once the Professor went over the assignment, she ended class early and Chul cheers to herself as she starts putting her items into her bag. She quickly texted Jungkook telling him that she was on her way and walked down the colorful hall of her art building. She looked at the room numbers until she saw ‘309’ and stopped, smiling wide as she walked into the empty classroom. She looked around, noticing Jungkook sitting on a stool at a table with someone sitting next to him. She tilted her head as she walked in noticing that they were both looking down at something on Jungkook’s phone.
“Hey Kook!” She chirped excitedly making her presence known to the two men. Both look up, Kook giving her his signature cute bunny smile. She smiled back his smile too contagious to not. Before looking at the other man and wondering where she’s seen him before. He seemed to be having the same recollection. She opened her mouth to say a greeting to the man before he spoke before her.
“You’re the girl from the park! That’s where I’ve seen you.” He called out both Jungkook and Chul. He blushed embarrassed at his small outburst clearing his throat. “I’m sorry you just looked really familiar.” Chul takes a second to process before blushing embarrassed and looking at him over once more. And yes, he was the beautiful man from the park, knowing that fact made her face grow more red. She quickly bowed and started to apologize profusely. Jimin blinks surprised before a laugh starts to bubble out while Jungkook sat confused next to him. Chul went even more red, if possible, when she heard his beautiful laugh. She went back to standing straight, her hair slightly covering her face. ‘Why is everything he does so pretty?’ Jimin stopped laughing and let out a breath.
“I’m sorry, you’re just so cute.” Chul pouted a little at that shyly playing with her sleeve. “You don’t need to apologize, I’m half to blame. I do hope you got a nice picture of me though.” He teased gently to Chul’s dismay. She whined a little, pushing her hair back, pursing her lips and looking away. ‘She’s cute.’ He thought with a small smile while Chul collected herself.
“I-I’ll delete the picture, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to take it.” Jimin waved her off with a small hand wave and smile.
“It’s really okay honey.~ I just hope you got my good side.~” He eternally cooed as another pink hue came to her cheeks when he called her honey. He stuck his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Jimin by the way. Park Jimin.” She blinked a little before shyly taking his hand.
“Lee Chul.” She introduced herself shyly. Jimin smiled and the two looked at each other for a bit. They seemed to be taking in each other’s features, making Jungkook look at them completely confused and unsure of what was going on. He clears his throat looking at the two as they jump a little forgetting that there was someone else in the room. Jimin smiled sheepishly at the younger.
“Sorry, got…distracted.” He mumbled softly while Chul looked down at her fingers shyly.
“I could see that-.” Jungkook said sassily before shaking his head. “How do you guys know each other anyway? You’re in different majors. Completely different-.” Jungkook enquired as he looked between the two waiting for an answer.
“Wait what major are you?”
“Cosmetic Science.” Chul blinked surprised and looked at him impressed.
“Woah! That sounds so fancy!” Jimin laughed, getting bashful at her praise, about to wave her comments off before hearing Jungkook clear his throat again and looking at him with raised brows. Jimin gave him an apologetic look before answering the younger man.
“We met at the park earlier. She’s the girl I told you about.” Jungkook blinked in confusion before a grin started to spread on his face.
“Oh, so she’s the-.” His mouth was quickly covered by Jimin’s hand, said man, glaring at the younger who was just giggling under it before apologizing. Chul looked between the two, blinking confused as she scrunched her eyebrows together.
“What? The, what?” She tilted her head confused while Jungkook laughed and Jimin waved his hands with a pink hue on his cheeks.
“Don’t worry about it.” Chul whined and started to protest, trying to get some kind of information out of him. This lasted a couple more minutes, Jungkook laughing and Jimin shyly denying the girl any information on what Jungkook was going to say. After giving up Chul starts conversation on how their first days were going and what days they had classes and so on. At one point Chul went to tie up her hair, talking about some random topic and not noticing the two men looking at her and listened. They both were thinking the same thing, she looked so pretty. Jimin was the first to snap out of it though and gently hit Jungkook on the shoulder to snap him out of it.
“Last semester wasn’t all that bad, so I do hope this one is the same. I hope I make more friends.” They both tuned back into the conversation blinking a little to piece together what they could. “But I think it’s time for me to get going. My friend is waiting for me, and I hate making him wait.” She smiled at the two who smiled back instantly.
“Oh…” Jungkook pouted a little before checking the time and perking up surprised. “Yeah, I think you’re right. It’s definitely time for us to go too.” He smiled sadly, wishing they could hangout a bit longer. Jimin lightly nudged him before handing his phone to Chul, the contacts app open.
“Here, put in your number. It’s not fair that Jungkook gets to talk to such a pretty girl, and I don’t.” He teased gently, smiling more when he sees her blush appearing on her cheeks again. She gently takes it, putting in her number and hands it back shyly, smiling at him.
