for sasireun: sugar rush

[bangtanmod]

Title: sugar rush
Recipient: sasireun
Pairing: suga/jimin, suga/jin, jhope/rap monster
Rating: R
Word count: 7,436
Warnings alcohol
Summary: Yoongi ends up hiring Jimin, after a cruel month of interviews, and he only regrets it about twice a day.
Author's notes: bakery!au


“Are you fucking kidding me?” Yoongi mutters, tossing aside the mail and staring in distress at his kitchen. He’s never seen such a mess before, and honestly, he’s not the cleanest person.

“Who,” he hollers, “is responsible for this?”

“Sorry,” a tentative voice starts, and Yoongi knows without even seeing him who it is. He can’t believe this kid. “I really didn’t mean to, and I’m cleaning it up right now.”

Jimin speaks quickly, with his eyes fixed on the ground. Yoongi wants to throw him out, but he’s got to give the kid a chance. He only just hired him, and he really, really can’t afford someone with more experience.

Yoongi’s bakery does well enough, but running a business is much more expensive than he’d realized. Jimin has potential, Yoongi’s just going to have spend more time, and money, uncovering it.

“Clean this up quick, kid. We’ve gotta get working.”

---

Yoongi started working in kitchens in high school. The restaurant business is harsh, and he didn’t really know what he was getting into until he was there. They’re hot and stressful, and there’s always more to be done than anyone has time for.

He loved it. At first, he thought he’d get out as soon as possible. It was so much work, and he was always so tired, but he kept at it. He went up the line until he ended up a sous chef at a pretty fancy place. It was great.

Then, in a strange turn of events, they ended up without a pastry chef, and Yoongi had to get shit done. The executive chef couldn’t get a pastry chef to stay on for long enough, for whatever reason (Yoongi has always suspected it was because he was a giant ass), and Yoongi kept having to fill in.

Must’ve been a cursed position because a couple months into it, Yoongi decided this was way better than the stress of managing a kitchen, and he left.

It wasn’t exactly the same as starting from the bottom again, but it was similar enough that Yoongi ended up with a string of jobs that didn’t pay as much, and weren’t nearly as satisfying.

In the process, he came to two realizations. He hates when other people boss him around, and people have shit tastes in desserts. After his last chef told him to make another bacon dessert for the fifth week in a row, he was out.

Getting his own bakery started wasn’t a piece of cake either, but it was his. No one bossed him around, and he got to choose his own menu (but yes, he does still make bacon desserts, he’ll never understand why people like that so much).

For the first year, no one worked there but him and Hoseok. They had steady business, Yoongi had picked a good area for a bakery, however, it didn’t start getting really busy until the middle of his second year. He ended up in some magazine, a list of must-try bakeries in the area (Hoseok’s coffee skills were praised as well, but Yoongi likes to skip over that detail), and business turned from steady to busy.

He needed another hand in the kitchen, and Hoseok was great at helping with muffins and the like, but anything complicated and it was a disaster. The front of the house did well, but it was Yoongi’s special order desserts that brought in a good chunk of what they earned.

Yoongi ended up hiring Jimin, after a cruel month of interviews, and he only regrets it about twice a day.

---

“Look, okay, you can fill a pastry bag, right?”

“A what?” Jimin blinks up at him from the bowl of frosting he’s standing over, delicately adding coloring and probably mixing it too much.

“A pastry bag. A piping bag. A bag you put frosting in.” Yoongi says exasperatedly. They haven’t even gotten to piping flowers on these cupcakes yet, and Yoongi needs to send them out today.

“Oh!” Jimin says, “yeah, yeah I can do that.”

“Ugh,” Yoongi wants to rub at his face, but stops himself, he doesn’t have time to wash his hands again.

“Okay,” he begins, taking in a deep breath to calm himself, “can you pipe flowers? They can be simple.”

“Uh, I’ve never really tried?”

“Jesus, help me,” Yoongi mutters. “Hand me one of the piping bags.”

Jimin hands him one with pink frosting and Yoongi picks up one of the vanilla cupcakes.

“Alright, listen. The tip is shaped like a teardrop, see?” He points the bag at Jimin, and he nods. “Put the bigger side of the tip towards the center of the cupcake, and then squeeze, not too hard, turn the cupcake and stop after it makes a little arc, see?”

