Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two farmers are willing to risk it all.
For just the sake of their farm, their pride, and most of all; their strawberries.
It's quite comedic to say the least — how two strawberry field owners are willing to compete until their hands grow sore or limbs grow tired from the hours they spend out in the sun caring for their precious strawberries, just to ensure that their business will earn more profit than the one across from them.
But really, it is a matter of life or death since after all, they've got to make money somehow.
Yet somewhere along the way of their aggressive rivalry, a switch is flipped sparking a new idea that left them both dumbfounded from how logical it sounded if they had followed the more sane route ever since the beginning.
But of course, once there's bad blood set in stone, it's hard to succumb it for good natured bonds and acts of chivalry.
Making it even harder to recognize feelings that have been there all along.

Chapter Text

Bright, blinding sun rays beamed down onto Min Yoongi's bare shoulders, resurfacing his natural honeydew tones to creep along his skin and cast a sun-kissed tan that many envied dearly.

Heaving a breathless sigh from basically having to bend down all day long under the burning sun, Yoongi briefly placed two hands on his knees in order to catch his breath just to refuel his energy into picking more of those gorgeous, bright red fruits that attracted many customers near and far towards their local farmers market.

A small, ordinary farmers market — but despite how regular it seemed to the common eye, it determined Yoongi's entire living, putting his entire life salary on the line and a permanent pressure to continue growing healthy luscious strawberries to keep his business prosperous.

Using his hand to wipe the few drizzles of sweat that were heading down his forehead, Yoongi quickly picked up his bucket of strawberries and walked the short distance between his field and his humble, cozy abode where he had spent the last five years of his life in after graduating from college.

One may see it as rather ironic to spend and waste all that precious money on academics when just choosing to dedicate your entire life to agriculture, but all in all it did pay off in some forms since he earned a degree in farming which gained him some overall experience and knowledge about the reality that went into owning his own property mainly for strawberries and nothing else but the occasional honeycomb or watermelon.

All incredibly wholesome sounding, that's for sure.

However there often lays a dark, dark reality behind any soft facade — one that exposes the truth behind one's success.

Because strawberry farming was most definitely not all sunshine and rainbows, and far from it.

Mainly because of one of his main competitors.

And that was none other than Jung Hoseok himself.

"Hey you holding up out there Min?"

Speak of the devil.

Yoongi rolled his eyes, gathering up any last ounce of energy he had left in his limp and sore body before turning around only to be faced with his enemy's smug expression, one ridden of pure malice and intimidation that was very much contrary to the fact that other farmers surrounding their area (who had good ties with Hoseok) referred to him as the sun himself.

But to Yoongi he was the spawn of Satan behind that deceiving heart shaped smile and cute dimples, hating how innocent the man looked yet how morbid his intentions were.

"I'm just fine, no need to waste your precious time on me," Yoongi pounced back sarcastically, not forgetting to send one last side glance to his neighbor before stepping out onto his porch.

That was until Hoseok's voice came reverberating back to him — traveling over the several feet that separated them across the small road, "You sure the Humpback of Norte Dame? Your posture is getting worse and worse everyday — and that's saying a lot," he snickered evilly, not giving up his stance until Yoongi finally gave in and turned around.

"Well of course I'm not gonna have the best posture when I'm bending over for five hours straight, also yours isn't much better. Did you forget we do the same exact fucking work?" He inquired, not even offended by the accusation since he was fully aware that his posture could be better, but who was Hoseok to talk? The man's was just as bad as his.

Not forming a verbal response, Hoseok chose the more childish route to one of their small daily bickers and stuck his tongue out foolishly over his own porch.

Yoongi doing the same.
Literal children.

Before long, Yoongi finally pushed the gentle reminder that he had to continue his fight against Hoseok to the very back of his brain, before picking up his bucket of strawberries and carrying them inside his cool, air conditioned house where a dozen others lay in his small kitchenette that radiated quite literally — farmer vibes with chicken figurines and patterns strewn amongst jars and kitchen ware, along with a red patterned table cloth cascading off of his round table that was perfect for his single-person house.

Personally, he loved the more rustic and bright style that filled his home and heart to the brim with pure joy, casting literal sunshine beams all across the county they lived until it sparked everyone's hearts with pure gold.

It was just too bad that those few glimmers of optimism often shimmered down to mere shadows, remembering that all this success and comfortable living wasn't handed over to him for free — and in order to keep it up, he'd need to work harder.

To push those exceeding boundaries until all barriers were broken down and forever destroyed to embed permanent stress in his future.

But alas, he didn't know what his future would look like — since running a single field provided him enough income in the meantime and ensured a happy and stable life, but who knew what the outcome of it would be? For all he knew, Hoseok would take the podium as one of the top farmers of the county and outsell all his products that came from years and years of hard work, and having that constant and very probable threat always dangling above his head diminished any licker of positivity immediately.

Which is why, and how, a mutual and wicked rivalry formed between the two.

Casting down nothing but opinionated biased that were far more exaggerated than any reality or truth about their character, or spewed misinformation that could possibly ruin the other's reputation for good.

Luckily, the two never went as far as to blatantly sabotage one another since they still had some human decency left, especially knowing just how challenging working on a farm was in the heat of the summer months.

But that didn't mean they didn't play on easy mode.

And far from it.

Chapter Text

Hoseok let out a tiresome yawn, stretching his arms above his head in order to fuse some of the muscle pain and soreness caused by working in the field nearly all day long in the hot scolding sun — something that he was undeniably used to by now, but that necessarily didn't mean the pain was any less tolerable than it was four and a half years ago ever since he dwindled himself in to the strawberry farming business.

Making sure to crack some of the bones around his shoulder and back area, which was inevitably the place where tension was most ridden, Hoseok quickly made his way over to where a clear jar of ice cold tea lay brewing, already tempting him to devour the entire jug with the sweet aroma that flooded his senses and the air around him with its cinnamon, honey and lemon scents.

Normally, Hoseok would brew himself a nice mug of hot tea especially when it was as late out as it was — bridging just into midnight — but due to being stuck in a heat wave in the middle of July, those desires didn't come as easily as hoped for. Which in a way had its own disparity leaking that sorrowful reality, but one could never go wrong with a classic sweet tea, and Hoseok surely didn't detest the idea of it either.

So there he sat at his two-people table in his small farmhouse styled kitchen — although two chairs weren't even necessary since he lived by himself with the occasional visitor — taking few testing sips of the tea seeing if it was ready to be drunken.

The eery silence of the night filled the air around him, filtering out his thoughts and subsiding them for wanderlust desires to travel to some well known tourist attraction in some of the most remarkable cities of the world.

But alas, he was stuck here: with no other option but to listen to the late night sounds of crickets chirping and cicadas humming throughout the early hours of the morning until those sounds of nature eventually replaced the job of Hoseok's alarm clock, which became useless now ever since he moved out into a more rural area to pursue one of his lifelong dreams.