“There you go.” He smiles back looking at the contact and cooing inwardly at the cute emojis she used. He sent her a message, so she had his number as well. Both men stood up and each took turns giving her a hug before they walked out of the room and went their separate ways. As she walked down the stairs, deeming it quicker than waiting for the elevator. She had already made Hongjoong wait too long, and she was definitely going to get an earful about it. She texted Jimin while she went down, smiling at the new pretty friend she made. “No one’s going to believe me.” She mumbled to herself with a laugh as she got out. There she saw Hongjoong, leaning against his bike and waved happily at him. Hongjoong crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her.
“Nice to see you-.” He said snarky while she rolled her eyes and hugged her best friend.
“Don’t be so cold.~” She whined a little, it being Hongjoong’s turn to roll his eyes and hug her back.
“You were with your new friend?” She nodded her head with a happy smile.
“He seems to make you really happy. Be careful, you’ve only known each other for a couple of days.” Chul shook her head with a little frown.
“He’s nice. And we’ve basically known each other for more than a week. I even met one of his friends today! Plus, I can take care of myself. I know what I’m doing.” Hongjoong’s eyebrows raised up, but he didn’t mention anything about it.
“I know you can, but I just worry about you. Now,” He tossed Chul her normal helmet.
“Get on, we're going to Sally’s.” Chul squealed happily at the prospect of going to their favorite diner. Having gone to it since they were kids from Hongjoong’s first concert in Middle School to their High School Graduation. She hugged him happily before putting on the helmet and got on carefully with Joong’s help. Once they were there, they greeted everyone and went to their normal table before Chul started to go into detail of her day before Joong did the same.
A nice ending to the day.
Jimin and Jungkook went to the elevator, Jimin texting Chul back with a smile before putting his phone away. Jungkook glances at him but doesn’t say anything, just smiling along knowing what he was thinking of. Once out of the building Jimin puts on a pair of sunglasses along with putting up his hoodie trying to hide his face as much as possible. Jungkook opted for his normal black facemask while putting his hoodie up as well. Once they felt that their faces were hidden well enough, they started walking to Jimin’s car. Jimin was happy that he was allowed to drive himself and not have some driver taking them around. They all wanted to enjoy their college experience as much as possible and as normal. They already had heavy schedules to follow, making having close connections hard. So having this sliver of normalcy was a breath of fresh air for all the boys. They have casual conversation when inside of Jimin’s car, mask and hoods down enjoying each other’s company.
Jungkook held Jimin’s hand in his lap while the older man drove. “She doesn’t know what we do, does she?” Jungkook blinked, processing what he was asked before blushing a little and shaking his head.
“No…I kind of like the fact she doesn’t. At least if she does, she doesn’t show it.” Jimin nodded his head agreeing.
“She’s a lot more sweet than you mentioned.” Jimin grinned a little. “I can see why you like her so much.” Jungkook went red, lightly slapping his arm when they got to a red light.
“Says you! You stared at her for so long-. And you called her an ‘Angel’ when you first saw her, remember?” Jimin scoffed with his own blush spreading on his face which caused Jungkook to laugh. Jimin rolled his eyes, scoffing again but smiling fondly at his boyfriend, loving whenever he laughed. They talk the rest of the way home, Jimin parking his car on the street, noticing that there was a car in the driveway. He cursed under his breath knowing whose car it was and whining to himself. Jungkook noticed the car and cringed a little knowing that Jimin was going to be chewed out by their Hyungs. Jungkook checked the time before tugging Jimin’s hand. “I have to stream soon.” Jimin sighed, wishing he could stay in the car and let everything settle. They both got out of the car making their way inside barely making it in until seeing Yoongi standing halfway up the stairs, arms crossed and a knowing look on his face.
Jimin sighed as Jungkook gave him a quick peck to the lips running up the stairs, stopping to give Yoongi his own kiss, before rushing to his room to set up for his stream. Yoongi looked at Jimin who gave him puppy dog eyes, the older man shaking his head. “Not this time. Let’s go, Jin and Namjoon are waiting for you.” Groaning, the blonde followed behind, wondering what they’ll tell him he can’t do this time around.
Oh how he hated talks like these.
Chapter 4: Cookies & Introductions
Summary:
After fussing over meeting their new found friend, Taehyung doesn't know how to feel about the girl. By coincedence they managed to meet but he doesn't seem completely convinced.
Chapter Text
He walked up to the house's shared office where he knew Namjoon and Jin were going to be at. He already had a semblance of what they were going to say to him, he really didn’t feel like talking about it. The crowd wasn’t necessarily a mistake, he was just having a little fun. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone or break whatever illusion of normalcy they were trying to build. He didn’t know how they were meant to live normally either, their faces were plastered everywhere and people knew them by name. He didn’t see the harm in walking around and flaunting it a little, maybe even getting a couple new fans to watch his videos and check out his modeling stuff. He let out a sigh as he knocked on the door and opened it when there was a soft ‘come in’ from the other side.
Time to get this over with.
When he walked in he was greeted with Namjoon’s disappointed eyes and Jin’s annoyance. Ah yes, the parents of the group. He expects no less. “Take a seat.” Namjoon says motioning to a chair that was positioned in front of them. Jimin couldn’t help but feel nervous now, he knew they weren’t going to hurt him but it felt like he was being interrogated for a crime. When he sat down is when the silence completely dissipated.
