Chapter Text
With a bucket of strawberries in hand, some utensils used for crushing them into jams, and a new sense of confidence washing over his usual calm and collected demeanor, Jung Hoseok stood apprehensively in front of Min Yoongi's household, already feeling a new pathway to life unfold in front of him.
Now, recalling back to a couple days prior when Yoongi conveniently stopped the person who attempted to steal Hoseok's strawberries at the farmers market, Hoseok thought that it was only fair to return the favor.
By offering to help him make loads of strawberry jam.
This was particularly helpful since firstly, Hoseok was incredibly notorious for brewing up the most delicious and tasteful recipes of beautiful jars of whipped up strawberry jellies. Everyone who purchased from him loved it, explaining how their taste buds spasmed with pleasure the second the jams came in contact with their tongues, both whirling up and satisfying long away hidden cravings.
So what was better than to teach and pass on the recipe to someone whom Hoseok had taken a great liking towards recently?
In fact, Hoseok couldn't even deny the little sparks of amour he felt every time he and Yoongi interacted these days. Even as something as simple as mere eye contact from across their fields โ it always resurfaced these long overdue feelings that he should've realized long ago. Yet the only reason he hadn't back then was simply because of foolishness.
Foolishness for not seeing Yoongi as something more than an enemy of his; his competition.
Maybe it was an unhealthy mindset that was crafted all those years ago back when the two first crossed paths.
But today, starting at this very moment, Hoseok was fully ready to start fresh and diminish those past grudges that never really existed in the first place.
So with one final inhale of breath, gathering up every fiber of his being and devoting it into a brand new age of confidence that now made him soar up into the sky freely, Hoseok lifted a fist and brought it to the wooden door, taking that final step in delivering a thread of loud knocks.
Hoseok stepped back from the entrance of the house slightly, not wanting to alarm Yoongi too much and especially was not with the intent to invade his own personal space bubble when his figure would appear.
Perhaps it was because of this new veil of respect both of them wore ever since their deep conversations that carried out inside Hoseok's car the night of the farmers market, watching as the sky blanketed with navy and violet shades with bright, twinkling stars dazzling all throughout it โ overall creating this beautiful cascade that would normally be brushed off as any other regular night.
But something sparked.
Something sparked that night โ for unknown reasons of course, but Hoseok felt it.
And Yoongi did too.
But really, deep down, their consciouses were screaming at them to dig a little deeper and read the very obvious signs scripted in their palms that would explain everything.
That would explain the constant blush forming on their cheeks with every conversation, that would explain the threads of laughter following up every corny ass joke told that they normally wouldn't consider funny, that would explain every phenomenon written in their hazelnut and umber eyes that both found so incredibly alluring about each other.
How they sparked with admiration, little hearts forming around their irises as their pupils widened with infatuation.
How those enchanting tones of coffee and chocolate swirled around gracefully with every heartwarming gaze lingered on them โ how both Hoseok and Yoongi found themselves falling into an infinite trap of something along the lines of love every single time they got lost in one another's eyes.
It was simply unintentional, as it always was, but unintentional didn't equate to a coincidence.
Because it wasn't a fucking coincidence.
The universe โ the exact thing that brought these two souls together and connected their fingers with a red string of fate โ knew that it wasn't a coincidence.
The surrounding community and neighborhood friends knew that it wasn't a coincidence.
And Hoseok and Yoongi, somewhere beneath their obliviousness, knew it too.
Hoseok eyes shot open the second he heard the door creak open, the infamous squeaks of the metal hinges and rusty edges nearly causing havoc to occur in both Yoongi and Hoseok's brains from the atrocious noise.
But once his eyes landed on a certain someone who he's been anticipating to see all day, Hoseok instantly remembered why he came.
"Hโ"
"Hoseok what the fuck are you doing? Go back to sleep it's getting late out," Yoongi yawned tiredly, letting the sleeves of his oversized sweatshirt drape over his hands, initially creating sweater paws.
It took everything within Hoseok not to squish him or fawn over the adorable sight. The urges were strong, too strong, to keep under ways and conceal all signs of showing.
