lovestrippedbare | 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕠

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yoongi

𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕠

There are times, Jungkook thinks, when unexpected changes in plan work out for the best. Giving up on the idea of Busan during winter break wasn't the easiest choice at the time — Jungkook had expected it to be the highlight of their winter, and giving into the pressure of Yeongwook's blackmailing hurt on multiple levels. But distance seemed safest. Planning, biding their time, having Jungkook carefully siphon a portion of his allowance over to Yoongi for safekeeping, every passing day made the trip feel more viable again, until the two of them suddenly realized that Yoongi's birthday would be an easy occasion to leave for, and that was that.

They've picked up memories along the way. The first night Jungkook had Yoongi stay over. The first dinner together with his mother, with her offering countless thanks for helping her youngest with his studies. A trip out to a nameless beach, all seven of them together, huddled and bracing against the last of the winter winds.

Getting to March isn't as difficult as Jungkook expected it to be, and now that they're here, the wait has made everything all the sweeter.

He takes countless pictures with his camera — of their seats together on the train, of the little box meals they buy from the lady with the cart. Of the ramyeon they buy an hour later, when it's clear that the box meals are more packaging than substance.

Of Yoongi, staring out the window of the train car, a soft smile on his face.

At first, Jungkook struggled with the idea of spending much of Yoongi's birthday on the train, but the trip to Busan takes several hours at best, which would have required missing class on Friday. Seeing Yoongi's peaceful expression on the train helps to set a little of that regret to rest, as does the stifled laughter they share as they stumble down the hall to their room in the hotel.

"Hotel Elysee," Jungkook says with a flourish as he waits for Yoongi to swipe their room key. "Is that, like, French?"

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Yoongi snickers, dropping his head briefly against Jungkook's shoulder. "Oh, I'm definitely the sleeping one," he says. "'cause you're there to hold onto me, so it's okay." The otters won't lose each other, least of all in such a small enclosure, and he stays fixed onto Jungkook, giving his hand a soft squeeze. He always sleeps better when they're together, whether it's a lazy cat nap or a long night with Jungkook helping to chase away the thoughts that plague him and keep him awake other nights. Maybe it's silly, but Jungkook's right. They're the otters and the penguins and everything else. They're in love and they're everywhere. Even in a place that doesn't want them to be in love, he can see them reflected back in every surface, in every sweet thing.

He glances over at the kids near them, offering them a smile, too. "Careful," he warns, though his voice is far softer than it would be if he were to say the same thing to any of his friends. "You might scare them if you make loud noises, okay? Be gentle."

With a sudden laugh, Jungkook raises his chin, pleased at the way that Yoongi describes the time that they spend dozing off together. It's true that Jungkook tends to be the one who holds onto Yoongi — he likes being the big spoon, he likes being able to completely engulf Yoongi with his arms, sneaking gentle kisses to his forehead when Yoongi's breathing is heavy enough to indicate deep sleep. It might be a little naive to think that what the otters are doing is quite the same thing, but Jungkook also doesn't see how it'd hurt to attach some hypothetical emotions to the animals. Plenty of creatures in the world have varying means to keep track of one another, after all, but not very many hold hands. Maybe that means otters have a greater affection for one another, lending each other the most useful part of their bodies.

"I'll hold onto you for the rest of our lives," Jungkook declares softly, giving Yoongi's hand a squeeze.

He glances down at the girl shortly after, not having taken much notice until Yoongi speaks up. The girl gives a small pout, duly chastised even by Yoongi's gentle tone, and pulls her hand back from the glass. "But... oppa, how will I get the otters to look at me if I don't make noise? I wanna play with them."

Yoongi glances back at Jungkook, his heart suffused with warmth. It's ridiculous, how much just a little squeeze of the hand can mean, how soft words he's heard before can still fill him with love. They have their whole lives ahead of them, and, at a moment like this, it seems like such a vast expanse of happiness, Yoongi can hardly imagine it. Things have been hard since his mother died, and, while he knows he's never really going to get over that, these days, it's like the sun has come back into his sky.

He barely expects the girl to answer. Silly, he realizes, to assume she'd be as shy as the other children when she has no qualms drawing attention. She poses a good question, too. "You know, I don't know," he admits. "Is there another way you can get their attention? Maybe we could wave to them. That wouldn't scare them. They won't want to play if they're scared."