“You know what you did was stupid right?” Jin spoke up brashly while Namjoon put his hand up and looked at Jin.
“What Seokjin means is that, we wished you would have ran over what you were planning with us before you did it. It could have been dangerous.” Jimin’s tense posture from before eased up a little and he frowned looking down a little guilty. They were just worried.
“What if you got kidnapped! Or some person came and hurt you! What would we have done then?” Jin continued his anger from before melting down to worried eyes and a soft sigh. “We’re just worried about you.” He added on after a bit of silence. Jimin nodded and looked down, he didn’t want to apologize because he should be able to do what he wanted. He was a grown man after all. On the other hand though he felt bad, he didn’t mean to worry his boyfriends like that and mulling it over was a bit dangerous. It wasn’t a controlled environment and anyone could have been there. He didn’t regret it though, he managed to meet Chul. How could he regret that?
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking and I didn’t mean to worry you guys. It won’t happen again, I’ll fill you in next time I plan something like this.” It was a half truth and a sincere apology, he definitely was sorry but…he might forget to fill them in if he had another crazy stunt to pull. And his two boyfriends were aware of that, hence the looks they gave each other basically saying with their eyes ‘He’s not going to’. Jin shook his head but smiled a little, he loved him no matter how convoluted or stupid he could get. Namjoon also smiled, laughing a little and motioning Jimin over so they could hug it out. The tense and upsetting atmosphere simmering down now full of laughs and kisses.
“Please be more careful.” Namjoon said when Jimin pulled away and he nodded agreeing to at least be a little more careful with his next plan. They spoke for a little longer about plans for the rest of the day and what everyone will be up to. With one last kiss to both their cheeks Jimin walked out the room. He peeked around noticing Yoongi wasn’t there assuming he went to his room to nap or to his studio. He hummed and walked to Jungkook’s room knocking on the door to see if it was okay for him to walk in. He’s had too many instances of walking in when Jungkook was streaming and didn’t need for that to happen again. Jungkook had stood up to open the door and gave his boyfriend a big bunny smile.
“How did it go?”
“Better than expected. They were just worried, you know how they are.”
“Do you still want to cuddle?”
“Damn right I do.” Jungkook laughed while Jimin smiled big, they linked hands and went to find Taehyung to add to their cuddle pile. Said man was painting something, neither one of the other two knew what but it seemed so important that it took Jimin and Jungkook to pull out the puppy eyes. The man sighed, falling victim to their cute gazes and grumbled.
“Fine. Let me clean up.” Both cheered and decided to help, more like Jungkook helped and Jimin sat watching as they moved around. Subtly checking out his boyfriends because hey, how couldn’t he when they looked so good. When they were done Jimin took both their hands and dragged them to his room also known as Taehyung and Jimin’s room since they tended to spend the most time together. They also piled in, Tae changing into a pair of more comfortable clothes than his smock and paint littered pants. Getting comfortable, Jimin in the middle and Jungkook and Taehyung on either side, they started having light conversation.
They talked about classes, professors and other random things. Such as games, food, and works in progress. They continued this light conversation with gentle actions, some tracing of patterns on exposed skin, soft cheek kisses. Everything was gentle and soft in that moment until at one point they started talking about Chul. “She seems so sweet. I’m glad we managed to make a friend.” Jungkook mused and Jimin nodded along.
“She also seems to not know who we are. And if she does she hides it really well.” This was a run over of their conversation in the car, they were speaking more about it to try and get Taehyung to agree to meet her. They thought if they fluffed her up and made it known she wasn’t a crazed fan he would be open to meeting her. Taehyung sat there not knowing how to feel exactly. He was glad his boyfriends had found someone new to talk to but he was always overprotective of them. He tended to be more closed off than the rest, not as much as Yoongi but definitely to an extent. When it was just Jimin and him he didn’t know how to feel when Jimin brought up the fact that he was starting to have feelings for Jungkook. For a while he had blocked Jimin out. It wasn’t his boyfriend’s fault he just had some trust issues he had to get over and when he managed to finally accept Jimin and Jungkook being a thing he somehow got pulled in as well and now here he was with 6 other boyfriends and he couldn’t be anymore happier.
But what if she’s different?
What if she actually ends up using them? Or hurt them?
‘You’re getting ahead of yourself Taehyung. They’re talking about a friend, nothing more.’ He frowned to himself but tried to press a smile onto his lips.
“She’s also really pretty. Come on Tae! You would like her.~” Jimin said trying to convince his boyfriend while Jungkook nodded his head.
“She’s also a Photographer! You guys could bond over that.” Jungkook added in with a big smile and Jimin nodded quickly at that. Tae felt emotions stirring in his stomach as he looked at the two.
“I don’t know…”
“Oh please! Please!”
“If you don’t get along you don’t have to talk to her ever again. But at least meet her first before judging her.” They both gave him puppy eyes and he sighed. He was really a fool in love, huh?
“Fine. But if I don’t get good vibes from her, I’m not spending time with her and you guys have to lessen your time around her.” They both cheered knowing that wasn’t going to happen and they had a good feeling.
