lovestrippedbare | 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕠

Jungkook shudders at the memory, puckering his lips to make it easier for Yoongi to brush away whatever might be sticking to his lips. "I'm still pretty sure that all those girls thought they smelled easy prey," he insists, shaking his head and rubbing along his hairline. He supposes that from the outside, it's probably easy to assume that Jungkook might be single — people have a tendency of assuming heteronormativity until given some type of hint otherwise, and Jungkook hasn't exactly been forthcoming about either his relationship or his sexual orientation. The fact that he didn't spend much time with any specific girls might have made him an interesting prospect.

"It was terrifying. Like, some of the girls definitely enlisted all of their friends to hover around my desk when they tried to give me chocolate, and when you've got that many people staring at you... it's so terrifying to refuse," Jungkook sighs. "Especially when none of them think you're dating, so it's like, it's like they almost think you're insulting their friend by saying no."

He pouts. "When I even tried to tell them that I was already dating someone, there was this one girl who immediately went through my photos and texts and, well, she thought no girls meant I was clearly lying."

"Wow, that's..." Yoongi's brow raises at the thought of that invasion of privacy, and at how oblivious some people can be. It's so easy, he knows, to assume that everyone is straight, but he's pretty sure Jungkook's phone contains many photos of him. He'd think that would be a dead giveaway, but some people just look right past that just because they aren't walking stereotypes.

"I know it must be devastating to them," he says wryly, "to be turned down in front of all their friends, but they'll get over it. I guess I can't fault them, though." After all, if he's head over heels in love with Jungkook, he can see easily how girls might find him just as attractive. Add in that he seems single and that he's too sweet to say no readily and, well, perhaps easy prey isn't so far off the mark.

"Well, it shouldn't be devastating to them," Jungkook huffs, shaking his head. "Think about it, isn't it kinda messed up that there's this day where you get to put additional pressure on someone to date you by making it all public? I didn't get confessions from these girls on any other day! It's just Valentine's. I mean, at least the tradition is girls to boys... can you even imagine how creepy it would be the other way around?"

Jungkook stares blankly off into the distance as he tries to picture himself coming with chocolates and flowers and making some type of big, declarative statement in front of a girl. Wouldn't she feel pressured to react positively to such romantic gestures? It's hard enough for girls to say no on a regular day, Jungkook knows.

At least for him, he doesn't have to worry all that much about physical retaliation.

"Yah, I really think it'd be better if the holiday focused more on couples who are already in relationships," Jungkook decides, softly smiling as he meets Yoongi's gaze again. "Meeting up with you was a whole lot more fun than anything else that happened during class."

"Well, then that's what it'll be," Yoongi says decisively. "A day for you and me. Fuck all that pressure. We don't need anyone else anyway." Jungkook has a point, after all. It's kind of a creepy tradition, really, no matter who's pressuring whom. Chocolates are all well and good, but not when they have a price hanging overhead. He can buy himself candy if he wants it. He doesn't need to feel beholden to some girl. Even after years in the same school, he feels he hardly knows most of the girls in his year anyway. They can't possibly know enough about him for their affections to be all that deep or sincere.

He smiles, though, finishing off his hotteok before he speaks again. "It was fun."

Jungkook laughs when Yoongi decides that they can shirk off all the other pressure, already picturing a scene where the two of them shove their desks to the side and walk straight out of the classroom doors, not willing to deal with all of the milling girls around them. Of course, it's one thing to imagine taking off so easily, and another to actually do so. He's not sure he can really explain it to his parents if he's marked truant for Valentine's Day the next two years running.

Though maybe, maybe next year he'll be a little more prepared anyway, and this will no longer be a problem.

"Does that mean you'll play hooky from lecture to come back and sweep me away?" Jungkook snickers, though his gaze takes a slightly softer look. "Because I'd like that. My handsome university boyfriend coming back for little me."

