lovestrippedbare | 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕠

"Yours in every way," Yoongi agrees. Something so all-encompassing might frighten him under other circumstances, but here and now with Jungkook, it's exhilarating to know this kind of love. It's as if, in giving himself fully and freely to Jungkook, he becomes still more himself, better and brighter and freer, too.

"Anyway, it's not selfish," he adds. "Not if it's what I want, too." It would be nice, sure, to celebrate with the others, but they had last night, with cake and presents, and he prefers this, casual and special all at once. They've never had an opportunity like this, and it's better, he thinks, than anything else he might have done with his weekend. "I'm sure they get it. And if they don't..." He shrugs. "It's my birthday."

It's probably still a little selfish, Jungkook thinks to himself, but it's the kind of selfish that he thinks the both of them can afford a little more often than they have. Early on in the relationship, Jungkook knows that both of their schedules changed a great deal, making far more time for one another and less for the group. But lately, they've fallen back into more of an equilibrium, each one of them spending time with their other friends — Yoongi probably spends more time with Seokjin and Hoseok than Jungkook does, and Jungkook's smaller age gap with Taehyung and Jimin has always made those connections easy.

So pulling Yoongi back now feels... well, self-serving.

But Jungkook's okay with it.

"And there's no way you'd rather spend it than with me, huh?" Jungkook asks, smile wide and just a touch smug. "Far away from home, where we can just... be. Feels almost like it's my birthday."

There's a playful self-certainty in Jungkook's tone, but Yoongi's agreement is entirely in earnest. He nods, smiling warmly. Of course there's no other way he'd want to spend this day. He loves the others terribly, he really does, his five brothers, and he's glad they had a chance to celebrate together. But what he wants, probably more than anything else in the entire world, is just to be with Jungkook and free.

"We'll do something special for your birthday, too," he says. "If you want." He won't begrudge it if Jungkook would prefer a more traditional celebration, a party with their friends. He's gotten a little better at not feeling so selfish for wanting Jungkook to himself, and he's privately proud of that progress, but he wouldn't want to intervene if Jungkook had something else in mind. Anyway, that's months from now, and they have plenty of time to figure out what they'll do for the day.

He picks up a piece of rice cake, still faintly steaming, and bites into it. It's thicker than he's accustomed to, but good all the same.

"But yeah," he says once he's eaten it. "Yeah, there's nowhere I'd rather be."

Edited 2019-03-15 10:02 (UTC)

Jungkook hasn't done much thinking about his own upcoming birthday yet, more focused on making sure this weekend is absolutely perfect to celebrate Yoongi's, but he gives it a little thought now as he picks up his first rice cake and chews it slowly. On the one hand, he wonders if he should be using every excuse he's got to pull all of his hyungs back together — after all, Seokjin and Namjoon and Hoseok will all have graduated as well, and it might not be easy to coordinate with their schedules. But Jungkook is also pretty sure that setting a party on his exact birthday won't be the thing that makes or breaks whether or not his hyungs come back.

But insofar as a date matters, that his own mind will be focused on it, Jungkook thinks there's little better that he can do to celebrate than spend that time with Yoongi.

"Of course I want," he confirms after swallowing his bite, licking some of the sweet, spicy sauce off the corner of his mouth. "I don't know if we'll be able to make a trip like this while you've got uni lectures and stuff, but I'm sure we can work something out. Some special way to spend the time. Making time for my birthday seems like one of those boyfriend duties, you know."

Jungkook pokes a fish cake with his toothpick, swirling it around in some of the sauce. "Worth the wait," he declares, slurping up the thin cake.

"It's good, right?" Yoongi says, nodding to his cup. He doesn't mind the wait regardless, as long as he's waiting alongside Jungkook, but at least it was worthwhile. "And it's definitely a boyfriend duty. Besides, I won't have lectures if we do something on the weekend."

He's pretty sure of that, at least, and anyway, he thinks, he could afford to miss one or two. He's skipped enough classes over the years to have faith in his ability to catch up to his classmates after the fact. He'll just study extra hard beforehand. It'll be worth it. Even if he's not going far, he knows, it'll take work to figure out how to see Jungkook as often as possible, but he's not about to let school keep them apart.

"Anyway, it's a while off," he muses, "so you have plenty of time to think of what you want to do."