A feeling that Tae would trust her straight away. They could be wrong but it never hurts to be a little optimistic. After talking about ways they could meet, they changed the subject and talked for a little longer before they each had to go their own ways. Each saying goodbye with a hug and soft kiss.
Taehyung tried to focus on his day knowing Jimin and Jungkook were blissfully unaware of his thoughts but his mind kept swirling. Wondering about what this girl could do to them and it was making him slightly sick. He tried to shake off the feeling and focus on setting up and getting ready for a Live he had planned for.
She couldn’t be that bad. Right?
It had been a couple days since the incident, Jungkook and Jimin trying everything they could to get Taehyung and Chul to meet. They asked her on days that Tae wasn’t busy and asked him on days he wasn’t bust. It always seemed that the other had something to do when the other was free and it was starting to frustrate the younger men. Jimin had gone pouting at Yoongi about it going to lay on his chest while the older scrolled through his phone.
“Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.” Jimin scoffed at that and disagreed right away. Yoongi rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through Jimin’s hair. “Then let it happen naturally. If you guys keep forcing it, it’ll never happen.” And Jimin actually mulled that over. Maybe he was right, forcing them to meet like this wouldn’t get them anywhere, letting them meet by coincidence or when everything falls into place would be better and definitely reap better outcomes. So that’s what they did, they let things go with the flow and see what happens.
Chul was in her kitchen running around with flour on her face and apron. Her phone was propped up with San, Wooyoung and Hongjoong on the screen watching her run around. “I still don’t understand why you’re doing this. It’s literally been, what, a month since they moved in. I bet your neighbors don’t even care.”
“Don’t listen to him, I think it’s sweet that you’re doing this for them.” San said, giving his boyfriend a disapproving look. Wooyoung just rolled his eyes and ate from the bag of chips in his hand as he let them chat.
“Plus, you didn’t have to do this for them so I bet they’ll appreciate the effort you put in.”
“I really hope they do like them. I tried to make sure they were allergy friendly, gluten free, you know so they don’t hurt anyone.” She pouted a little worryingly at her bottom lip while San chuckled at her and Hongjoong calmed her down, letting her know that it would all be fine.
“Since you’re making them cookies did you make us stuff too?” Wooyoung butted in everyone going silent. Hongjoong and San looked at Woo while he just shrugged.
“What?!”
“Don’t ask things like that! It’s rude!” Chul laughed at her friends pulling the cookies out of the oven and putting them to cool.
“It’s okay guys. I did make enough for you all too.” She smiled softly and laughed when Woo cheered, San shaking his head and Hongjoong just smiled with a small laugh at all of them. They kept talking like that until Chul’s cookies cooled.
“Let me know how it goes, if they’re rude I’ll go over there and give them a piece of my mind.” Hongjoong said playfully which made Chul laugh and Woo scoffed.
“As if your scrawny ass could do anything.” Hongjoong looked at him incredulously about to start an argument.
“Okay, it’s time to say goodbye before the girls start to fight.” San interjected, causing Chul to laugh louder and the other two started to throw offended comments at him.
“Bye guys!~” They each said their own goodbyes before she hung up. She moved the cookies into a pretty container with a cloth napkin at the bottom of it. When she was sure it was well packed she grabbed a heavier jacket and scarf. Slipping on some boots and heading to the house next to hers. She took a deep breath at the door before raising her fist and knocked.
She waited a second before groaning and realizing she could have rung the bell instead and did that hoping no one heard her knock the first time. She waited for some time hoping she wasn’t intruding on anyone's time. She stood there a bit longer before deciding to go, chalking it up to no one being home until she heard the lock of the door open. She quickly turned back and smiled big at the person being greeted with brown eyes and wavy dark brown hair. “Oh! Hello, um I’m sorry for bothering you but I live next door. I know it’s been a little while since you’ve moved in but I thought I should introduce myself!” She bowed to him. “My name is Lee Chul, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled as she stood upright again and held up the cookies. “I made you all some cookies. I hope there’s enough, I wasn’t sure how many people lived here so I made a few just in case.”
Taehyung was annoyed when he heard the doorbell ring, having been in the middle of streaming. When he didn’t hear another ring he let it go until Namjoon came down with crossed arms and asked him politely to check the door that he and Yoongi were bust and if he could do them this favor. He sighed irritated but nodded telling his viewers to give him one second and he muted walking to the door. He opened the door and looked unamused at the girl at the door. About to tell her that they weren’t interested until she started talking before he could. She was extremely cheerful for someone standing in the cold. It kind of irritated him but he couldn’t be mad when she looked kind of cute. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe with a bored expression on his face until she mentioned her name. ‘Lee Chul, huh? Is this the girl Jungkook and Jimin wanted him to meet?’ He tried to hide his smile at the massive coincidence and irony here. He bowed back and gently took the container.
“Thank you, sweetheart. It was kind of you, I’m Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. It’s nice to finally meet who lives next to us, we started to think it was haunted.” He teased, causing Chul to blush in embarrassment and Tae held back his laugh. “I’m sorry to cut this short but I’m a bit busy right now, maybe we’ll meet again.” Chul nodded her head still smiling, which intrigued him. They said their goodbyes and he closed the door walking to the kitchen to put the container on a counter.