And yes, although it did get a bit lonely and at times he craved for some more action or excitement in his daily life, he wouldn't rather replace it for the world.

Because he's always had a big heart growing every day with his passionate love in nature and the outdoor world in general, finding beauty in every living animal that roamed or every insect that helped stimulate his crops' growth and overall help his land become more luscious and prosperous. After all, he wouldn't be here if it weren't for Mother Nature's hard work of keeping Earth as healthy and as beautiful as possible, despite how much greedy humans took advantage of her kindness and sabotage it for their own selves.

Something that made Hoseok livid whenever thinking about it, which is one of the main reasons as to why he considers him such a big activist for stopping climate change and global warming; finding it nothing less than incredibly selfish especially when Mother Nature had gifted humans as much as it is with all of her handcrafted materials and resources just to benefit our own well beings.

It wasn't fair really, and because of those vain actions that humans carried out, the innocent creatures and biomes of all types had to pay the price.

Which is why Hoseok took time out of his every day to appreciate some minor factor that lived among nature, whether it be early walks when the sun was just starting to rise and cast golden hues along their small rural town or strolls to nearby creeks where Hoseok would lend out a palm for frogs to rest on — the opportunities were infinite when constantly surrounded by them, and Hoseok considered himself extremely lucky for being able to access these privileges without a second thought or having to plan out a whole weekend trip just to admire the beauties of their world that rested in the palms of one of a discreet town just on the outskirts where a big bustling city lay.

But even at the times where Hoseok found himself envying those who had unlimited access to rich dine in restaurants with exquisite cuisine and famous hotels, theaters, and malls, Hoseok would immediately diminish those last lingering desires when finally opening up his eyes to what was already laid out before him.
And though many wouldn't choose this lifestyle, he was more than happy that he did.

✿ ✿ ✿

The subtle far away noises of humming birds singing their melodies and cows, among other farm animals, let out their own calls that only their species were fluent in — making it basically impossible for any human to understand that they're communicating to one another — in the early morning where sunrise was just taking place, instantly shaking Hoseok awake out of his fantasyland now locked away until he was unconscious and lulled away into sleep once again later that night.

Yawning briefly, Hoseok rubbed both of his eyes before hopping out of bed and heading down his creaky floorboard stairs to brew himself a cup of his infamous morning coffee along with a simple breakfast of sorts that usually consisted of toast, cereal, or eggs if he was feeling a tad more efficient that day.

But today, like most, was not one of those days, thus going with his usual route of placing two slices of whole wheat bread into his toaster oven before starting up his coffee machine, already hearing the whale-resembling noises grumble inside the bottomless pit that was his empty stomach.

Only being around six o'clock in the morning, which was the time he always woke up at since he preferred to start his work bright and early in the morning when barely anyone else was outside other than him and a few wandering animals, Hoseok quickly took a peek outside his kitchen window — admiring how the pastel streaks of violet and aqua blue blended all throughout the sky casting an Auburn tint that planted itself on few surfaces among their town.

He always considered this is favorite part of his day: being able to watch the sun rise just beyond the horizon where a million mysteries still lay yet to be discovered by human hands, only leaving humans to continue to wonder what could possibly be hidden beneath those earthy layers that not one soul was yet aware of.

It really was quite mind boggling to think about, how the enigmas of the world around them would probably stay that way for the rest of eternity, leaving humans to question what kind of living things lurked the underground waters or in the deepest crevices and darkest shadows of the Earth. Sure, it sounded creepy in a sense, but Hoseok couldn't help but find it utterly fascinating.

While others would think much, much, differently.

✿ ✿ ✿

"Oh my FUCKING GOD THERES a FUCKING COCKROACH ON ME!" Yoongi shrieked, running frantically all about his front lawn where Hoseok stared at him questionably, furrowing his eyebrows together in concern upon hearing those very high pitched cried for help.

Ones that he was going to ignore.

"Please, Hoseok —" Yoongi whined, dashing up towards his neighbor and firmly gripping both of his shoulders with pure desperation leaking his system — flooding out the reminder that he was indeed asking his main competitor for help with retracting something as small as bug. But in that moment all he was thinking about was that there was this disgusting insect crawling up his leg, so really he couldn't give a single shit for who removed it as long as it got off of him eventually, "please take that devil bug off my leg I beg of you."

Hoseok groaned, rolling his eyes exasperatingly since not only was Yoongi now embedding red finger marks into his arms from gripping them so harshly, but now he most likely had no way out of the situation without giving in.

However that didn't mean he couldn't play stubbornly.

"Uh no get it off yourself you rat," Hoseok retaliated with a light scoff in his voice. Because even though he was much less afraid of bugs than Yoongi and was much more lenient towards the more wildlife portions of farming, that didn't mean he was too particularly fond of touching a fucking cockroach.

"But you literally love animals and little insect-y crawly things! Hell I'd bet you fuck them too—"

Hoseok gasped, slapping a palm over Yoongis mouth instantly since it didn't need a genius to figure out what Yoongi was about to say in that moment, and Hoseok already felt sick to his stomach having a pretty good idea of what it was about to be.

Especially when feeling a cocky smirk curl at the tips of Yoongi's lips, easily felt underneath Hoseok's palm which he removed just as quickly once he felt his neighbor's disgusting spit get on it.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Hoseok gagged, shooting Yoongi a disgusting look before bending over his knees to imitate him puking.

Snorting at the satisfying reaction, acting as some sort of payback for Hoseok denying his request to remove the bug — which was still on his leg — Yoongi hastily slapped the boy on the shoulder before hoisting up his leg towards where Hoseok was still standing, as an indicator that he still needed it removed.

"Off," Yoongi demanded, motioning with his eyes in a back and forth movement between Hoseok and where the bug was sitting at his knee, praying that Hoseok would take the hint and fulfill his wishes.

"Uh no," Hoseok stated clearly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world that he wasn't going to abide to his enemie's demands, much less when it was something as gross as picking up a cockroach.

Yoongi bit at the insides of his gum, narrowing his beady little cat-shaped eyes onto Hoseok's petite yet muscular build, feeling nothing but annoyance swallow him whole since no one else was around them and Hoseok was his only option.

Plus, he knew him, and Hoseok would do the same for anybody else without a slither of hesitance. But of course, with Yoongi, it was different.
As it always was.

"Pleaseeeeeeee," Yoongi begged, hopping with one leg towards the said boy who kept his stoic stance, not wanting to admit that he felt at least a tad guilty for not giving into Yoongi's pleads — but another part of him was a stubborn and petty little bitch who wanted to watch Yoongi suffer.

So he was stuck in the middle, obviously.

"No."

"Oh c'mon—"

"Literally just pick it up with a leaf or something! I have work to do," Hoseok expressed distressingly, making an effort to move away and towards the direction of his own property before he felt a hand grab at his wrist vigorously, catching him off guard completely as his entire body was forced to come to a sudden halt.