"Mhm," Jungkook hums in agreement. "I've got like six months to conjure up a long list of things I want you to do for my birthday." He offers a cheesy smile afterward, a piece of ddeok tucked away in his cheek. He doesn't actually plan to have any sort of running list of asks — he's not quite that needy of a boyfriend, he likes to think — but Jungkook likes the idea of having so much time to muse on things that might be fun for the both of them. A trip is definitely the most tempting of his current ideas.

Jeju Island would be a dream come true, but it might be too hard to swing, considering plane tickets would be involved.

"Should we starting heading over to the water? Or do you want to buy something else to take with us before we go?" Jungkook asks, taking a pause to pull out his phone and glance at the map. There must be places to eat by the waterside if it turns out that they haven't had enough, Jungkook figures, though food here is also probably cheaper.

Yoongi huffs out a laugh at the idea, imagining Jungkook with a list of requests a foot long. He's lucky, he thinks, in that they're both relatively low-maintenance, happy just to be together. All the same, he plans to make Jungkook's next birthday memorable, the way this already is. It's a day he knows he's going to cherish for a long time.

"Yeah, let's head to the water," he says. "I want to see the ocean." He hasn't been to the beach that often in his life, but the trips that have been made have all become happy memories of their own. He knows this will, too. It's only his food that keeps him from linking arms with Jungkook as he heads out and down the street. "Lead the way."

They're probably too far from the water yet to actually hear the ocean waves, but still Jungkook feels like he can hear the crashing in the distance, anticipating the cool spray of water on his face. It'll be slightly different than their previous trip to the beach, facing off to the west, knowing that land is only a brief plane or boat ride away. Staring off of the southern coast of Busan feels like it'll be looking towards infinity, endless possibilities in every direction.

"Sometimes I wonder why I like the water so much," Jungkook admits, poking at the ddeokbokki with his toothpick and dragging it through the sauce. "If it's just in my blood or something. I always thought being by the water or deep in the countryside was where I wanted to end up. I guess it's possible that I just don't like crowded cities."

Yoongi nods, thoughtful. He likes the city, but he thinks that's probably because there's always noise in the city, the world a symphony of traffic and voices. He imagines instead a life in the country with Jungkook, though, and he thinks that would be alright. The house wouldn't feel so quiet, so strained, with the both of them there. Silence wouldn't feel the same. Sometimes they curl up together and don't say a word, and Yoongi never minds that.

"Then we'll live by the water," he says, "or somewhere in the countryside." He likes the city, but he loves Jungkook, and he'll follow wherever he goes, indulgent and adoring. "Where would you want to go?"

Jungkook swiftly moves his cup of ddeokbokki to the opposite hand, freeing up his right arm to wrap tightly around Yoongi's, pulling him close with a delighted smile as they make their way down the street. Maybe it's obvious, but he can't bring himself to care when they're taking the time to talk about their future, sketching out mental images that he'll constantly be able to revisit whenever he needs a bit of extra motivation to work hard. Saving up has already helped them come this far.

Eventually, it'll let them leave everything behind.

"I don't even know," Jungkook admits brightly, laughing to himself. "I feel like I haven't seen nearly enough to know where'd be my favorite. Maybe the answer is to get one of those camping cars and just spend a year driving all over the country, until we find a place that looks like it's ours."

Yoongi can just imagine it, the pair of them sharing a tiny camper, not minding if it's cramped because it would be theirs. They could stop wherever they liked, in whatever town catches their attention, until they find a spot that looks like theirs. He loves the idea of that, that they might know on sight what's theirs — a look, a feeling, enough to bring them home.

"Let's do it," he says. "Let's explore. I want to see everything with you." That's the key part. Left to his own devices, he'd probably be content to stay in Seoul, but Jungkook's company drags out his adventurous side, makes him want to see the world. It'll be better for having Jungkook at his side, the things he might see made all the better for getting to watch how Jungkook reacts to it all.

Truth be told, staying in Seoul would be far from the worst outcome, provided Jungkook is able to stay by Yoongi's side. He's sure that they could rent out the smallest, dingiest apartment and he'd still be gloriously happy — as long as they have the freedom, anywhere could be home. Still, it's not bad to have a goal, Jungkook thinks. Sharing such dreams with Yoongi is also more fun and fulfilling than holding onto them on his own.

"I want to see everything with you, too," Jungkook grins, tilting his head back and forth, expression serene and playful all at once. "I want every first to be with you. Every time I head somewhere new, try something new... I know I have the other hyungs, but I want the experiences to be with you."