He could see why they wanted him to meet her, she was cute, cheerful and seemed to be full of life. But that didn’t stop her from being able to hurt them. Jungkook and Jimin were too trusting and he wasn’t going to let some girl hurt them. He would need to just ring her out and see what she could handle. He opened the container expecting the cookies before taking a bite out of one.
They were good.
He grumbled as he finished the cookie. He heard footsteps and noticed Jungkook. He explained that someone came to the door to introduce themselves as their neighbor and brought them cookies. He left out the fact that it was Chul, he wanted to have a little fun with this.
“Cookies?! Awe, that’s sweet of them, I wish I went down. Would have loved to say hello to them.”
‘Oh you would have.’ Tae thought, as a small smirk was playing on his lips.
“So, when do I get to meet this friend of yours, um, Chul was it?” Jungkook brightened up at his question, too excited to see Tae’s face.
Chapter 5: Oh, You're My Neighbor
Summary:
The day has come where they get to hangout, finally!
Chapter Text
After meeting Chul, Tae hadn’t said anything yet letting it bubble for as long as possible and just waited for the day that Jimin and Jungkook were able to set up a day for them to all meet up. They seemed to have become three peas in a pod, having a group chat now and seemingly using it everyday. The thing that Chul always seemed to whine and pout about was how busy Jimin and Jungkook seemed. She understood they were all adults with responsibilities but it felt like they never had any time. But she didn’t complain, just gave them little pouts, she enjoyed her time talking to them or when she got to see them on campus.
She had a late night class and Jimin was busy and Jungkook wasn’t on campus so she took the chance to hangout with Hongjoong, Wooyoung and San before her class started. It had been a while since they had been able to spend time with all four of them and she felt a little guilty about that. She had been spending a lot of time with her new friends and she didn’t want her long time friends to think that she didn’t care for them. “I’m sorry.” She said softly after a time of them chatting with each other. The three males looked at her confused as she fidgeted with her glass. They had decided to go to a hot pot near campus to kill time and so Chul could eat something before her class.
“For what?” Hongjoong asked as he kept an eye on the grill while Wooyoung took some pieces of meat and placed it on his and San’s plates.
“For not really hanging out with you all these couple of days.” It was quiet until Wooyoung broke it with his typical laugh. The laugh caused Chul to pout and glare at Woo, no real heat in the look more confused than anything.
“We’re not mad if that’s what you’re worried about.~” Woo teased gently while San nodded with a soft smile, taking her hand in a comforting squeeze.
“Yeah. We’re actually happy you’re making friends.”
“Exactly cause let’s face it you kind of only have us.” Wooyoung laughed while Chul whined. San shook his head and Hongjoong couldn’t help the small chuckle that let him.
“We are glad you’re making friends.” Joong started as he stopped poking around at the grill getting full, letting the other three eat what was left. “And maybe a boyfriend.~”
“Or two.~” Hongjoong and Wooyoung burst out laughing when they saw Chul’s face turn red, she opened her mouth to try and say something but couldn’t think of anything and instead started to wave her hands around whining even more.
“Guys! They’re dating! I’m pretty sure. I don’t want to intrude on someone’s relationship.”
“Have they told you they’re dating?” Joong raised his eyebrow.
“No…but you can kind of tell they’re really close.” Chul shrugged a little and for some reason it hurt a little but she tried not to show it. Her friends knew her better than that though. Wooyoung scoffed and waved his hand at her.
“I say go for it. They’ll be missing out on an amazing girl if they don’t take the chance.” Chul gave him a soft smile while San nodded along in response.
“Thanks guys. You really mean the world to me.” They all shared the same sentiment and kept chatting. Chul looked down at her phone and checked the time perking up a little. “Oh! I think I should be heading out. Joong?” She looked at him and he nodded. He got out of his chair and motioned for her to wait for him at the front door while he paid for their food. While he waited for the waiter to come by, the three of them made some small conversation.
“Are you sure these guys are good for Chul? As much as we joke we have been a little worried.” San brought up while Woo nodded looking unnaturally worried. Joong mulled over their words and let out a small breath.
“I know and feel your concerns but I trust Chul. She knows when something isn’t working and it seems like they’re getting along well. She’ll come to us if something bad happens.” San and Woo looked at each other and nodded. He made a point Chul was open for the most part with them so there was no reason to think this was going to be any different. They still felt weary but they had to put trust on Chul’s ability to make choices. She was an adult and she knew what she could handle. When the waiter came and Joong paid, they said their goodbyes and made his way to Chul.
“Ready?” He smiled at her as she nodded excitedly yet tired, they stepped into the cold night making their way to Joong’s bike before heading back to campus.
Jimin was happy that he listened to Yoongi.
Almost as if the stars aligned and the universe heard their prayers, Jimin and Jungkook both had spaces open in their schedules. The icing and cherry on top was that it matched Chul and Taehyung’s schedules. They both cheered when they found out and started planning a weekend for the four of them. They thought of maybe a nice dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. They would definitely need to get a private room away from people just to not cause a stir. They just hoped that Chul was okay with that or didn’t ask any questions. The more they spent time with her the more they started to realize that Chul really wasn’t intouch when it came to social media. She wasn’t sure of other influencers and only seemed to open her social media to post her photography or her art pieces. She truly didn’t know who they were in the online space and they wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.