Turning around steadily, already knowing whose face he was going to see, Hoseok apprehensively made the full circle and yanked his hand out of Yoongi's hold, before marching right up to his knee and plucking the cockroach off of it in one smooth motion.

"There. You happy?" Hoseok sarcastically asked, chucking the cockroach somewhere amongst the tall fields of grass before turning around once more and coming face to face with Yoongi's ghost white complexion — all from a combination of fear, relief, and shock that Hoseok actually performed him a favor without zero cost to it.

"Holy fuck — thanks," Yoongi breathed, crouching down over his knees to catch his breath, despite not doing anything physical but apparently that whole little ordeal caused him enough emotional stress as it is.
"You're not welcome, you big baby," Hoseok mocked in a high pitched voice, sticking his tongue out and spewing spit all over his neighbor shamelessly.

Hearing the loud and obnoxious noises coming from Hoseok's mouth, Yoongi jerked his head up only to shield himself away from the perpetrator, screwing up his face instinctively in order to avoid getting someone else's nasty ass saliva on him.

"Ewwww HOSEOK!" Yoongi grumbled, having the full mindset to return the favor by either tackling Hoseok to the ground or slapping him senseless as revenge, but alas those swirling desires soon dwindled down once he saw Hoseok's figure running into the distance and disappearing behind his tall strawberries plants where sun beams brightly shone down onto them, blinding Yoongi's eye sight and making it a tad more difficult to make out where Hoseok even was when constantly having a ball of blazing hot lava in your way. Not to mention the childish cackles of victory that flooded the atmosphere around them, echoing into the empty fields that expanded into an abyss of nothingness in their rural town and filled Yoongi to the brim of nothing else but irritation knowing he's dealing with a literal child.

Though really, that mere fact goes both ways since Yoongi just screamed bloody murder at Hoseok for the past five minutes to get him to remove a bug off his leg.

Still, neither of them wanted to admit the truths behind their faults or imperfections, only blaming them on one another as kids in elementary would do.

And as Yoongi's eyes peered after Hoseok's slowly fading figure in the far away distance that was now unreachable by foot and the hopes of catching up to him were in hell, one thing came to mind only.

That he was going to fucking murder that little bitch.

Chapter Text

Hoseok looked proudly down at his bucket of freshly picked strawberries, a cute innocent smile lacing his lips with eyes full of sparkling admiration. After all he deserved it, since not all strawberries were able to come out as perfectly his.

But unfortunately so did Yoongi's.

"Wow those strawberries are totally not perfect!" Yoongi laughed off awkwardly, nervously scratching the back of his head since he was getting a little worried with just how juicy and flavorful his enemy's fruits were getting — not to mention that it was strawberry season when they attracted the most visitors out of the entire year.

So there was no room for light play or fooling around.

Hoseok smirked, motioning his head up to meet Yoongi's worry-filled gaze staring at his bucket of strawberries. Satisfaction leaked through every crevice of Hoseok's body upon seeing Yoongi's insecurities shine through, supplying him with some hope that his business would outsell his by the end of the summer.

"Did you just indirectly compliment me?" Hoseok teased, turning to fully face Yoongi who immediately snapped his head up sharply at the claim, now a scarlet rose rising on his cheeks since that was his last intention when uttering those few words.

In fact it was supposed to be the complete opposite, but maybe it sounded a bit too obvious, since after all, Yoongi was desperately trying to hide his clear disappointment through shaky mumbles, and Hoseok certainly was smart enough to pick that up.

"Never. Get your head out of your ass," Yoongi fired back, slightly regretting his use of words but it was too late not to dwell on his past decisions, so all he could do was hope and pray that Hoseok would forget it by tomorrow.

"Then why are your cheeks the same shade as my strawberries?"

Yoongi widened his eyes alarmingly, gently pressing a hand to his cheek and low and behold, Hoseok was right: they were blazing hot, and Yoongi could tell it wasn't just because it was eighty five degrees outside.

He was blushing.

FUCK, he thought, frantically scourging through his mind for an excuse that would suffice for the quite literal strawberry hues settling on his cheeks. But alas, such wishes as those didn't come as naturally in a panicked state.

"T-they're not," Yoongi gulped, stubbornly averting his eyes to the dirt ground beneath both of their worn out sandals.

"Ummm yes they are. You want picture proof or something?" Hoseok asked, whipping out his phone in preparations to take a picture.

But that was before Yoongi noticed what he was doing and quickly grabbed the device from Hoseok's hands, before tucking it away behind his back as if that would make the situation any less embarrassing on his end.

"Right now you're just proving my point," Hoseok laughed, rolling his eyes to the back of his head before marching around Yoongi and harshly snatching the phone back into his own possession.

"Stop acting like the world revolves around you, it's like ninety degrees out here and my cheeks are naturally rosy," Yoongi tried to convince both himself and Hoseok — though both could clearly see through that little white lie and Yoongi wasn't fooling anyone.

"Mhm and my ass is naturally voluptuous. Your point is?" Hoseok sarcastically combatted with, or at least attempted at since Yoongi's once flustered expression morphed into one of pure confusion, not at all understanding the correlation between the two entirely different things.

"That doesn't even—"

"Shhhhh," Hoseok hushed, abruptly placing a finger over Yoongi's lips to shut him up, "don't try and argue against the facts," Hoseok advised cheekily, shamelessly enjoying the way how Yoongi visibly froze beneath his touch.

"It's not facts if it's preached by a dumb bitch like you!" Yoongi counterattacked, grabbing hold of his neighbor's finger before snatching it away from his lips and thrusting it away from him like it was some cursed item.

Or at least to him it was.

Hoseok audibly gasped, placing a hand over his chest in an offended manner, "Excuse you!?"

"You heard me right Mr. Bumblebee-eating-ass!"

"That was ONE goddam time!"

"Still happened, and now your mouth is permanently swollen."

"It is not!"

"Is too, I can see it from here!"

"How can you see the inside of my mouth, you wanna kiss me or something?"

Yoongi froze, feeling his body become paralyzed the second that question was asked.

Certainly not.

Of course he doesn't.

Why would he ever want to kiss Hoseok? His enemy — the one person he's sworn to hate ever since they stumbled into each other all those years ago at the local farmer market only to find out that they both own strawberry farms across from each other, determining their life long rivalry.

In fact, he should feel disgusted at the fact: his lips colliding with Hoseok's soft ones as if they were in line, exchanging their tokens of affection and—
No, Yoongi scolded himself, feeling his cheeks burn up even more than they already were. Not to mention how he just had this gut feeling that Hoseok was probably had the wittiest smirk on his face seeing Yoongi squirm at the statement as an awkward silence filled all around them.

But why didn't Yoongi say anything?

He should've clapped back right away, shouldn't he?

He hated Hoseok, hell they weren't even friends and probably were never going to be anything more than mere competition to each other's businesses.