Yoongi's first impulse is to think that it's selfish of him to want that, too, but he pushes it aside firmly. It isn't selfish at all, not if it's what Jungkook wants; it's only a shared desire, a dream for the both of them. It's not like the others couldn't join them sometimes, but the important thing is experiencing everything together. He wants to find the most beautiful spots in the country and watch Jungkook take it in, to see the light he sees now.

"I want that, too," he says. "All over the country. And then the world. Vienna, Prague, Paris, New York." He doesn't know how they'll get the money, but he's not especially worried about the practical aspects of it now. They have years to figure it out, since it won't make much sense to try before they're done with school, and that's a long way off. By then, they'll have it all figured out, all kinds of new firsts behind them. They've been together for months now, but he's still not entirely used to how possible Jungkook makes things seem. "I want to see it all with you."

"I can barely even imagine it," Jungkook confesses, though it doesn't stop him from beaming from ear to ear. There are times when he's tempted to start looking at travel brochures and watch travel videos, but so far he's kept himself away from such materials, worried that he'll feel a pang of disappointment over how long they'll have to wait before they get there. Most of the things he's able to picture are the more obvious landmarks that are commonly known in Korea — things like the Eiffel Tower in France, Big Ben in England. Jungkook has some sense of how the Louvre looks, with its iconic glass pyramid, but he can't claim to be any sort of expert on it all.

"I just picture people being sophisticated there, with like, bakeries and stuff on every street, and all of those chic fashions that they wear in Europe," Jungkook muses with an enthusiastic tilt of his head. "And I bet they've got better music there, and I wonder if there are like... buskers and stuff, if there's more people there who play and enjoy classical music."

It's all so far off, but that doesn't stop Yoongi from imagining it, an easy leap from Jungkook's words to mental images of stone-cobbled streets and people playing music next to buildings old and worn with history. "Someday we'll find out," he says, certain of that. Somehow he'll figure out a way for them to do it. Jungkook should be able to see the world, and Yoongi wants to be right there with him for all of it.

"I bet there are, though," he says. "If you're from somewhere like that, how could you not love classical music?" Maybe they tire of it from regular exposure, he thinks, but that sounds ridiculous. There are so many different types of classical music, something for everyone if they'd give it a chance.

"I really hope so," Jungkook sighs, shaking his head at the very thought of it. Being around that much history and culture, Jungkook knows that he'd end up spending a fair amount of his time getting lost in it. Sometimes his attention span has a tendency to waver, but living there, there must be plenty of opportunity to gradually soak in all those details, growing up with an appreciation for all that's come before.

Then again, it's not like Jungkook goes to visit Gyeongbokgung very often, so maybe the people there might take some of what they have for granted.

"I remember whenever I listened to classical music around other people, before I stopped giving a shit, they always talked about how boring it was or how it made them fall asleep. But that's clearly because they're only listening to the most famous pieces. There's just so much that it feels impossible that people wouldn't at least find something," Jungkook insists, animated and picking up his pace slightly as they venture down the street.

Yoongi huffs out a laugh, delighted by Jungkook's enthusiasm. It's not that he considers himself particularly superior to other people for his excellent taste in music, his ability to enjoy contemporary music and rap as thoroughly as he enjoys Beethoven and Chopin. It's just hard not to think everyone else is an idiot for not hearing what he hears, the passion, the pathos, the way a song can dip and soar, expressing emotions for which there are no words.

"They're just not listening," he says dismissively. "It's wasted on people like that." He would still love Jungkook if he were one of those people, if he only liked the piano because Yoongi plays it, but he likes that it's something they share. Every piece takes on new meaning, shared between them, made brighter and rarer for being theirs. "But we'll go and appreciate it as it should be."

"Maybe they just need to be guided by Min Yoongi's passion," Jungkook says, half-joking as he leans over to briefly nuzzle his nose against Yoongi's hair. Even though Jungkook's always had an appreciation for classical music — an appreciation for all forms of music, really — he can't deny that his interest has heightened a great deal since meeting Yoongi, since getting to watch and hear Yoongi leaning into all of the voices that rise and fall over the course of a piece.

"They just need to spend some time with you in front of a piano. Or have you walk them through all the notable details of a recording," Jungkook decides, shifting the ddeokbokki cup around in his hand, fingers nudging so that it turns slowly, counterclockwise. "'Cause maybe it's... harder to hear the language, I guess, when you don't know what you're listening for."