He's also pretty sure the otters can't play with kids even if it were something otters wanted to do, safely enclosed in their tank, the walls a little too high for children, but he doesn't want to crush her hopes entirely.

The girl gives Yoongi a heavily disgruntled look, and Jungkook can't help but laugh at the sight. He doesn't blame her for being skeptical of the idea to wave at the animals — there are so many humans that pass each exhibit by that Jungkook can only imagine that motion isn't something that fazes the creatures much at all. A wave doesn't have the same meaning to an otter as it does to a human. She'd probably have better luck if there were some way of offering a treat to the otters, maybe a piece of shellfish or some other toy, but Jungkook guesses that if the staff allowed one girl to do so, that others would quickly want to follow suit.

"Here, why don't we try something?" Jungkook suggests, breaking away from Yoongi for a moment. He nearly decides to pick up the girl altogether, then thinks better of it once he's actually by her side. Kids are small. Jungkook can't help but marvel at it every time he encounters one. They're small, and somehow both fragile and resilient all at once.

So he holds out a hand to her instead.

"Wanna let oppa pick you up? That way you can see the otters more, and maybe the otter will look at you once you're super tall, taller than all the other kids here," Jungkook suggests. The girl gives him a similar glare, but then begrudgingly nods, and Jungkook chuckles to himself before he picks her up and lifts her over his head, settling her down on his shoulders.

Whether or not the otters really care to look at her now, Jungkook can't say, but judging by the girl's squealing (which sounds more delighted than it does terrified), he thinks he's probably made a decent call regardless.

"Yah, you would have the better idea," Yoongi says, but he can't sound the least bit bothered when the girl is perched on Jungkook's shoulders, pleased with her new position up high. She looks so happy about it, and all Yoongi can do is lean against the glass, beaming at them both. It would be nice if they could convince a trainer to let her throw the otters some fish or something, but he's pretty sure that's not allowed. It's not like with the stingrays. This seems like the better alternative.

"Look at you," he adds, glancing up at the girl. "You're taller than both of us. They've got to be able to see you now. They're really cute, huh?"

He glances around after a moment to make sure the girl's parents aren't worried they're gonna run off with her or something, then returns his attention to the two of them. The girl is happy with herself, but Jungkook looks pretty damn pleased, too, and it's the cutest fucking thing Yoongi's seen all day. "Are the otters your favorite?"

When Yoongi praises the idea, Jungkook only beams even more broadly, pleased to have come up with an idea that seems to work all around. He can feel some movement up on his shoulders, and he wonders if the little girl is finally waving after all, taking Yoongi's suggestion now that she has a boost of height and confidence alike. It's not very often that Jungkook feels like he's the clever one in coming up with an idea, but sometimes it's a little easier when the main tool he's focused on using is his body. He has pretty decent spatial awareness, and little fear when it comes to pushing himself.

Now he's starting to realize how much of an asset that can be with kids, and though they're still far too young yet, Jungkook can't help but imagine how much better moments like these will be when it's their own child that they're caring for.

"Yeah! Um, there's these books I read, they're called the Harry Potter books, and there's a girl in them and her Patronus, um." The girl pauses, and Jungkook snickers silently, wishing he could see the expression on her face. "...her favorite animal's an otter. And maybe cats. But definitely otters. So I really like otters, too."

It is, Yoongi is pretty sure, the cutest fucking thing he's ever seen or heard. Maybe that's because the girl is perched on Jungkook's shoulders and that makes it so easy to think Someday... Maybe it's just her enthusiasm for both the books and the animals or the unguarded way she talks to them like it's never entered her mind that they're strangers and therefore maybe not safe to trust. If she were their daughter, he can't help thinking, he'd caution her against talking to strange boys or accepting shoulder rides from them. But she's not and he's glad she doesn't think twice about these things, because it means they get this moment.

"I know Harry Potter," he says, gently smacking Jungkook's side for laughing at her. He can't remember whose Patronus is what and he's not about to make a guess, because he doesn't want to look like the dumb adult in front of this cute kid, but it's nice to be able to say that and watch her face light up with surprise. "I haven't read them in a while, but they're really good, right? Is that your favorite character, the girl?"