But the way Yoongi's imagination swirled into its own oblivions without his consent or permission frustrated him — because why couldn't he just get a straight forward answer? Why did he pause or hesitate as if he was actually pondering it?

Over the last four and a half years since the two have known each other, there's been nothing but a mutual hatred formed between them where they spewed (but never carried out, of course) malicious threats and spat insults left and right as if it was their own language for communicating.

So why did that all break down the second Hoseok made this joke that oddly triggered something deep inside Yoongi that he never even knew existed, that he never tried to discover or dig around for.

As if this question was the key to all his complicated and intricate theories connected by loose threads of strings that lead to a jumbled up mess of conspiracies that left him conflicted with his own self protruding thoughts.

Foolishness he told himself, nothing but stupidity and gullibility that made him even think for even a single millisecond, that he'd enjoy a kiss with Jung Hoseok.
The last person he'd ever want to share something even subtly romantic with.

"What the fuck!?" Yoongi gawked, shoving Hoseok's figure away with him with his bare, scuffed up hands — maybe exerting a little too much force into the push since even Hoseok seemed surprised by it, clear from the shocked expression spreading along his features.

"That took you an while to answer didn't it? And now pushing me? Really? I always took you as the soft and gentle type but guess not," Hoseok chuckled, bringing an arm up to ruffle the black locks of his hair before settling his sparkly brown eyes on Yoongi once again — who was clearly in his own little world since his attention wasn't even anywhere near Hoseok. Although, it seemed as if he was staring off into space if anything, not really focusing on any inanimate or outdoor object.

"Helloooooo?" Hoseok called, walking up to the boy to lightly flick a finger into his forehead in order to bring him back to reality.

Which worked, surprisingly.

But Hoseok would soon regret that decision.

"Oh my god you're so annoying, and no I'd rather kiss a toad and get warts all over my body than kiss you, uck!" Yoongi gagged, making sure to add in dramatic effects just to be sure to convince Hoseok of the fact that he positively didn't want to kiss him.

Because he didn't.

"Um did you watch The Princess and the Frog?"

"Uh yes I did but also a toad isn't a frog dumbass!" Yoongi exasperated, actually despising himself for ever forming some kind of tie with Hoseok because if he simply bought out a piece of land from some other random ass town in the middle of no where, then maybe he wouldn't be here right now: flustered and arguing with his enemy about frogs.

"Same thing," Hoseok sighed wearily, nonchalantly shrugging it off.

"BUT IT'S NOT—"

Peck!

"There now you finally got a kiss from a toad, you happy?" Hoseok question with a raised eyebrow, mere seconds after a placed a fleeting peck onto Yoongi's right cheek.

"Wha—"

"Anyways gotta scram! Toodles bitch!" Hoseok giggled, skipping off towards his own strawberry farm just feet away from where they were previously bickering next to Yoongi's property.

But what Yoongi was feeling didn't at all correspond to what his brain was telling him to feel.

He didn't feel nauseated or displeased, or even a sliver of fury crawling up into his conscious state of mind.

He felt simply euphoric, not finding any better word to describe the floating illusion surround him — making him feel as if he was soaring through the skies and infinite galaxies of the universe where a billion stars dazzled beneath his figure, clearly seen within his dark umber eyes that created such great luminosities both within his soul and around his body that angels themselves would grow envious with just how brightly lit up his soul made him look — exerting almost this glowing presence along his sun kissed milky skin.

Nor did he notice the way a small, excited smile tugged at his lips as soon as Hoseok disappeared into the safety of his own little strawberry field.

Chapter Text

It was clear as day that Yoongi was confused, nonetheless.

Ever since Jung Hoseok planted that light, feathery kiss onto his cheek just days prior, it's like Yoongi couldn't even be his normal self around him anymore.

Sure, he still acted like it: by insulting him childishly or throwing light punches to the shoulder. But those were minor, barely noticeable exchanges that have been permanently etched into their daily schedule without a second thought to it.

Because they didn't determine his feelings.

Nor deny them either.

After all, what was he supposed to do? Be openly flirty? Talk to him as if they're friends?

Hell no.

As Elsa would say, "conceal don't feel, don't let them know."

It was everyday that Yoongi had to remind himself of that song lyric, which strangely applied to his life at the current moment and he couldn't find it anything else but extremely, yet painfully, relatable.

Because he couldn't let Hoseok know or suspect anything when he wasn't even sure how he felt himself.

I mean, it was just a peck after all.

A meaningless little peck meant to mess with Yoongi's mind and manipulate him to spiral around Hoseok's finger clueless like a little play toy.

It wasn't genuine affection, nor the with sole intention to exchange any form of romantic feelings between them.

It wasn't even a friendly kiss.

Because they weren't friends.

So there was only this poisonous, negative connotation behind that sickeningly sweet yet phony gesture, one that wreaked of pure wickedness and spread phantoms all throughout Yoongi's soul only to implant the most sorrowful of hexes where it was supposed to hold an enchantment of true love.

It was all for fun, for games, for jokes.

Yoongi told himself that, and of course he knew it fully well too.

But that didn't mean his heart was listening to the sad reality of it all.

✿ ✿ ✿

"Alright .... let's see — fifty, one hundred, two hundred..." Hoseok counted off with his fingers, frantically eyeing the number of strawberries in all of his buckets before reasoning that it was enough to take in to his house, whether they be smashed into yummy delicious jams and jellies or kept in their original form, which were just juicy and flavorful strawberries.

Crouching down to the dirt ground beneath him, Hoseok hoisted up the heavy bucket of strawberries before slowly stumbling his way into his house, barely even able to open up the already unlocked wooden door since both of his hands were already occupied — and inconveniently at that.

After a few rounds of bringing his loads in, he finally came to his last one; wiping off the few beads of sweat that came drizzling down his forehead from the hot, golden sun rays shining down onto his tanned skin, causing that beautiful melanin color to rise up and create this rich honeydew and sun-kissed tone along all the exposed parts of his body.

Way more strawberries than what Yoongi's got that's for sure! >:) Hoseok thought to himself, a delightful smile implanting itself onto his face before he made way back into the comfort of his home to begin making a good load of jams for tomorrow's big annual farmer market event that was about a half an hours drive from where they lived.

Unfortunately, him and Yoongi were forced to carpool since that would be the most efficient and strawberries surely didn't take up a lot of room. Still, neither of them were all that ecstatic about being stuck inside a car with each other for thirty minutes, let alone driving to the one place where pressure was especially out on their backs to outsell the other.

The tension was practically predictable from a miles away, or a whole day away to be more precise, and honestly Hoseok didn't know what he was going to do in that mean time.

Sure, they could simply go their own ways, but being adults in their early twenties came with a new sense of maturity as well, even if they supposedly hated each other's guts and saw each other as nothing more than enemies, that didn't mean their stingy rivalry was going to get in the way of practicality.