Jimin texted their little group chat, creating a new one to add Tae in and talked about their plans while Jungkook looked up reservations for the restaurant they were thinking of going to. Both men were giddy chatting happily about it to Hoseok and Yoongi. Tae tried not to show his displeasure in front of them, he didn’t want to ruin their fun and excitement but the older two men could tell he wasn’t as excited as their younger partners. When he had a moment to himself after dinner, Taehyung ran his fingers through his hair letting out a deep sigh, shoulders relaxing after being tense for so long. He was not looking forward to this weekend, he would much rather spend it at home with his boyfriends than with some girl he knew almost nothing about and theoretically only met once.
While he tried to calm down and mentally prepare himself he heard a light knock on his room’s door and he looked up to tell Jimin or Jungkook that he still needed a minute. The words died on his tongue when he noticed it was Hoseok. Said man went to sit next to him and gently brought him to his side. “You alright?” Taehyung took a moment to mull over this question not knowing if he was.
“I don’t know.” Hoseok gave a lopsided smile and understanding nod, burying his nose into the younger’s hair.
“I know this must be a lot and I know you want to protect them, us. But don’t you think you need to put a little more faith in Jimin and Jungkook.”
“I’m trying.” I’m scared.
“It’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.” He pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and let Taehyung melt into his side. He knew the man needed this, he understood his tension with adding someone new to their mix. The past was painful and Taehyung along with Yoongi were extra cautious with it. But they never wanted to take away from their partners; they just worried and wanted to protect. It’s why Yoongi tried to be supportive of Jimin’s decision and tried to give him advice. They stayed like that for a while longer until Taehyung decided he could go to where Jimin and Jungkook were ready to fall asleep with them in his arms.
It will all be okay.
The day had finally come! The three musketeers had been impatiently and excitedly waiting for the weekend to roll along and it finally did. Jimin chatted excitedly with Jungkook and Taehyung while getting ready, light makeup adorning his eyes and lips while Jungkook and Tae opted for more of a casual no makeup look. On the other end Chul was chatting with Joong, getting ready and making sure to look nice wondering how Jimin and Jungkook’s friend was going to be like. The whole time Joong listened, happy to see his childhood friend excited about meeting new people. Knowing how painfully shy she was he knew this would be good for her. He smiled and nodded along until it was time for her to leave. “I’ll make sure to text you every time we move to a different location.”
“And?”
“And I’ll get you some samples of the fancy food.” She laughed with a playful eye roll. They said their goodbyes and Chul went outside. She went to text the group chat that she was out of the house and ready for them to pick her up as they had offered to. She sent the message and a loud ding went off exactly at the same time it was delivered. She looked up and her jaw dropped when she noticed who it was. Staring back at her just as shocked was Jungkook and Jimin with a heavily amused Taehyung in the back. They stood there confused, shocked and unable to know what to do for a couple more minutes.
So…they were her neighbors all along?
Chapter 6: Distrust
Summary:
After realizing they’ve been neighbors this whole time Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung take Chul out to eat so she can get to know Taehyung better. A little tension starts to brew and moods shift ruining the light hearted night Jimin and Jungkook were hoping for.
Chapter Text
They had stood there for what felt like forever trying to figure out what was actually going on. This was never taken into account by either party, other than well Taehyung who first hand found out Chul lived next door. Humming to himself Taehyung raises his hand in a small wave more so to get rid of this silent stare off. “You can sit with me in the front.” He said curtly and Chul wasn’t sure why but she flinched a little at it but smiled hoping they didn’t notice.
“Are you sure? Um…” She looked at Jungkook and Jimin who seemed to be debating something before quietly nodding and giving her encouraging smiles. She fidgeted a little but nodded and went down, giving the two a tight hug each before climbing into the passenger side of the car. After checking his mirrors and making sure everyone was buckled up, Tae started driving to the restaurant they picked.
The car ride itself was quiet, nothing intense or interesting happened. There was the soft sound of the radio playing that cut in through any awkwardness. Chul had settled on staring out of the window, watching things pass by trying to calm down her racing thoughts. Jungkook and Jimin in the back were holding hands, Jimin’s head on Jungkook’s shoulder as they seemed to also be trying to put everything together feeling a little stupid for not realizing things beforehand. Taehyung was at peace, he was trying so hard to not smirk and come off as an asshole but he was lowkey enjoying this. He knew before the love birds did and he took some kind of pride in it but he would never voice these thoughts. When they got to the restaurant he handed his keys to the valet before getting out of the car and helping Chul out. He wasn’t the happiest with her trying to wiggle herself into their lives but he wasn’t rude.