He used to run around more as a kid, he thinks, but he's not sure he was ever so bold or self-assured with adults as she is, and he feels an odd burst of pride in her.

The fact that Yoongi smacks him only further goads Jungkook, who's never been more glad that a kid isn't able to see his face as he turns slightly towards his boyfriend and wrinkles his nose, stifling silent laughter. Nerd, he mouths, and it's a comment that's directed more at Yoongi than it is the little girl. Not that Jungkook is entirely oblivious to the world of Harry Potter — it is, after all, one of the defining series of their generation — but he definitely paid more attention to the films than he did the books, and he definitely never read the books with enough care to remember who had what Patronus. Except for Harry, Jungkook supposes. Because they kept on beating that point over the readers with a stick.

Truth be told, Jungkook likes kids who are nerds. They have all the qualities that Jungkook himself lacked as a kid, and that he's only become covetous of now that it's a little late to change course. Jungkook was always so focused on sports, on building friendships, that he now feels slow in a lot of other respects.

Hopefully, he'll be able to close some of that gap by university.

"Yeah, she's totally my favorite," the girl remarks with a nod, now thoroughly distracted from the otters and locking gazes with Yoongi. "I think the series should be named after her. She's a lot smarter than Harry Potter. Also she saves the day more than he does."

Yoongi arches an eyebrow at Jungkook, not even fazed. It's not the first time he's been called a nerd and it won't be the last, though it's more often for the fact that he loves classical music as much as he loves hip-hop than it is for his taste in books. He's usually too immersed in his music and his studies to read for fun anyway, but that wasn't the case when he was younger.

Somehow, he thinks, the hours got shorter as they grew older. He used to be able to play the piano and read and run around outside and still keep up with his schoolwork. Though, of course, his schoolwork also got harder.

He's now positive that otter-Patronus is Hermione, and he feels pretty confident in nodding along with the girl's assessment, even as he fights not to laugh. As if to compensate for his own amusement, he nudges Jungkook's ankle with his toe. "Oh, Hermione is definitely the smartest one," he agrees. "They would have been completely lost without her. I bet you're pretty smart, too, huh?"

It's tempting to lean over and give Yoongi a kiss on the cheek. Someday in the distant future, maybe they can have that — maybe once the world accepts the idea of couples like them being capable of parenting together, the public also won't mind if they share a sign of affection or two. But for now, Jungkook is content to simply bask in the dynamic the three of them share, with Yoongi being the more thoughtful half of their pair, and Jungkook the more physical and tactile.

He lets Yoongi handle the conversation, wondering what it'd be like to have a precocious kid like the girl on his shoulders. Jungkook would probably feel pretty quickly out of his depth — this girl wants to name the Harry Potter series after the bossy know-it-all, which can't be a very popular perspective. She probably reads all the time. Probably tries to learn as much as she can. (Though, at least for now, she's also still young enough that smacking a glass barrier seemed like a logical choice to get an animal's attention.)

"Oh, definitely not smart like Hermione. She's a genius," the girl explains, drawing out the word. "But I wanna be as smart as her, so I'm reading lots of books and I like going to school."

"Ah, you're better than me," Jungkook muses aloud. "This oppa didn't read enough books when he was your age. Now he's more like, uh. The other one, the red-haired kid."

"Ron," Yoongi says, "and if you call me a nerd again —" There's no threat he can make that is appropriate for a child's ears, if only, at the very least, because he shouldn't advocate violence, never mind the withholding of sex. They'd both know he doesn't mean it anyway, so he lets the implied threat hang in the air for a moment, his brow arching. It's impossible not to wonder what Jungkook is thinking, impossible not to guess he's considering the same things Yoongi is, imagining their future child.

Dealing with this adorable little girl, it doesn't matter to him that they're still too young. It's enough for him to be sure that, one day, they're going to be good at this. They won't be like their own fathers; they'll be kind and attentive, as firm as they are encouraging, showering their child with love.

"She's better than me, too," he adds after a moment, glancing up at the girl, at once sheepish and mischievous. "I don't always go to school when I should. But if you keep working hard like that, I bet you'll turn out to be a genius, too."