Yoongi smiles warmly at the sweet touch of Jungkook against his hair. It's the little things like that, thoughtless gestures, as if they can't quite contain their love, as if it all spills over, that make Yoongi so happy. He hardly needs proof of Jungkook's affection, but he enjoys receiving it all the same.

"Maybe," he says. He picked up that kind of thing young, listening to his mother. Other people probably just aren't as lucky as he's been. Or maybe they simply don't have any taste. It could be either one. "I taught you well, after all. But you were already receptive. Other people just don't get it."

"Would you think less of me if part of that interest was driven by my interest in you?" Jungkook asks curiously, raising a brow. It's not untrue. While Jungkook's never been disparaging about music, he's not sure if he would have sought it out with quite as much fervor if it weren't for how striking Yoongi was when he sat at the piano, filling their little classroom with music, the perfect backdrop to any mood. He remembers researching every piece Yoongi played, eventually branching out to all the various composers.

The day he'd discovered Chopin was like a little victory, the first preference he'd built outside of what he had experienced through Yoongi alone.

"Because there was definitely a bit of that crush factor, you know. I really, really wanted to impress you. Or at least be taken somewhat seriously," Jungkook adds with a solemn nod.

"Of course I don't think less of you," Yoongi says, shrugging. "I don't think it really matters how a person ends up liking a thing so long as they really like it. And I like the way you watch me play."

He probably should have known long ago that Jungkook's rapt attention came from a place of attraction, but he was always so caught up in the music, he never noticed. He notices it now, how Jungkook watches while his hands skim over the keys, how his mistakes born of distraction are because of Yoongi and not simply him not paying attention. Even now, with months of this relationship behind them, he finds it thrilling, flattering, to know Jungkook wanted to impress him.

"Some people would totally make fun of me for it, I think. The same way that everyone scoffs at people who get into a drama just because they think the actor's hot, or whatever. But I guess my love of music goes a lot further now than just being into your hands," Jungkook grins, lifting Yoongi's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles, then trailing his lips along each finger, to the tip.

"But now I could school all of them on my knowledge of the Romantic period, so screw 'em," Jungkook murmurs, lifting Yoongi's hand further until he's able to press his lips against Yoongi's pulse point. It's a good thing, he thinks, that they still have a while to go yet on this street, no need to watch for turns or directions.

"Screw 'em," Yoongi agrees, fingertips tracing along Jungkook's jaw, his pulse fluttering under the press of his lips. The way Jungkook treats him always leaves him a little in awe; it's not like he's something fragile, it's that he's to be cherished, every bit of him worthy of reverence. He's never seen himself that way, but Jungkook does, and Yoongi never gets over it. Surely his parents felt he was something precious when he was little, but even that was different and very long ago.

He could, he thinks, stop right here in the middle of the sidewalk and kiss Jungkook. Screw 'em. The last thing he wants, though, is to mar this trip with any trouble that might come of it. On the beach, he tells himself. They'll find some privacy by the water and then he'll kiss him until they can barely catch their breath.

"If you found something you really love, who cares how you got there?"

"Like how it took me playing hooky from class to find you?" Jungkook jokes, his expression fond as the both of them drop their hands again, walking side by side, too close to really be mistaken as friends alone, Jungkook thinks. He remembers how nervous he'd been when he had initially met Yoongi — how, of all the boys in that classroom, Yoongi seemed the most reserved, the most distant. Jungkook was the sort of person back then who needed almost tangible reassurances, needed to know that he wasn't being a bother. But Yoongi was a person for whom one had to read between the lines.

Jungkook had only started to better understand after Yoongi first took to the piano bench, mapping out emotions on the keys that one could never discern in his expression.

He started going to the classroom every day, if only for the chance of getting to hear those melodies.

"I think it's kinda romantic, though. Forbidden love and all that," he grins.

Yoongi shakes his head at him, fond. "What, you and me?" he asks. Half the time or more, he forgets that's even the case. Even at home, they live so much in their own little world, kept safe staying in their small circle of friends. It's only when they move beyond that or around their parents that he becomes more aware of how dangerous this still could be for them.

But they're safe here, he reasons, just another pair of tourists, no one paying them much attention.

Already he can smell the salt sting of the ocean on the air, though he's not sure they're all that close quite yet. It's refreshing, putting him in mind of trips to the beach with the others, watching them race down the shore. The beach has always felt like a place of freedom.

"It is sort of romantic," he agrees, "when it isn't just annoying."

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