Yoongi reaches out again, hand resting at Jungkook's cheek, thumb stroking gently along his skin. "It's a date," he says. "You're more fun than lectures." He intends to take university every bit as seriously as he has the rest of his education, but it's not like that means he can't skip a day or a class here and there. He's done it before and he manages to keep up all the same. The idea of stealing Jungkook away for a day, devoting the time to themselves without anyone else to interrupt, is too appealing. They deserve that. He's not about to let school keep him away from his boyfriend.

"Anyway," he adds wryly, "you're not that little." Granted, he knows, with this being his birthday, he's technically four years older than Jungkook, but that's never seemed to matter. Being younger hasn't stopped Jungkook from keeping up with him or being as good a boyfriend as Yoongi could ever hope for.

Jungkook can't help the way his heart skips a beat at the promise. They've had countless dates already, but there's something special about pinning one on the calendar so far in advance. Compared to other couples their age, Jungkook's sure that they've done more planning, more looking into the future, and Jungkook wouldn't have it any other way. He's sure that there's something to be said for the people who date around, exploring, learning what it is that they really want — but for Jungkook, there will only ever be Yoongi. He's sure of it.

Yoongi is the only one that Jungkook will ever want to carve his future out with.

"I guess I'm not that little anymore," he concedes with a cheeky grin, pulling himself back up to full height, lifting his chin just a touch. "Grown just enough to do this." He leans in, pressing a kiss to Yoongi's forehead, letting the touch linger.

Yoongi beams at the kiss. There's a certain comfort in such gestures that always seems to soften his mood, even when he's already happy. "See? Not so little at all." He remembers when Jungkook was just a tiny scrawny thing, following behind them. It never occurred to him then that he was the one Jungkook was really trailing after.

He huffs out a laugh. "Maybe I'll just pick you up from school and steal you away. Then they won't give you chocolates anymore." He can just imagine, although it would be better if he had a cool car to pull up in instead of just taking Jungkook by the hand and walking to the nearest station.

Seeing Yoongi's smile only heightens Jungkook's desire to kiss him again, though he refrains for the time being, too many people milling about for him to try anything extended just yet. But he still tries his best to commit the expression to memory, the way that Yoongi looks right now, pleased and practically glowing under the early spring sun.

Jungkook's never sure how he managed to get so lucky.

"Ah, it sounds like something right out of a movie," Jungkook laughs, reaching for one of Yoongi's hands and weaving their fingers together. "My university boyfriend, striding right into the classroom, leading me away. It's dramatic and perfect. Everyone's gonna be jealous."

"That's the idea," Yoongi says, pleased with the notion. "Once they see me sweep you off your feet, there won't be any doubt that you're taken."

In reality, he knows, the reaction is as likely to run to disgust as jealousy, and such gestures might only complicate Jungkook's life. Still, it's fun to dream. He squeezes Jungkook's hand, tempted to draw him closer, still too cautious to give in. He doubts he'd really have the courage to do anything like bursting into a classroom when he can't even do this, but he likes imagining it anyway.

"Especially if I kiss you then and there."

God, he wants it. Jungkook wants that day as much as anything he's imagined, wants the grand and sweeping gestures, wants a romance that he can shout about from the rooftops. He's a romantic by nature — a sucker for all of the cute dramas where one partner slowly wears down the other, where one of them makes some giant display of affection that the other pretends to hate but secretly loves. If they had the safe space to do so, Jungkook thinks he'd bring Yoongi flowers every day, that they'd share a kiss at least every five minutes, no less.

And as much as he hates that they can't have that right now, it doesn't stop Jungkook from quickly looking around, spotting a little space hidden behind vendor tarps that he quickly leads Yoongi behind, lips parted and face all flushed as he leans in and presses his lips to Yoongi's.

"Sorry," he breathes. "I guess I couldn't wait."