Even if their life depended on this huge event taking place in only twenty hours.

Hoseok's heart beat sped up at the simple thought of it, worried that his strawberries would grow old and rotten or his jam wouldn't come out as good as he presumed it to be.

A million things could go wrong, but of course being a more drivenly optimistic person, he tried to push those thoughts to the side and ignore all the negative signs leading him to his downfall.

And even though this specific market attracted a lot of new tourists from all around the city nearby, that didn't mean Hoseok or Yoongi didn't have any other opportunities to sell their products either.

It was just a very, very significant one that could possibly determine their financial state by the end of the summer.

But nonetheless, Hoseok worked through the pounds of his heart and self-doubting depreciations that only managed to sky rocket his fears and worries through the roof — destructing any source of momentary happiness that shimmered through his darkened irises.

Biting at the inside of his lip, Hoseok briefly checked the time on his phone, reading '12:45pm' before sliding it back into his pocket with a small sigh slipping past his lips.

Really all he truly wanted was to put this stupid enmity between him and Yoongi to an end — once and for all mending up those torn bonds and touch patches in their relationship where the hope of a new friendship could sprout.

But alas, when things like money and your financial stance enter the picture — things tend to get a little more complicated as a natural rivalry eventually meddled its way between them over time, not really caused by any specific occurrence but with the realization that if they wanted to make good money, then they'd have to prove they were better than the other.

It was just foolish how they truly were back then, ignoring the main root to the solution that could've easily avoided this messy outcome that came out of it.

✿ ✿ ✿

"For the last fucking time, I'm getting the aux cord!" Hoseok snapped, hands gripping the steering wheel as he shot Yoongi the scariest death glare of all time, one that genuinely terrified him to the core.

Yoongi rolled his eyes, hesitantly connecting his phone to the aux cord because clearly he didn't give a fuck and was very persistent on the fact that he would get to play music from his playlist instead.

"No, your music taste sucks ass so we're listening to mine. You're welcome!" He sarcastically grinned, with his voice raising a couple octaves towards the end in a light feathery tone that nearly made Hoseok's entire view of him switch completely. However, once detecting the harsh sarcasm underlying his voice, Hoseok knew better than to think otherwise.

"Um excuse me, aren't I the one driving? In my own fucking car?" Hoseok retaliated, reasoning that by offering to drive them both would at least earn him a bit of respect — but apparently not, and honestly, he shouldn't even be surprised.

Yoongi hummed, "Yes and?"

Hoseok was tempted to slam the break right there and then.

"I will literally ram this car into the nearest tree if you don't give me the fucking cord," Hoseok warned sternly, eyes still pertaining solely towards the road since the threat was merely a threat and not something he would actually carry out — at least intentionally, that is.

"Yeah and I don't want my ears to bleed out for the next thirty minutes, so I'm doing both you and me a favor," Yoongi fought back, finally making that last initial swipe on his phone until the Spotify app was pulled up and his 'honey boy' playlist was only a click away.

Click!

"Oh for the love of —"

"Shhhhhhh, I don't wanna hear your complaints for the next half an hour so if you don't mind shutting up until then, that'd be great," Yoongi interrupted mid speech, flashing a soft passive aggressive smile at Hoseok, who was currently up in flames and already feeling his short temper get to him.

But alas, he kept his cool by inhaling a slow, deep breath and letting out an even slower one which was actually a moderately helpful technique he picked up a couple years back — one that especially came in clutch of stressful times such as these.

So with one last deep breather, Hoseok zipped his lips and forced himself to block out Yoongi's entire existence, not wanting his temptations to morph into something that could be potentially dangerous for them both. Because despite how much he supposedly despised the man sitting in the passenger seat next to him, he'd never ever resort to something along the lines of murder.

Regardless of how infuriating Yoongi was.

Yoongi too made no efforts in sparking up a conversation nor saying anything other than the occasional hums that went to harmonizing with the music from his playlist. After all, it was moderately hard to converse about normal, every day topics with your rival without it seeming unnatural or awkward, thus the reason why Yoongi was so content on having some sort of distraction playing in the background to take attention away from the elephant in the room.

He just didn't know that Hoseok had the same exact idea too.

Which of course explains why and how their little bicker started in the first place.

Few moments of silence past with the two drifting off into their own little words of imagination, while also trying their absolute best not to think about the other sitting besides them. Of course, that task came harder than expected since its quite difficult in general to ignore the most obvious things in the car. Still, that didn't mean they didn't put in a decent amount of effort by letting their minds drift off into thoughtless oblivions or deep into their own made up utopians.

However, those rare moments of tranquility soon crashed down onto Hoseok once he recognized the new song that started playing from Yoongi's phone.

♫ I won't tell you I'm lonely
'Cause it might be selfish
I won't ask you to hold me
'Cause that won't mend what's helpless ♫

Well no shit he recognized the song playing — because the exact same one, Out of Love by Alessia Cara, was in his playlist too.

And for some odd, peculiar reason — that drove him absolutely berserk.

Because that meant the sole person he was supposed to criticize or pick on for everything minor imperfection, actually had a good music taste and playlist which completely went against Hoseok's own morals and the very biased opinions that he was better than Yoongi in everything.

Of course that wasn't true, and he knew very well of the fact too, but still: when it comes out to fighting til life or death, you're suddenly set on competing in every single aspect of life whether it be as something as stupid as music preferences or your occupations.

Aside from the fact that Hoseok was now aware that him and Yoongi had very similar likes and dislikes in music, which already baffled him enough as it is, the general idea that someone was similar him to anyway shape or form annoyed him thoroughly.

Because he tended to take pride in his own unique character, and as 'quirky' as it sounds, it was nothing but the truth. Call it petty if you will, but Hoseok honestly hadn't thought much of that one quirk he had until now since this specific song seemed to trigger hidden and subconscious character traits that even himself wasn't aware of.

"Is this the song Out of Love?" Hoseok blurted out spontaneously, catching Yoongi off guard at the question since ten minutes of complete silence was now only broken because of a simple question about the song name.

Which even Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows at, wondering how the hell Hoseok guessed it correctly or knew of it in the first place.

"Um yeah why?" Yoongi muttered, momentarily darting his eyes from Hoseok back to the road ahead of them.

Hoseok visibly grimaced, not wanting to admit liking a song on Yoongi's playlist — which he preached to be inferior to his despite not even listening to it until now — nonetheless confessing that that same exact song was on his as well.

So he played it off at the best of his ability, immediately raising Yoongi's suspicions since Hoseok wasn't the type to randomly ask questions without any context such as these or underlying meanings.

"Nothing I was just asking," Hoseok stated smoothly, not daring to flash Yoongi even one quick look since he was sure he'd lose all self control and have his entire facade wash away at once.
Yoongi raised an eyebrow doubtingly, "Riiiggghhttt, for a guy who said my music taste sucks ass, I'm surprised you know this song," he chuckled lightly, finding it utterly ridiculous and a little hypocritical of Hoseok to hold such strong opinions on something he didn't the right to speak on.