"You'll what?" Jungkook asks, his voice pointed though he keeps the volume quiet, not wanting to distract the young girl with their bickering, fun though it may be. He knows that there's unlikely to be very much in the way of true punishment that Yoongi throws at him — not while they're on this trip, enjoying the rare opportunity to be away from all their stresses back home. And, truth be told, Jungkook simply can't imagine Yoongi punishing him for much of anything, period. Or most of his hyungs, for that matter. For all their teasing, being the youngest of the group has its perks.

But even he knows not to focus too much on that right now, when they've got a little girl on their hands. He turns around, belatedly wondering where her parents are, and spotting a pair of adults leaned against the opposite exhibit. The father — or the man Jungkook assumes to be the father — raises his hand in greeting. It surprises Jungkook a little, having grown accustomed to the rather distant nature of most of the people in Seoul, but maybe the little girl and her family are on vacation from a smaller town, Jungkook muses. Her accent doesn't sound like it's native to Busan.

He finds his heart aching slightly, wondering if there might be rural villages where everyone's far more welcoming than home.

"Oppa doesn't always go to school?" the girl asks, incredulous. "Why not? Oppa, you should really go to school. That's how you become smart and then when you're smart, you can get the better jobs and stuff."

"Yah, listen to how smart she is already," Yoongi says, amused and oddly proud. She's not his kid, but he feels like they've temporarily adopted her, and she's a clever little thing. At her age, he was running around, getting into scrapes, more athletic and outgoing than he later became. She's already working hard for her future.

"Sometimes oppa wants to go have fun instead," he admits, "but you're right. I'll go to school. It is how you become smart." There are so many other kinds of intelligence, he knows, other opportunities in the world not worth missing, but she's young and he has no desire to be a bad influence. It's different with boys of his own age; encouraging the others to slack off with him isn't so bad when they all do the same. She's too young for any of that. Besides, when someone so small scolds, it's actually adorable.

He's forgotten about the otters now, engaged in their conversation, even as he reaches out to poke Jungkook in the side. "And if you don't go, teachers get mad. You don't want that. What job do you want when you grow up?"

"She's gonna tell us how school's fun, isn't she?" Jungkook asks, glancing up towards the sky, even though the girl is leaning back far enough that he can't see her at all. She's expressive enough with her tone that he thinks he can picture her face — a little precocious, more than a little disappointed. Probably mimicking whatever kind of scolding she's witnessed from adults over the years. Probably not all that unlike her fictional idol, overbearing but incredibly cute about it.

(Incredibly cute from the perspective of an adult, anyway. Jungkook doesn't doubt that as a kid, he would have clashed pretty severely with her type of personality. He knows better, now.)

"School is fun," the girl chirps up from above, giving Jungkook's head a little swat before she thinks better of herself, glancing nervously at the ground. For his part, Jungkook doesn't punish her for the gesture, rude though it is to be coming from a kid. He makes more of a face at Yoongi, when he feels the finger poking in his side — he raises a brow in warning, unable to promise that he won't shake things up a bit if he's tickled, which the little girl might not appreciate. "The teachers are all really nice, as long as you don't make trouble for other kids. And, um. I wanna be the president when I grow up. Or prime minister. Both of those are okay."

Yoongi ducks his head, trying to hide his amusement. He wants to tease Jungkook, but, really, if he's honest, he's no better about school. Sometimes he studies harder, but he pays just as little attention in class and attends just as infrequently. He has no room to scold or mock.

Granted, the girl isn't entirely right either. The teachers for younger grades probably are pretty nice, but as they got older, their teachers definitely got meaner.

Or Yoongi started making more trouble.

Both, probably. He can admit that.

"The president," he echoes, nodding, "wow. That would be pretty okay, yeah. Well, if you keep up doing so well in school, I bet you can do it."

"It's gonna be really hard," the girl says, preening slightly when the shorter oppa tells her that she can do it. She's not stupid, of course. Being the president is really tough business — only one person gets to do it every five years. She's not even ten yet. But she likes it when adults tell her that she can do it; it makes her want to prove them right. "But I want to be a really good lady president, because President Park Geun-Hye wasn't very good, my mom says. And that's too bad, because she was the only lady president so far. So I want to be a better one."