Sighing deeply, Hoseok brought his free hand up from his bucket of materials to lightly run through his locks of wavy hair, already feeling his nerves attack him from every side and dunk him underneath a wallowing pit of self pity.
"Ummm I actually came to do something nice for you," He meekly stated, averting his eyes from Yoongi's pretty cat-like ones to the doormat beneath him.
Furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion, not understanding the reasoning behind this very spontaneous kindhearted gesture especially when it was seven o'clock at night out, Yoongi folded his arms across his chest sternly before following up with a stumped, "Wait what? Why?"
"Well you know how you ran after that guy who tried stealing my strawberries?" Hoseok recalled, tilting his head up slightly forward just to make sure Yoongi could fully comprehend what he was saying underneath the incoherent mumbles.
Yoongi nodded, suddenly remembering the past events from Saturday and the slight annoyance that came with it. However, he wasn't one for holding long term grudges and quickly dispersed those brief explosions of fury and subsided them for the reminder that Hoseok was surprising him with something nice.
Apparently.
Seeing as Yoongi nodded his head up and down, Hoseok quickly continued, "Well I thought I'd do something nice for you in return. So um โ wanna make some of my famous strawberry jaaaammmm?" He cheekily grinned, dragging out the last syllables in a sing-song like tone, one that Yoongi couldn't help but crack a smile at especially as Hoseok wavered his hands up in the air like jazz hands.
A lot really has changed between them.
"You sure? I don't wanna make money off your recipe," Yoongi mumbled guiltily, obviously thankful that Hoseok was even offering up the suggestion. But still, Hoseok was known all around the state county for his delicious jams, especially strawberry ones, and Yoongi wasn't one to take away that uniqueness from his character.
"You mean our recipe. Weren't you the one to suggest that we conjoin businesses and work together? Whatever yours is mine and whatever mine is yours, you said it yourself," Hoseok chimed cheerfully, cautiously wrapping an arm around the expanse of Yoongi's shoulders before dragging them both inside the house and towards the kitchen.
"Well, I-I mean I guessโ"
"Well you guessed fucking right so let's use those sexy hands of yours โ I mean uh strong hands of yours โ and crush up some strawberries!" Hoseok nervously giggled, feeling his cheeks instinctively heat up from accidentally admitting his appreciation for the beauty of Yoongi's hands.
It was undeniable at this point, but alas Yoongi found it far from displeasing since he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Because it's not everyday that your past enemy, which now takes the place of the person you're crushing on, admits to having a hand kink.
Maybe Hoseok didn't say it upfront, but the hints were inevitable.
"Rightttt well let's just hope you don't get too distracted while we work," Yoongi kidded, loosening himself out of Hoseok's grips before patting the boy lightly on the back and walking into his small kitchen to fetch a few ingredients.
"Oh shut up," Hoseok whined embarrassingly, hastily dropping his bucket of strawberries and other various supplies on the kitchen table in order to use now both of his empty hands to cover the entirety of his now bright red face, hating how Yoongi could clearly tell that he was beyond flustered barely three minutes in of conversing.
Smirking slightly, Yoongi pulled out a few things from the surrounding cupboards and cabinets before strolling over towards Hoseok and taking the sides of his face in hand โ making sure to squish his cheeks while doing so.
"You really expect me to shut up about you thinking my hands are sexy?" He mocked innocently, dipping his head to the side as he wiggled Hoseok's head around in his hands side to side, enjoying the way scarlet shades of red and variations of rosy pink made its way up his face and the tips of his ears.
Hoseok rolled his eyes, though still obediently staying put in Yoongi's hold since a part of him enjoyed the warm feeling that radiated onto his cheeks from the elder's hands, "Wanna know what? Fuck you."
"Gladly."
"YOONGI!" Hoseok gasped loudly, taking Yoongi's wrists and yanking both hands off his cheeks before clambering into the boy's back and attempting to put him into a headlock position, "You come at me for admitting your hands are pretty and then say shit like that? The hell is wrong with you, you horny little bitch!"