Jungkook barely finishes speaking before Yoongi leans forward, kissing him again. It's not necessarily the best time or place, the seclusion of the spot not absolute, but he doesn't care. He almost wishes someone would see. It's fucking romantic, as far as he's concerned, the way they struggle to keep their hands off of each other, and disappointing, at the same time, that it's even necessary. It's impossible not to dream of a time, a world, where he could freely stop and kiss Jungkook whenever he wants and not care what anyone around them thinks.

"Neither could I," he murmurs, a hand at Jungkook's cheek. "You're very hard to resist, you know that?" He's so strikingly beautiful, though Yoongi knows Jungkook doesn't see himself that way. Yoongi can't see him any other way.

Jungkook whimpers softly when Yoongi's lips press against his own once more, sighing through his nose as he relaxes into the touch, his hands skating around Yoongi's waist and pulling him closer. Only the touch of a hand to his palm has Jungkook finally pulling back, catching his breath with a wide smile, his expression shy underneath the warmth of Yoongi's hand. Every time they experience a new first, Jungkook finds his mind going right back to the first time, how tentative it was, how exhilarating. He's always heard stories about how the newness of a relationship fades over a few months, but at least for him, Jungkook hasn't found that to be the case at all.

If anything, his stomach flips even more now than before, knowing how precious what they have is. Knowing how much there is about Yoongi to love.

"You took the words right from my mouth," Jungkook pouts, leaning in to bump the tip of his nose against Yoongi's. "I just want to be kissing you all of the time."

There is such peace here. There's a kind of freedom Yoongi hasn't experienced much of before, a fearlessness that buoys him. Being here, being together, not hiding quite so much, he feels lighter. He laughs, hand smoothing down the side of Jungkook's neck, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "All the time," he agrees. "Everywhere. It's really inconvenient."

He would kiss Jungkook in the middle of the street if he could. He never really would have thought he'd be one for public displays, but he's so happy, so proud to be Jungkook's, he wouldn't mind if everyone in the world knew. If anything, he wants them to.

A day will come, though, he's sure of it, when that will be possible — when they'll have escaped their parents, when the world is a slightly better place, when it's caught up to them.

Even though it still feels selfish to have stolen Yoongi for himself for the entirety of this weekend, Jungkook can't help but revel in how freeing it is to be absent of any obligations, even those to the rest of their friends. Jungkook doesn't have to worry about making any of them uncomfortable, doesn't have to worry about not sparing enough of Yoongi's time for the rest of them. He can indulge himself with every look, can pull Yoongi away behind any corner for a kiss. It feels almost too good to be true, but it reinforces the knowledge in Jungkook's mind that this is all he wants. This is how he wants the rest of his life to play out, at Yoongi's side, the two of them together.

The smile that he wears now is affectionate, even proud. He cups Yoongi's jaw with his hand, letting the other arm snake around his waist, pulling him close. When the two of them are pressed up against each other like this, it emphasizes their height difference, and Jungkook finds himself quietly pleased with the way it feels to crane his neck just so, keeping Yoongi close and letting himself be protective.

"Are you happy?" Jungkook asks, even though the answer seems obvious. He still wants to hear it, wants to etch every moment firmly in his memory — of what it's like to see Yoongi like this, so many of his burdens lifted. That's always mattered most to Jungkook, more even than his own well-being.

Hands curling in Jungkook's shirt, Yoongi looks up at him, his own smile soft and fond. "I am," he says, and he feels it entirely. There are times when even his happiness is tinged with melancholy, but there's nothing like that here, only a warm and quiet content running through him. They've had months of this, and still it takes him a little by surprise when he just stands here and lets himself feel it. For so long, he didn't think he'd get this kind of happiness in his life; now he can't imagine living without it.

He leans into the hand at his cheek, eyes fluttering briefly closed. They're free, nothing hold them back from simply being as they are. Wandering the street stalls and eating whatever catches their eye is something they could easily do back home, but it's different here, the caution and concern lifting away. There's only them. He wants to hold onto this forever.