Jungkook laughs at this, soft and fond as he lowers his head. This little girl isn't even half his age, probably, and she's got enough ambition for the both of them. Of course, her age might have something to do with it; Jungkook remembers when he used to want to win Olympic medals for taekwondo as a kid, only to realize as he got older that the competition only got fiercer over the years.

But it's not too bad for a person to have a dream when they're that young, he thinks.

"Well, we'll vote for you, right Yoongi?" Jungkook asks, then tilts his head back to try and get a view of the girl's face. "Should we be letting you get back to your mom and dad now?"

"Mm," the girl nods, though her voice sounds reluctant. "Yeah, I guess so."

It would be a lie if Yoongi said he hadn't once held grand dreams, too, though his were still less ambitious than the girl's. Being a concert pianist seemed much more in reach than he imagines being president would be. Still, if she can hold onto this conviction, then maybe she has a shot. Someone's got to do it, after all. Why not her?

"Probably a good idea," he says, smiling at the both of them. "They might start to worry. And you'll definitely have my vote." Never mind that he doesn't know the girl's name and probably wouldn't remember it for that long even if he did. It doesn't hurt to encourage her, even if she's already more confident than he is. "Come on, let's get you down. It was nice meeting you."

With Yoongi echoing the sentiment, Jungkook proceeds to reach up and lift the girl under her arms, carefully hoisting her over his head and then lowering her down to the ground. Whether or not she was able to get much of a response out of the otters after all, Jungkook can't say, but she seems in better spirits than she was when they first encountered her, and that feels like enough of a victory. Kids are still a bit of a mystery to Jungkook, not having had all that much interaction with them, but encounters like this remind him that they're not entirely foreign. They're people, too — simpler in world view, perhaps, but just trying to get by like the rest of them.

"You'll have two votes here, and two votes from those parents of yours," Jungkook confirms, giving the girl's hair a slight ruffle once she's settled on her feet. She pulls a slight face at him for the gesture, though she doesn't seem entirely put off by it either, instead blushing lightly and turning towards her parents.

"Don't say you'll vote for me before you hear about the things I'll do! But I'll come for those votes! When I'm bigger," she calls out over her shoulder as she scurries off, giving a half-wave before practically launching herself into her dad's arms.

Jungkook grins, hooking an arm around Yoongi's waist. "Small body, big personality."

Yoongi tucks himself close against Jungkook, hiding his laughter against Jungkook's shoulder. The admonishment is, perhaps, a well-deserved one. For all he knows, she's a little conservative terror. Still, he doesn't feel bad about having promised his vote to her, and he's delighted to see how pleased she looks as she bolts back to her parents. There's something satisfying about having possibly brightened the kid's day. Truthfully, she more than returned the favor.

"Very big," he agrees. "And so cute. I wouldn't be surprised if she is president one day." She's determined enough for it. If she works as hard as he suspects she does and she keeps at it, it doesn't seem impossible for her to achieve her lofty goal. "We should have told her to legalize gay marriage."

God, he hopes it doesn't actually take that long.

"Do you think it'll really take that long?" Jungkook asks, slightly taken aback as he turns towards Yoongi with a look of dismay. On some level, Jungkook knows it doesn't matter when the country decides to take the plunge and actually legalize gay marriage — he knows that they'll have a ceremony regardless, make their vows regardless. But legalization comes with a whole host of perks as well. It seems unlikely that they'll be able to adopt unless they're married, and they won't be able to be in each other's family registries without legally tying the knot.

And should either of them end up in the hospital for whatever reason, it'll be harder to push their way through and visit one another or claim any type of medical proxy without being married.

Typically, Jungkook isn't the type to worry too much about such details, but that's changed in the few months they've been together. It's all too easy to think about the years ahead, the lives that they'll build together.

"Maybe I should run for office," Jungkook mumbles, dumbfounded as he shakes his head, nudging Yoongi to the side, making room for some of the other visitors to slip in.

Yoongi draws back a little so he can reach for Jungkook's hand, shaking his head. "I hope not," he says. He wouldn't consider himself a pessimist so much as a realist. Realistically, he has no idea how long it will take. They have a long way to go, he thinks, before acceptance is more wide-spread, enough to allow for same-sex marriages. Whether that means a few years or a decade or more, he can't be sure. If anything, he wonders if maybe the spread of gay marriage in other countries will pressure theirs into feeling they have to follow suit, but he's not sure that's really how politics works.