Chul looked surprised but smiled at Tae and gave him a soft thank you, taking his hand and getting out of his car. Before she could say anything Jimin and Jungkook were already on either side of her. They linked arms and started to take her inside, Jungkook taking Tae’s hand and dragging him too. Taehyung tried to look annoyed but had a hard time when his boyfriends looked so happy. Chul had giggled to herself watching them, she was glad that the duo had nice friends to hangout with, unaware that Taehyung was a part of their relationship and basically in a polycule. Taehyung walked up to the host at the front and Chul couldn’t help but notice how put together he was. He walked with a purpose and confidence that she could only imagine. She blushed to herself and tried to shake away the thoughts but she couldn’t help but almost admire his demeanor.
When said man gave the host the name for the table, his eyes basically widened and he happily led them to what seemed like a VIP area. Chul was surprised and a little confused but chalked it up to them collectively having enough money from their jobs to be able to treat themselves to this. What she didn’t know was that this was a regular night out with them, the VIP was necessary to not cause a scene for the three men and fancy restaurants whenever they were free was a normal date night since it was simple and calming. They were led to a table and sat down at a beautifully decorated table. Chul nervously looked at everything, noticing how pricey everything seemed and suppressing a gasp when she picked up the menu. She fidgeted trying to be calm so the others didn’t notice, already planning on getting the cheapest thing possible, but she couldn’t escape from Jimin’s eagle eyes. “What’s wrong, love?” He had let the nickname slip in by accident, his cheeks lightly dusting with pink but he didn’t let it show. Chul blushed red though, causing Jungkook to give a teasing smile while Taehyung wasn’t pleased at all. He didn’t let his scowl show, instead opting to take a sip from the water that had been set out for them.
Clearing her throat she just nodded her head knowing she can be honest and open with them. “It’s just…well…everything seems a bit…pricey.” She said softly, easing into it slowly. Jimin and Jungkook tilted their heads a little confused with what she was trying to say, Taehyung just glanced at them.
“Why does that matter?” Jungkook asked innocently while Jimin lightly nudged him and gave Chul a small smile.
“It’s okay, it’s our treat.” He said sweetly with a bright smile to match. Before Chul could make any debates or disagree a waiter came over to take their orders. Jungkook smiled almost cutely at the waiter before ordering himself a steak with potatoes and wine. Tae came next ordering a pasta dish with his own wine, he also ordered for Jimin who shyly smiled at the waiter, his normal outgoing demeanor gone and replaced with a new timid personality. This surprised Chul but she enjoyed being able to learn another side to her friend, trying to hide the small smile that spread on her lips.
“Chul? It’s your turn.” Jungkook looked at her worried at her silence as the waiter had been looking at her ready for her order. Taehyung had an amused smirk on his face which caused her to blush and quickly scan the menu.
“U-Um just a grilled chicken salad and some water.” Jimin and Jungkook looked at her a little concerned while Taehyung scanned over her, almost trying to see if she’s putting up a front.
“You sure Chul? You can order more or something bigger if you want.”
“Yeah if you’re worried about price it’s okay. We can cover it. It’s our treat remember.” She just shook her head with a reassuring smile.
“I’m sure, I promise this is enough! I don’t eat that much anyway.” She waved them off smiling at the waiter and handing him the menu back. They looked at her once more but nodded, giving in and handing the waiter their own menus. It was a small white lie and she couldn’t help but feel guilty over it. She was a big foodie and loved to try new foods but she couldn’t have them pay such high prices for a simple plate of food.
When the waiter left they started some small talk as they waited for their food. “So Chul, what do you study?” Taehyung suddenly asked and Jimin couldn’t help but stare his boyfriend down. He knew that tone and he knew what was about to happen. Chul smiled shyly at the question and Jimin and Jungkook could practically feel themselves melting at her smile.
“I’m an animation major with a minor in photography. What about you, do you study also or-”
“I’m a duo major in Acting and Visual Arts.” He cut her off a little rudely but Chul didn’t say anything or seem to mind. Jimin did though, sending Taehyung a harsh glare. Taehyung didn’t seem to notice or care, continuing his questioning. At one point Chul started to feel like she was being interrogated, she wanted to get along with Taehyung and was trying hard for Jungkook and Jimin’s sakes but she couldn’t help but feel like the older man didn’t like her. What emphasized this was when Taehyung started asking her intentions with Ji and Kook.
“So are you friends with them for things like this? Have you been dying for them to take you out and spoil you? Or do you just want to be friends with them?” Chul frowned, feeling a pang in her chest. Why would he ask something like that? Did Jimin and Kook mention something like that to their housemate?
“N-No not at all! I just wanted us to be friends. A-And you’re also their friend so-.” Tae cut her off again.
“So you’re saying that you just want to be friends with them? Nothing else? You don’t have any plans for them.”
“Taehyung that’s enough!” Jimin practically yelled glaring daggers at the younger sitting up in an almost protective way. The sudden raising of his voice caused both Jungkook and Chul to jump with Taehyung just rolling his eyes at him. He was about to give a snippy answer back but was caught off when the waiter came with Jungkook and Chul’s food. Everything was quiet as another waiter came with Jimin and Tae’s food. Once everyone had their food in front of them they started eating. Jungkook tried to make light hearted jokes, Chul being the only one to laugh but he could tell her smile didn’t reach her eyes. He looked between Tae and Jimin before deflating and just eating his food in silence.