Yoongi stumbled beneath him, since balancing while someone was strangling you by the neck and also propped up on your back wasn't the easiest of tasks, especially when Hoseok was much taller in height.
"I was kidding Jung, god," Yoongi rasped out, desperately searching for a place to safely drop Hoseok onto the ground since he didn't think he could take a minute longer while he was struggling to find something as simple as a breath of life at the moment.
"Didn't seem like a joke if you ask me, in fact you seemed pretty sold on the ideaโ"
"Oh my god zip your fucking mouth," Yoongi scolded, finally managing to slide Hoseok off his back before heading back into the kitchen.
"Well now you know how it feels," Hoseok sassily retaliated back, sticking out his tongue childishly before skipping after Yoongi.
"Whatever. Anyways, what do we need?"
โฟ โฟ โฟ
Thirty jars, ten batches of strawberries, and a lot of playful scolding later, the working pair finally called it a day and decided that that was enough jam-making for the night.
Especially since it was now quite late at night, it only made the two more eager to fall into the comfortable wraps of their own beds.
But first and foremost, they of course needed to taste test the jellies to make sure they were nothing less of perfection.
Obviously.
"Alright, let's taste it shall we? Hopefully it didn't come out as total shit!" Hoseok giggled somewhat sarcastically, but still regardless of how much he displayed this self deprecating and sarcastic character over himself, he was always confident about the outcome of his own products.
It wasn't cocky or arrogant, but deserved since he had every right to be proud of himself for crafting such an irresistible recipe that left mouths watering and craving for more.
"Ack don't say that! Especially not after spending two whole hours on it," Yoongi grumbled, not appreciating the fact that Hoseok undermined their hard work, even if it was in a lighthearted manner.
Hoseok grinned, making sure to puff out his chubby cheeks before hopping up out of us chair and sliding two slices of bread into Yoongi's toaster oven to spread the jam on.
"You mean two hours of me having to re-show how to do it because you were too busy staring at my hair?" Hoseok fact-checked humorously, throwing his head back as light, feather laughs slipped past his heart shaped lips and flooded the room around them.
Yoongi flushed a deep cotton candy shade, immediately bowing his head downwards in defeat since he couldn't even attempt at denying it without sounding like a total idiot. But could you blame him? It was fucking Jung Hoseok, and no one could deny that his hair was indeed a sight for sore eyes.
"I mean, your hair just looks really good today," Yoongi mumbled sheepishly, not letting his voice surpass anything above a quiet whisper, something that instantly unlocked the key to Hoseok's heart since he always found Yoongi's more shy persona utterly adorable.
Smiling giddily, Hoseok skipped over from the toaster to where Yoongi was leaning against the counter and approached him carefully, taking his left hand to run through Yoongi's dark brown locks and savoring every second spent soaking in the relaxing feeling. Same went for Yoongi too, since he always thoroughly enjoyed the way Hoseok always combed his fingers through his hair at random.
"Really? You think so?" Hoseok beamed, he too finding himself blushing from the compliment since he was often insecure about his physical appearance, so of course he took every goodnatured comment to the heart and locked it away in his core memory to be remember for forever.
Especially when it came from Yoongi.
"It always does," Yoongi shrugged back in return, not finding any fault in the statement since he really did always take note on how well styled Hoseok's hair appeared to be every single day, also realizing that he had never even seen Hoseok have a bad hair day in all four and a half years of knowing each other.
Hoseok's heart melted at the sincerity gracing Yoongi's tone, truly taking it word for word and apparently it went the same for Yoongi. Although he tended not to be as enthusiastic when displaying any sorts of affection or adornment for people, his genuine and collected nature is what stroke Hoseok the most when first meeting him. It was even better somehow, knowing that Yoongi didn't need to impersonate phony smiles or fake laughter to showcase his admiration towards them โ which is something that surely didn't come easy for everyone.
Not having the chance to response, since the beeping alarm of the toaster rudely interrupted their moment, Hoseok quickly turned around on his heels towards their now golden brown toast slices and placed them on two separate small plates.
"Here you go!" Hoseok piped up, offering a plate to Yoongi just seconds before he took a knife out of one of the cupboards and began spreading a nice, thick coat of bright red jam on top of it โ resembling somethint straight out of an aesthetic Pinterest board.