Hoseok held up a finger in protest, prepared to lecture and convince Yoongi that that wasn't the case at all and it was just a casual question out of genuine curiosity. However, he simply resided against that the second he opened his mouth, figuring he'd only dig himself further into a hole than he already was.

"Well I'm sorry that your trashy playlist happens to have one good song on it," Hoseok childishly remarked, even finding falsehood in that claim in itself since he found himself taking a great liking to the different genres played.

In fact, nearly all of the songs were on his very own playlist too — and quite a lot at that.

Yoongi shot Hoseok a dumbfounded look, clearly not dumb enough to accept that lame coverup, "Right, cuz people bob their heads up and down and lip sync fo lyrics to songs they hate, got it," he laughed, briefly patting Hoseok's shoulder out of instinct, partially as a method to both provoke and comfort him since he could clearly tell the boy was tongue tied.

Flushing a deep rosy color, Hoseok quickly flinched the second he felt Yoongi's hand rest itself on his shoulder and jerked it off — since the action itself threw him off entirely, and managed to both exaggerate the pink tint on his cheeks and alarm his second nature.

"Well—" Hoseok began, but alas once again found himself not being able to come up with a comeback, mind too preoccupied with both the road ahead of him and truthfully not being able to find any flaw in Yoongi's statement since their music tastes were practically identical.

Lovely.

"Well what?" Yoongi smirked cheekily, enjoying how he finally gained the upper hand in the situation since it was usually the other way around, so to say he was incredibly satisfied with himself would be a vast understatement.

"You wanna know what, fine whatever your playlist is good just never talk to me again."

"My playlist is what?" Yoongi repeated, not because he missed what Hoseok had said, since he heard it perfectly well, but only to watch Hoseok's once confident and cocky personality dwindle down into a flustered pile of awkwardness.

"Nope not saying it again," Hoseok finalized sternly, voice ridding pure venom amidst all his weak stammers.

"Awww you're blushing," Yoongi cooed mockingly, feeling his confident levels ride up immensely having re-enacted their exact interact that happened only days prior.
"Fuck off and I hope your goddam strawberries fucking rot."

Yoongi smiled to himself, leaning back against the leather car seat before finding himself once again in a swirling mess of confusion, since seeing Hoseok so defensive over a certain topic was undeniably the cutest thing he's ever seen.

But that simple thought scared him enough.

Jung Hoseok? Cute? Pfft, impossible.

Or so he thought.

Chapter Text

"Good luck Min, may the best strawberry harvester win," Hoseok smirked, bidding his rival one last farewell before heading over to his assigned booth to set up his display of strawberries and strawberry jellies.

Yoongi narrowed his eyes evilly towards the slowly fading figure, poking his tongue against the side of his gums before waking himself up out his temporary daze and following in suit and walking over to his own assigned stand with his name on it.

Which of course was next to Hoseok's, but really he shouldn't be too surprised since they were both here for the same reason: to sell strawberries.

So of course they were going to be organized by category, thus put next to each other.

Yoongi groaned at seeing his unfortunate placement before shuffling over towards his own little table to prop up his display of strawberries, with Hoseok doing the same. Neither of them really paid any attention to each other since their ultimate goal was to completely ignore each other's existence, but of course those subconscious realizations that they were only an arms length away always lingered in the back of their minds.

Yet business was professional and important, so when the time came that customers started flooding the small outdoor market, that's when they knew they had to set away their differences and solely concentrate on their main objective of the day: attracting as many people to them as possible.

Because no shit that's why they came.

✿ ✿ ✿

"Yoongi!" Hoseok whisper screamed about two hours into the fair, snapping Yoongi out of his temporary work mode to where he was now staring at him with wide, pleadingly eyes.
Quirking an eyebrow at what Hoseok could possibly want half way through the fair, Yoongi hesitantly followed up with a blunt, "What?"

"Can you watch my booth for a minute?" He asked softly, breaking past his level of pettiness in order to ask the one person he was competing against for a moderately huge favor, but of course he'd rather show some vulnerability than possibly have someone sabotage or steal his hard-worked-for fruit.

"Why?"

Puffing up his cheeks slightly, acting as an indicator that he was very apprehensive upon answering the generic question, Hoseok managed to let out a semi weak, "Cuz I don't wanna piss my fucking pants!"

Grimacing dramatically, Yoongi quickly nodded his head and waved off Hoseok towards the direction of the portable toilets, to save both him and Hoseok from public embarrassment from the possibility of having an 'accident'.

Though regardless of how gross the likelihood of it actually happening was, Yoongi couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's desperate pleads and rather questionable wording when asking for assistance with watching his booth.

Shrugging off the interaction without paying any more mind to it, Yoongi darted his eyes back to his own array of strawberries that laid prettily displayed all about it table, begging to attract any new customers who haven't bought from him already that day. After all, after all his hard work into making them look beautifully irresistible, he'd hope to get at least a fair amount of profit off the day's work since even he himself had to admit that his strawberries appeared to look extra fresh today, all coated with a a gorgeous bright red shade and plump appearance — it was most definitely a pull factor for any passerby's.

So there he patiently stood, mind drifting off onto its own train of thoughts as he watched with his beady cat-like eyes as people blindly walked past his booth. It was a little disappointing to see the disinterest visible on some people's bland expressions, but Yoongi didn't hold it against himself since he reasoned that strawberries weren't everyone's forté; plus whenever those more negative and self deprecating thoughts did leak through, he always replaced them with the reminder that an abundance of customers still ended up purchasing from him that day.
And that was all he needed for a little glimmer of bliss to shine right through.

Smiling to himself slightly, Yoongi absentmindedly shuffled around the different carts of strawberries on his display table as he let the warm heat from the summer sun beam down onto his sunkissed skin, gladly soaking up the comfortable heat that usually came whenever July rolled around.

Fluttering his eyelids shut for a brief moment, Yoongi took the rare moment of silence (where Hoseok wasn't bothering him or he having to deal with pesky customers) to take a deep inhale of breath, somewhat calming down his bubbling nerves that didn't submerge from anything in particular really — just the usual nervousness he always experienced.

Of course, he couldn't stay in his own little made up world for too long however since he did have a job to attend to, as well as watching Hoseok's stand on top of his original tasks.

And as much as he didn't want to and found it to be quite time consuming from tending his own, he of course understood Hoseok's worries and wasn't an evil grinch at heart despite how much Hoseok solely believed that fact. Plus, both being strawberry farmers, Yoongi knew perfectly well that despite what kind of relationship the two shared, blatantly sabotaging each other on purpose would just cross that line dividing rivalry and pure hatred.

There was a difference. And a very strong one at that.