Chul’s hands shook slightly as she held her fork to eat. She tried to smile and act like what the older had said but she couldn’t. The questions kept replaying in her head like a broken record. All she knew was that she was right.
Taehyung didn’t like her.
She wondered what she did to make him not like her. Was she annoying? Or was it that he didn’t like how close she was getting to his two friends. She was so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized she finished eating until the waiter had come back to take their plates. Jimin had put a gentle hand on her shoulder trying to send her a reassuring smile but she could see the upset in his eyes. She smiled at him trying to show that she was okay before getting up to follow them back to the car. This time Chul sat in the back with Jimin, said man clasping her hand giving it soft squeezes almost as if he was trying to reassure her…or himself. Jungkook sat in the front silently looking out the window with downcast eyes and Taehyung just wanted to reach over and hold his hand, maybe apologize even if he didn’t feel like he was wrong for the way he was feeling. When they got closer to their homes Chul moved her hand away from Jimin’s and started to put her things together ready to walk to her door. Jimin frowned a little but didn’t say anything knowing she must have been upset with everything that had happened.
“Kookie, could you walk Chul to her door? I have to have a talk with someone.” His voice had an edge to it causing Kook and Chul to flinch a little but the dark haired man nodded his head too scared to say anything. Taehyung let out a sigh through his nose as he parked. Jimin gave her a hug and soft squeeze causing the girl to smile a little at the affection. Taehyung scoffed under his breath before looking through the rear view. Chul was bowing towards him politely and spoke softly.
“I’m sorry for any problems I may have caused you. Thank you for the ride Taehyung.” For a second he almost felt bad.
Almost .
Jimin rolled his eyes when Taehyung just gave a quiet nod her way while Chul chewed her bottom lip. “Don’t let him get to you, Blossom.” He whispered softly. Giving her a reassuring smile he waved at her. “We’ll see you soon Chul-ah!” She smiled shyly, a tiny blush peeking at the apples of her cheeks before waving at him back and watching as Kook got out of the car.
“After you princess.~” Kook said teasingly, giving an over dramatic bow. Chul giggled into her hand causing a goofy smile to spread on the younger man’s fast. He was happy to have been able to have raised the girl’s spirits up even if it was for a little while. From the car Jimin looks at the two with a fond smile, happy to see Chul giggling and Jungkook trying to cheer her up. His smile disappeared though when he turned to look at Taehyung.
“What the hell is your problem Taehyung? What you pulled was cruel!” They started to argue, Taehyung defending himself and his actions. Jungkook looked on from Chul’s doorstep, frowning a tiny bit. Chul was also looking and Kook tried to pull her away from it.
“How wa-” He was cut off.
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to cause a riff between you guys.” She said it so softly that Kook wasn’t sure she even spoke. He could tell she was trying to hold back from crying and he quickly remedied the situation by taking her hands gently in his. He gave them a soft squeeze and Chul couldn’t help but blush when his bigger hands clasped around hers in reassurance.
“You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. Taehyung is just…over protective when he comes to us.” He chose his words carefully and Chul seems to understand as she gives a little nod.
“I understand. My friends are also really overprotective so I can’t blame him for looking out for you all.” Jungkook tried not to cringe as he nodded his head. ‘More like boyfriend.’ He thought to himself, they talked a little bit before Chul excused herself for the night. Kook gave her a warm hug before letting her go, waiting till she made her way inside before turning to go back. When he turns he’s met with Jimin, arms crossed and scrunched up brows while Tae looked annoyed as he leaned against his car. Once Kook returned they walked back inside, Jungkook holding Jimin’s hand to make him feel better in any way possible. Once they were back inside Taehyung put his keys in a dish next to the door before turning to the two.
“Look. She doesn’t seem like a bad person but you’ve only known this girl for a couple weeks and you both already look like you’re ready to jump on her.” Jimin scoffed at that while Jungkook just blushed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Taehyung rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “I don’t trust her.”
“What’s new? You don’t trust anyone.” Jimin’s sassy voice was first to speak before he parted ways with the two and stormed upstairs. Jungkook looked more sad than anything as he looked at Taehyung with kicked puppy eyes.
“I wish you could try a bit harder for our sake.”
“Have you told her about us?” Jungkook raised a brow at the older, confusion swimming in his eyes.
“What?”
“Have you told her, we’re all dating and that there’s more of us?”
“No but-”
“Doesn’t that seem like a reason to not trust her? Why are you so scared to tell her if you know she won’t judge you?” Jungkook’s sad eyes from earlier turned into a scowl.
“It’s not that easy Taehyung. You can’t just spring that onto someone.” He shook his head pushing past Taehyung and muttering. “I don’t understand why you’re being such an asshole.” And with that he walked upstairs to meet with Jimin in their shared room. Taehyung’s fist ball up before he gives in, he sits in their living room sofa face in his hands as he rubs away the tears that are threatening to fall.
“I just want to keep us safe.” He muttered to himself looking out the window looking at Chul’s house briefly before getting up to get ready for bed.
Why did this have to happen now?