"Thanks," Yoongi said, gladly accepting the plate in hand before following Hoseok's lead and glazing his slice with a layer of delicious homemade jam.
"Mhm," Hoseok murmured in return as he crunched down onto a corner of the crispy toast, relishing the way the abundance of flavors danced on his tongue just from one single bite of it, already letting himself freely become quite proud of himself for once again whisking up a successful load of jams.
Yoongi too froze in shock from just how good it was since he had only tasted Hoseok's special jam recipe maybe once or twice over the four years of knowing each other. Yet still, it never failed to surprise him with how truly delightful it was in every way possible.
"Well fuck this shit is bomb as hell, where did you even learn to make it?" Yoongi pondered out loud admiringly, directing the question both towards Hoseok and himself since it still caught him off guard from his good of a cook he really was.
"Eh don't remember, just experimenting I guess," Hoseok played off coolly, not wanting to outwardly display the immense amount of pride swirling around inside him without it coming off as solely boasting. But still, it was difficult to sustain those lingering impulses to let go of every emotion brewing up inside you until it became unbearable to handle any longer.
"Just experimenting? I don't believe you," Yoongi gasped unbelievably, finding it impossible how someone could just accidentally come up with probably the best tasting jams he's ever had by mere chance.
It was too good to be true. That, or he used witchcraft.
Hoseok chuckled, momentarily placing the slice of bread back onto the plate, "I'm not kidding โ I was just messing around with ingredients and it just kinda happened I guess."
Is this what it's like to be perfect? Yoongi thought to himself, still thinking it absolutely absurd that Hoseok could just magically whip up some random ass recipe that just so happened to hit it off.
But at this point, Yoongi couldn't even be that surprised.
"Wow. You're literally fucking perfect."
Hoseok snapped his head around at the claim, finding it far from the truth since he never ever considered himself anything near the word 'perfect', one being because he didn't believe being perfect was even a thing since everything was subjective. But coming from fucking Min Yoongi, hell he might as well just kiss him right then and there.
"Iโ I'm really not," Hoseok stammered, biting at the subside of his gums anxiously in a very flustered manner since he wasn't quite sure how to respond to such a high end compliment.
I mean, perfect? Sure, it didn't exist, but the fact that Yoongi viewed him as ideal made his heart flutter uncontrollably until he was left with nothing but the own hammers of his heart to filter out the silence that hovered above the kitchen atmosphere.
Yoongi pursed his lips together, clearly disagreeing with Hoseok's disagreement, before tapping his chin in thought for dramatic measures.
"Really? You sure? I could've sworn you were just good at about everything," He teased, disregarding his plate of toast on the kitchen table as well as he slowly approached Hoseok and twirled him around gently as to not startle him too much.
"Definitely not everything," Hoseok mumbled sheepishly, hiding his face in the safety of his own hands since he didn't think he could take any more of Yoongi's compliments without losing full self control.
"Really? Name one thing you're not good at," Yoongi challenged, perking up an eyebrow since he genuinely wanted to hear what Hoseok had to say only to retaliate with the double amount of flattery, all too see that pretty strawberry shade rise up on his cheeks for the tenth time that day.
Hoseok stood still, because of course he knew he wasn't good at everything โ since that was simply unattainable, but when put on the spot like that it was even harder to actually think of one of those many, many things.
Which may explain his next response.
"Uhhhh kissing?"
And the moment he did, both him and Yoongi were rendered absolutely fucking speechless.
Because no, it wasn't his intent to actually to get Yoongi to kiss him when saying that.
He just genuinely couldn't think of anything else.
And regardless of how idiotic one may view that last resorted decision as, it ended up benefiting them both in the end.
Very much so at that.
"Wait what?" Yoongi repeated after him cluelessly, leaving his mouth hanging ajar as his mind nearly collapsed with just how many thoughts were passing through, and not one of them was not about kissing the said person in front of him.