Fuck, he hates that. Politics. As if there's anything to be debated about the fact that they're in love.

"When more of our generation gets into office," he says, "things will change." Maybe. He's been teased enough by other boys who thought he might be gay to question whether or not that's entirely true. Being able to silence them in a fight doesn't mean he changed their minds any. He glances sidelong at Jungkook and smiles. "I don't know if you'd like being in politics very much."

"I believe that," Jungkook says, his words slightly hesitant as he reflects on others in their generation, on the media that their peers like to consume from Hollywood and other western sources. Even some of the domestic erotic films that are popular involve queer relationships. It seems like something that people their age can probably come to accept, even if it takes longer for there to be anything approaching true equality. "When you think about all the other countries that have legalized gay marriage... most of them are world leaders, it'd make sense for us to follow."

Jungkook purses his lips, squeezing Yoongi's hand before swinging their hands between them as they make their way back to the exit. "As for whether or not I'd like being in politics... yeah, probably not. Needing to kiss asses just to get votes and campaigning money? Doesn't sound like my ideal kind of life," Jungkook admits. "I'm probably more trophy husband material than I am politician material."

Yoongi laughs at the image of Jungkook lingering just a step behind, handsome and polished, making him look good. He doesn't doubt that some people might look at the pair of them and know Yoongi got lucky, though he'd like to think they're more complementary than that. He can't imagine Jungkook playing such a passive role any more than he can imagine him running for office.

"I'd say you could be mine," he teases, "but if I'm going to be a musician or teach music, I don't think I'll be glamorous enough to need a trophy husband. Or rich enough." That's part of why he's always imagined himself going into business — nothing specific, just something to pay the bills — wanting a job where he could readily support his family. If he really lets himself consider music as a career, or even teaching, he's settling for a future that, with some work, could be steady, but which will never really bring in much money. It's safer not to dream too far, and still, with Jungkook nudging him, he can't help imagining it now, how happy they could be in such a life.

"Uh, are you kidding me? If you're going to be a musician, you'd be the very picture of glamour," Jungkook argues, tilting his head for emphasis. "Because you're a classical pianist. You'd be the one who like, elevates the orchestra. Everyone gets excited when they pull out the grand piano at a classical concert, right? And you'd get to wear a nice suit, black and white, ugh, and it'd look so good if you had your natural hair color going on..."

Jungkook's voices drifts off as he lets himself imagine such a life. Realistically, he knows that Yoongi will probably pursue something other than music as a career — or, to Yoongi's point, even if he does go into music, it'll be for something more practical than trying out for the symphony. Even some of the best symphony musicians only earn wages around that of an average salaryman.

It's the kind of lifestyle that might be worth pursuing for someone who doesn't plan on raising a family, but is harder to justify when parenting is a clear goal.

"I hope you're able to minor in music. Or something that lets you perform at school. Or at least, we should get you a suit and sneak into the music department," Jungkook declares.

Yoongi has to bite his tongue to stifle his laughter as Jungkook rattles on and distracts himself. He won't pretend it's not flattering to hear and pleasant to imagine. It isn't going to be his life and he knows that, but it's still nice to imagine. Jungkook's enthusiasm, though, is more than nice. It's charming, and Yoongi won't pretend either that part of the charm isn't simply in knowing how highly Jungkook thinks of him.

"You're cute," he says, teasing, but fond. "And really into me in a suit. Maybe I should get one." It's not the first time Jungkook's mentioned the image, and Yoongi wants to give him everything he wants, not least because he's pretty sure he'd enjoy Jungkook's reaction. "I want to. Minor in music, I mean, not get a suit. Though I guess that too."

Whether it's practical or not, he doesn't care. A minor isn't going to kill his father or make Yoongi more of a disappointment. If he really does decide teaching is something he wants to do, too, he might even have an excuse to pursue it as a major, though he doesn't quite dare dream of that yet. If he can at least minor, then it won't matter if he ends up studying business or economics or something like that; he just wants to play.

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