Just because they were neighbors both fighting for the same exact thing, which was a steady income, by partaking in coincidentally the same exact occupation as well, that didn't automatically equate to them actually having the wish to make their lives miserable or physically unbearable.

Sure, taunts were strewn here and there and they teased each other on the daily, but there was still that decent wall of respect that kept them from lashing out at one another over something serious.

Nothing ever surpassed the ridiculousness of their insignificant daily bickers or childish insults, as the idea of going behind that never crossed their minds either.

Sighing heavily, Yoongi slowly lifted his head up from his own barrel of strawberries to Hoseok's stand beside him, which still remained vacant, before making the decision to stroll in between both of theirs just to insure that nothing would happen to their precious strawberries.

However maybe he spoke too soon.

Because the millisecond before he decided to take initiative and carefully watch over Hoseok's booth, Yoongi spotted someone out of the corner of his eye grab one of the small bucket of strawberries sitting on Hoseok's table and run off with it.

Widening his eyes in pure disbelief, Yoongi instantly disregarded his position and took off chasing after the suspect through the small crowd of people, feeling the harshness of the crisp air clog his throat with the inability to properly breathe as he ran for his life — probably the fastest he ever had at that.

Something beneath his skin boiled, the mere thought of someone taking advantage of the fact that no one was supervising a stand to steal a farmer's hard-earned work deeply agitated him. Perhaps it was because of the fact that he too felt sympathy for Hoseok, being a farmer in a rural and discreet town, there was that mutual bond and thin line of understanding that went along with their relationship in that aspect.

Or maybe it was something a little bit different.

Still, whatever it was — it didn't undermine the fact that Yoongi was incredibly annoyed with the amount of audacity this person had to just run up and steal an innocent farmer's strawberries.
How evil could someone possibly be?

Finally managing to catch up to the anonymous person, Yoongi grabbed at the edge of their T-shirt causing them to make a sharp halt in their movement as their shoes skidded with the dirt ground beneath them.

Realizing that they had just been caught, the person slowly turned around with a sheepish grin plastered over their guilt-ridden face, clearly not thinking this whole thing through before carrying out the stupid and foolish act or contemplating the practicality behind it actually working.

Seeing as he was able to stop whatever the person was attempting to do, Yoongi snatched the small bin of strawberries back in hand before stating bluntly, "Please don't go around stealing strawberries — I mean, how low can someone possibly fucking get?" He asked cluelessly, still not being able to grasp the person's mind process behind pilfering them.

Not letting the person have a chance to defend themselves — although, that seemed extremely useless at this point since there's no justifying reason behind stealing food unless you desperately need it (then go ahead cuz fuck capitalism uwu). And still, even if that was the person's last resort, both Hoseok and Yoongi would have nothing against offering a cheaper sale version of their organic fruits or even bargaining them for free as long as the person asked. Plus, stealing from individual owned businesses was as morally wrong as it is — so either way, the person was extremely simple minded for attempting actual thievery.

Yoongi marched back to the market with the small bucket in hand, which seemed to remain untouched to his relief, and honestly didn't even review the fact that he'd have to confront Hoseok about the situation.

Nor did he ever consider that maybe Hoseok had witnessed it all.

Which he did — hence the grateful expression resting on his face from coincidentally getting back from the bathroom the moment Yoongi went to chase after the mystery strawberry thief.

Oddly enough, seeing the one person you're destined to despise or compete against for the rest of your life defend you in a matter of life or death was extremely attractive in every way possible. It was both utterly adorable, watching as Yoongi's face unintentionally scrunched up from how concentrated and determined he was to win back the strawberries, and heart-fluttering since Hoseok would have assumed that Yoongi would've just let the person run off with them.

Because they hated each other after all.

However, in the reality that both oh so deeply tried to suppress between that thick border of stubbornness, they were fully aware that that wasn't the case at all.

And far from it.

"Awwww did you really run after someone just to get my strawberries back?" Hoseok fawned, both teasingly and genuinely since the majority of him was incredibly thankful that Yoongi went out of his way to retrieve the exact thing he was competing against. And the fact the he could've easily chosen to let them be stolen, thus providing himself with a greater advantage to earn more customers since he's theoretically have more stock, made something within Hoseok's heart of gold fluctuate.

"Yeah and you better be fucking thankful," Yoongi grumbled, plopping the small bucket back on top of Hoseok's display table before walking around back towards his own with an indifferent expression on his face, despite probably partaking in one of the most eventful things that had ever happened in his whole entire life or being.

Hoseok grinned, showing off his pearly whites as he smoothly strolled over to where Yoongi was standing to latch an arm around his shoulders, finding comfort in the way how their small height difference made the action somewhat more significant in its own unique standout way.

"I am, thank you. It's not every day that you get to see your arch nemesis chase after a strawberry kidnapper," Hoseok chuckled, almost thinking he has gone mad mad since he could've sworn he felt Yoongi stifle a laugh right beside him, who still made no efforts in removing himself from Hoseok's lose grip.

"Rightttt that sounds like something out of some novel," Yoongi sarcastically added on. And surely enough, it really did; despite it not being a typical occurrence to happen on the daily, it did hold that traditional cliche charm to it that was often portrayed through infamous pieces of "great" literature.

"Wait you're kinda right," Hoseok agreed in a stumped manner, not even realizing just how accurate Yoongi's comparison was until now.

"Mhm, anyways I'm gonna get back to work —"

Squish!

Yoongi felt his heart stomp once Hoseok wrapped both arms protectively around the base of his backside, as if his sole intent was to shelter Yoongi away from the outside world and safe inside their own little bubble of warmth and comfort.

Smiling to himself softly, Yoongi let himself relax into the embrace ever so slightly — not wanting it to come as anything more than just a friendly hug of gratitude, partially because he still held that title of stubbornness and pure denial regarding his feelings towards Hoseok — but still enough to showcase to him that their complicated and untitled relationship was behind the lines of pure enmity.

"Thank you, I honestly thought you'd just let them go but it means a lot that you went through all the trouble to get them back for me — you're cute, Min," Hoseok laughed lightly, letting the hug linger a little longer than anticipated before letting go and ruffling Yoongi's fluffy mop of amber toned hair.

Who was thankful that the heat and small sunburn he got from standing out in the sun for several hours at a time distracted the outer public from the fact that the rosy pink dusting his cheeks was actually blush instead, not just a light sunburn.

Because holy fuck.

Jung Hoseok just fucking hugged him.

Genuinely.

And called him cute.

All in one go.

Yoongi actually thought he was going to pass out — that or contemplating the fact whether he should just give in to those roaring urges to kiss the exact person he'd never ever thought he'd want to in the first place.

But now here they were: two clueless idiots finding themselves slowly falling into a black mindless oblivion where the only way out was each other.

And maybe they were already climbing their way out.

Because maybe, just maybe, Hoseok nor Yoongi, view each other as their enemies.