"I'm so happy." He tugs gently at fabric, urging Jungkook closer still. "You make me so happy."

Yoongi says that he's happy, and Jungkook feels the words almost more than he hears them — in the way Yoongi's fingers curl in the fabric of Jungkook's jacket, in the way Yoongi leans into Jungkook's palm. Jungkook lets out a small exhale, almost a laugh, struck again by how often he still has these moments where he suddenly and wholly falls in love with Yoongi, over and over again. There's nothing in the world better than sharing these feelings out and in the open, with few worries hanging over their heads.

Perhaps this is when he should say something — a word of thanks for sharing this weekend, or an attempt to explain again just how dear Yoongi is to Jungkook, but Jungkook finds that nothing that comes to mind can quite suffice.

So instead, he leans in again and presses his lips tenderly to Yoongi's, holding the contact for a couple of seconds before he deepens the kiss, mapping the line of Yoongi's mouth and letting his tongue slip out to taste. There's still a sweetness lingering on the skin, probably from the hotteok, and Jungkook chases after it insistently.

"I love you," he breathes, lips curving into a smile.

There was a time not that long ago when even telling Seokjin he's bisexual was terrifying to Yoongi. He nearly broke down, confessing to something Jin had already figured out. He was so fucking scared back then, afraid of being discovered, afraid that Jungkook would find out, afraid of what people would do if they knew. It's a fear that has permeated this relationship at times, colored his view of what is and isn't safe, which parts of himself he can freely indulge and which longings have to stay hidden if they stray from the sanctity of his bedroom.

And then there's this, now, and Yoongi's heart soars when Jungkook kisses him and all he feels is loved and safe and excited. Hopeful. "I love you," he echoes, scarcely breaking away before he's leaning into him again, chasing more, always more. He's long found it easy to jump to the worst possible outcome in his imagination; right now, he doesn't care. What could anyone do if they saw them? The two of them are invincible like this, never safer or stronger than they are together.

Hundreds of miles away from Seoul, Jungkook finds that he's never felt more at home. All he ever needs is this, to have Yoongi in his arms, to feel his warmth and the way his lips chase after Jungkook's own. Jungkook groans softly against the contact, heart thudding in his ears, and reminds himself that it's okay to take things slowly. They have the luxury of time and distance, the luxury of being so entirely safe and secure together as a pair; Jungkook lets his fingers slowly weave through the soft strands of Yoongi's hair, tousling them as the tip of his tongue presses carefully further, waiting for permission.

The situation is probably at least a little ridiculous, the two of them tucked away like this amidst empty produce boxes and dusty tarps. There's no view of the sea, no mountaintops or noticeable horizon, but when they're together, Jungkook finds that any place can be just about perfect.

"At this rate," he huffs through a laugh as he leans back for air, "it's going to be pretty tough for me to walk in a minute."

Yoongi laughs, ducking his head to press a kiss to Jungkook's neck, mostly to keep himself from finding his lips again. "Maybe we should stop," he says against his skin, though his grip on Jungkook's shirt doesn't loosen any. It's not like they can get away with doing anything more than kissing back here, but he can't bring himself to let go or pull away just yet. There's something thrilling about kissing outdoors. There's little chance anyone will come back here, but even so, there's a touch of danger mixed with the relief of being able to follow his desire.

"I can't help it," he adds, "if I always want you." How could anyone expect him to? His boyfriend is gorgeous and entirely his; of course he can barely keep his hands off of him. "But maybe we should go find more food."

"If you're not going to be the mature one, how do you expect me to stand any chance?" Jungkook laughs, his hands dropping to Yoongi's hips and pulling him just a little closer still. It's chilly enough out that their jackets are too thick for him to really feel anything, but even the lean of Yoongi's weight is enough to excite Jungkook. And maybe, he thinks to himself, it's okay to let himself get a little bit excited. Who's even going to notice out there? People don't tend to stare at strangers for too long.