"Iโ I didn't mean โ well, you wanna know what I hate myself but yeah I'm not really good at kissing I suppose," Hoseok muttered embarrassingly, actually finding it somewhat shameful how he's never had his first kiss at the age of twenty four, hence why he chose to say kissing as his response since he was quite inexperienced in that field of things.
Without really thinking of the consequences that would follow.
Yoongi nodded slowly, not letting his brain register how his body suddenly took control and apprehensively brushed a piece of Hoseok's windswept bangs to the side, leaving him his alluring facial features on full display for Yoongi to admire. Because really, Hoseok was beautiful and Yoongi never once thought differently.
Nor did his brain register how Hoseok subconsciously scooted closer to him, barely leaving five inches between the tips of their noses.
But their brains didn't register that because they themselves didn't even realize what was coming for them in the short run.
"How can you be so sure you're bad at kissing though?" Yoongi asked, tilting his head to the side in question.
Hoseok bit on his lower lip, feeling his palms grow sweaty from the interrogation, "Uh well I dunno I just assumed I'd be cuz I've never really kissed anyone before."
Understandable reason.
But was Yoongi going to take that into account before asking what he was about to?
Absolutely not.
"Then," he paused, letting his mind fully grasp what he was about to say just to ensure that he was entirely aware of what he was actually asking and not just doing it for the fun of it; but because he loved him, "I'll โ I'll be your first! I mean only if you're comfortable of course cuz you know the whole entire enemies thing, but um wait actually I thought I'd add in I've never actually hated you. Because well, I actually really like you and a lot at that โ but you probably don't feel the same way and that's fine so if you don't wanna kiss me I totally understand and oh my fuck I probably made this really awkward didn't I? Well fuck my ass โ wait no not actually I didn't mean actually fuck my ass, I mean unless you want to โ wait NO, argh I meanโ"
And that's when he was suddenly interrupted amidst his thread of incoherent rambles when he felt a certain someone's soft lips collide with his own mid speech โ slurring his words even more than they already were until they completely simmered down into nothing but absence.
But that's when Yoongi realized what was happening.
Hoseok was fucking kissing him.
Holy fuck.
The feeling of his pink dainty heart shaped lips on his own was finally coming true; it wasn't a figment of his imagination as it always was, never coming to life and only appearing in the midst of dreams as he was lulled away into his own made up wonderland.
Because it was real.
Everything about it was real: how both of them felt their subtle smiles through the kiss from happiness of finally being able to take that final leap and conquer it, the taste of strawberry jam lingering on their lips and clashing lightly with their tongues as it sent their taste buds buzzing with excitement at tasting the exact thing that brought them together in the first place.
Strawberry jam.
Something so simple โ something so incredibly ordinary โ something people walked by or passed on the daily when taking spontaneous trips to the grocery stores โ something people never really think about.
But that insignificant nothing became a something for Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok, quite literally bonding the two together in closing that god forsaken gap once and for all as they always did.
Even years ago when they first met, they simply used the excuse of hating one another to conceal their true feelings long succumbed beneath a pile of extreme denial and refusal to acceptance.
But now they finally came to terms with it.
Finally came to terms with how they were undeniably addicted to one another in every way possible; their contrasting yet so incredibly similar personalities, their little quirks that they adored about each other endlessly, their charismatic character, their humor that left them both cackling on the dirt ground under the hot scolding sun of the afternoon or talking in the late hours of the night over a cup of coffee, the taste of each other's lips in their own as the faint flavor of strawberries were felt somewhere in the slow and sweet kiss.
And well, maybe they never hated each other, maybe they did, but all that matters is that they were finally here, right now.
Maybe not in the way they expected, since no one really ever anticipates or plans their whole life ahead of them, but most definitely in a way they didn't regret.
And as Hoseok brought both arms to tightly bring Yoongi in closer to him by the waist while Yoongi's arms went to instinctively wrap around Hoseok's neck like second nature, both of them suddenly found their cravings for strawberry jam nonexistent.
Because after all, they got enough of it through the kiss, didn't they?
Smiles on smiles.
Lips on lips.
Hands on waist.
And lastly but most importantly, the thirty jars of strawberry jam left long forgotten on the kitchen table.
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