Chapter Text

"How many sales did you get today?" Yoongi inquired sleepily, leaning his head back against the car seat as a brief wave of sleepiness loomed over him, begging his eyelids to give in to those final wishes and close shut.

But of course, he strained everything within himself to keep his body and conscious awake since he knew he'd regret it later if he let himself fall asleep in Hoseok's car which would leave him with the responsibility of coming out more tired than he began with.

Hoseok hummed in thought, actually having to recall all the memories inscribed of his brain to keep count, "I sold about fifty batches."

Yoongi raised both eyebrows in surprise, clearly impressed since it meant that fifty different people or families passed by Hoseok throughout the day and made the final decision to buy from him. And although usually Yoongi would bite back with an insult or brag of his own saying how he outsold Hoseok by a grand amount, he decided against it and genuinely felt very happy for the boy sitting besides him since he could easily tell from the blissful tone lacing Hoseok's voice that he was very much satisfied with himself.

So who was Yoongi to destroy that short term happiness that never came as easily on most days?

"Holy shit — you outsold the whole county," Yoongi chuckled through the compliment, purposely making it come out as a more joking tone only to hide the true fondness underlying it.
But of course Hoseok picked that up and already felt himself blushing immensely from the flattery.

"Oh shut, I heard Seokjin and his boyfriend Taehyung sold like one hundred and fifty of their little honeycombs, so I most definitely did not," Hoseok brushed off through mere mumbles, trying his absolute best to completely disregard that Yoongi had just complimented him instead of coming back with an insult or comparing their sales in any way shape or form.

Yoongi shrugged, "Doesn't count cuz they work as a team and you're just one person."

Hoseok smiled to himself, still managing to fight against those subtle urges to pull over and hug the living shit out the man beside him, but of course they both needed to get home after a long, and very tiresome day.

"I mean — maybe — but wait why are you even complimenting me? Aren't you supposed to be flaming the shit out of me about how I didn't get a lot of customers," Hoseok snickered, playfully smacking the brink of Yoongi's thigh before returning his had carefully to the wheel.

Jumping back from the very unexpected contact of Hoseok's hand touching his thigh, Yoongi quickly disregarded the interaction before retaliated with a soft-toned, "You may be annoying but I'm not gonna belittle your hard work, it's not like I'm a total asshole or anything," he chimed, momentarily shooting Hoseok a toothy grin; one that Hoseok of course missed entirely since he was paying attention to the road ahead of them.

"I beg to differ."

Yoongi gasped offendedly, "Excu—"

"I'm just kiddinggg," Hoseok chuckled, finding it humorous with just how their way of joking with one another worked, "in fact you're really not an asshole at all, you know? You're just practical and honestly I could use some of that since I feel like I get carried away at times."

Yoongi's stare faltered, immediately simmering down into a relaxed side glance full of admiration for the driver; truly feeling valid from the sincere compliment since it was so oddly specific that it wouldn't be able to come from anyone else but Hoseok.

Biting at the inside of his gums nervously, Yoongi messed around with the hem of his shorts before managing out a hushed, "Yeah but sometimes I wish I were more like you — I feel like I take my job too seriously and you're just so carefree all the time like nothings ever wrong."

♫ Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination
We'll begin with a spin
Travelling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy explanation ♫

"True but when it comes to jobs I feel like your working tactics are way more useful than mine. Like you're so serious about it and I feel like I'm a bit too relaxed about shit," Hoseok bounced back genuinely meaning every single word he meant as songs played from the background of Yoongi's Spotify playlist (again), since he had to admit that even he grew a tad envious with just how dedicated Yoongi was to seeing his business grow and develop over time. And while Hoseok too was motivated to keep his farm prosperous, he didn't posses that same kind of will power that Yoongi did.

"Then how about we just — work together," Yoongi offered nonchalantly. In fact, maybe a bit too casual since he was proposing something so incredibly outrageous and foreign to the both of them, something that went against their whole morals when it came to each other.

Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows together, obviously not understand the gist of it or what the hell he was talking about, "What?"

"Maybe we should just stop being stubborn little bitches and combine our strawberry businesses. That way we'd make bigger profits and actually get along. Plus, I think we'd make a pretty good team, don't you think?" Yoongi suggested cleverly, raising a brow towards Hoseok's general direction even though he knew Hoseok wouldn't be able to see it. Still, it was an impulsive idea that came to mind, but sometimes the more upfront they are, the better.

Hoseok gaped his mouth open slightly as an electrifying shock of realization traveled all throughout his body and lit up each individual fiber with innovations — ones that not even weeks prior, would he ever accept or even come close to pondering.

But here he was, a person who was sworn to hate Min Yoongi for merely existing — now contemplating his supposed-to-be enemy's sudden proposition of joining work forces and coming together as one.

In fact, it didn't seem like a bad plan at all. With their contrasting work ethics and opposing personalities, they'd balance each other out perfectly; which in all was much, much better than continuing to quarrel for the most petty shit that by the end didn't solve anything.

The more he thought about it — the more he loved it.

"Well damn that's probably the first smart thing that you've ever said to me," Hoseok kidded cheerfully, flashing a heart shaped smile in the car view mirror since he still wasn't too particularly fond of risking the possibility of death just to subtly flirt.

"I'm gonna pretend like I didn't just hear that," Yoongi deadpanned, letting his cheeks naturally rise up like bread dough as his lips formed into a straight line from getting roasted — somewhat, since both of them knew it was sarcastic and anything but serious, "but anyways, you actually up for it? Cuz we'd kick everyone's asses if the only strawberry farmers joined together and took over."

The ends of Hoseok's lips upturned into a soft smile, already obsessed with even the thought of running a business with someone he's actually grown extremely fond of recently.
Maybe a little too fond of.

Everything about the concept alone was so intriguing, so promising that Hoseok couldn't even find a snippet of himself that despised or opposes the scheme of it. Because now it was like his dream was finally coming true, to run a proper and steady flowing business with someone by his side throughout it all.

Even if it was the exact person whom he'd never thought it'd be.

Hoseok nodded his head, still unable to be rid of the charming smile that was basically impossible to yank off this time around.

"Let's do it.”

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 — 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 — overall creating this beautiful cascade that would normally be brushed off as any other regular night.

But something sparked.

Something sparked that night — 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 — 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 — the exact thing that brought these two souls together and connected their fingers with a red string of fate — 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.

"H—"

"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 — 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 guess—"

"Well you guessed fucking right so let's use those sexy hands of yours — I mean uh strong hands of yours — 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 — 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 idea—"

"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?"

✿ ✿ ✿

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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

"I— 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 — 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.

"I— I didn't mean — 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 — 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 — 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 — wait no not actually I didn't mean actually fuck my ass, I mean unless you want to — wait NO, argh I mean—"
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 — 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 — something so incredibly ordinary — something people walked by or passed on the daily when taking spontaneous trips to the grocery stores — 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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