"I always want you, too," he murmurs, leaning forward and briefly nipping at Yoongi's lower lip. "But... you're right. We should probably find more food. And then head out towards the water. 'Cause I really wanna kiss you with the endless ocean stretching out in front of us."

Yoongi huffs out a laugh, tongue swiping gently over the spot where he feels marked by Jungkook's teeth, and shakes his head. "And you think I'm the romantic one," he teases. The idea of it is so beautiful that Yoongi finds himself distracted from the distraction, ready to head back out into the world if it means they end up on the beach, no one else in sight, nothing but the crash of the waves and their lips meeting.

"Come on," he says, hand dragging down Jungkook's arm until he can link their fingers together, the press of Jungkook's palm helping to warm him again. Tugging him back out and toward the street, he looks over, letting his gaze linger. Busan suits Jungkook, he decides. They've hardly seen any of it yet, but he believes it all the same. "I want to find some ddeokbokki."

They're romantic in different ways, Jungkook knows, though he doesn't bother to protest Yoongi's point. For Jungkook, he feels like years of stories and fairy tales have built up in his mind and woven a compendium of experiences he knows he wants to share. Even if some of them end up being overly hyped, even if so many of the ideas are stereotypical to a fault, there's still the desire to grab after every one with Yoongi and file them away in his memory. And with Jungkook's bias leaning towards more visual experiences, he figures the ability to catalog every image will at least make such escapes unregrettable.

He wants to kiss Yoongi in front of the ocean. He wants to kiss Yoongi on a bridge, lifted high above the water and with cars rushing in the background. He wants to kiss Yoongi on the top of Namsan Tower, wants to kiss him behind one of the back fences at school — all the places that have been meaningful or that Jungkook dreams of are places where he wants Yoongi to feature.

It's really as simple as that.

But romance from Yoongi is another matter entirely, little gestures and moments that wouldn't mean half as much if they were shared by anyone else. And that, Jungkook thinks, is just as precious to him, if not more.

Grinning broadly as soon as he feels Yoongi's fingers slip into his own, Jungkook picks up the pace and heads back toward the street. "Ddeokbokki sounds so good, I saw a place where everyone was lined up. The ddeok were, like, huge! Twice the thickness of anything I've seen back home," Jungkook says, nodding at the stall some distance away.

Yoongi strokes his thumb along Jungkook's hand, glancing over with a bright smile as he follows in the direction Jungkook indicates. It's only, he thinks, because people scarcely pay attention to the people they pass that they're able to avoid being noticed, because he's pretty sure there's no hiding how fucking smitten he is. He might have tried, if they were back in Seoul, but here, he really doesn't give a fuck. His boyfriend is romantic and ridiculous all at once, and he doesn't care who knows it.

"Well, then we have to try it," he says. He's not a fan of long lines, but they don't bother him so much when the two of them are out and about together. It's easy enough to keep each other entertained while they wait. "This one here?" He eyes the stall curiously, taking in the sight of the food and the rich smell wafting over from the stand.

"Yeah, that's the one," Jungkook says, his smile widening eagerly as he pushes himself up on his toes to get a better look over the crowd, intrigued by how much sauce is simmering in the pan. There's a nice variety of ingredients that seem to be mixed together, including some vegetables, some fish cakes, something fried that Jungkook can't quite identify at a glance. Ddeokbokki stalls might be a dime a dozen back home, but he's pleased to have found a place that seems to have changed the formula a little bit, and the long line seems indicate that they've chosen well.

"Ah, look, it must be spicy," he points out, watching a couple of teens off to the side gasping and reaching for water. He squeezes Yoongi's hand, then lets his thumb trace along the side of his palm, the movement small enough to be unnoticeable to everyone else. "Man, I thought I was full earlier, but now I think I could eat two orders of that stuff. Or maybe save some room for grilled sundae."

Edited 2019-03-09 01:57 (UTC)

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