Jimin nods again, staring intensely at the cupcake in Yoongi’s hands.

“Then you just keep going. They need to overlap a little, so it looks like petals, but they can be big. Just. Just try and keep it clean.”

“Okay. I can do this.” Jimin nods firmly, reaching out for Yoongi’s piping bag and picking up a cupcake.

“If you mess up, just knock the flower off and start over.” Yoongi says, staring forlornly at the dozens of cupcakes.

He could put Jimin on the carrot cupcakes, they’re a simple layer of frosting with a carrot piped on, but if he messes those up the whole cupcake is ruined. He watches Jimin for a second, pleasantly surprised at how he’s doing. It doesn’t look bad, he’s just, well, slow.

Yoongi turns away from Jimin to once again stare at the cupcakes in front of him. Even if Jimin is slow he’s at least getting something done. Yoongi picks up one of the carrot cupcakes and considers seeing if he could just eat them all and tell the customer he was terribly ill.

It wouldn’t be a lie if ate that much.

---

“Hoseok, is that you?” Yoongi shouts from the back, after hearing the bells above the door jingle.

“Yup!” Hoseok shouts back, “Does anyone else have keys?”

“Shut up.”

“Okey dokey!”

Yoongi groans, one of these days he’s going to punch Hoseok in the face. Again.

“Hey, is Jimin back there?” Hoseok appears in the doorway between the back counter and the kitchen, leaning against it and grinning way too much for the hour.

“No, I sent him home after he nearly burnt himself with the donut oil. I’m pretty sure he was hungover, or still drunk.”

“Need anything?” Hoseok asks, tugging his jacket over his head and throwing it and his bag underneath the register.

“Nah,” Yoongi says, “I’m nearly done for the morning, then I’m gonna go have a nap.”

“Mmkay.” Hoseok’s already in the front again, getting things ready for when they open up.

“Oh, Namjoon’s coming to help around 7 again.”

“Ugh, why? He’s going to break everything. He’s worse than Jimin!”

“He’s coming because I need a hand and you refuse to let me hire someone.”

“You’re using him because he wants you.”

Hoseok laughs, but he doesn’t deny anything. Yoongi’s got him figured out.

“Why don’t you ask Seokjin to come in?” Yoongi asks.

“Because he got an actual job since you wouldn’t hire him.”

Yoongi refuses to say anything to that. He’s almost done anyway, he’ll let Hoseok deal with Namjoon’s messes. It’ll serve him right.

---

Four in the morning is never an ideal time to deal with, well, anything. Yoongi likes baking because it’s all laid out for him. There’s thought involved, but at this point, it’s mostly mechanical.

Jimin interrupts him in his methodical morning ways, for the sixth time at least, to ask if something looks right.

“Really, Jimin, it’s muffins. How wrong could you be?” Yoongi grumbles, walking over to the counter Jimin is fretting in front of.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, they look-”

“Fine,” Yoongi cuts him off, caring less for politeness than he normally does, which isn’t saying much. “They look fine.”

After last weeks fiasco with the donut oil, Yoongi has taken over that bit and relegated Jimin to simpler baking tasks. Muffins, scones, and cookies. Usually, Yoongi would make those after he finished with his other tasks, but having everything done early gives them time for other things (including but not limited to going home for a quick nap, Yoongi feels that part is the most important).

“Sorry.” Jimin says, again. Yoongi is really tired of that word. He’s really tired of Jimin.

It’s not just that he needs constant reassurance, if that was it he’d be annoyed, but at least there would be a chance he’d get over it once he was more comfortable. Jimin has multiple irritating qualities, none of which Yoongi noticed when interviewing him.

For instance, the second Hoseok comes in the morning Jimin drops whatever he’s doing to bound up to him like an over-sized puppy and sweep him up in a hug. Hoseok does not find anything wrong with this, but it makes Yoongi want to scream.

Jimin is always touchy, and not just with Hoseok. Maybe it would be okay if it was just Hoseok, but he touches Yoongi way too often. Casually resting his chin on Yoongi’s shoulder when Yoongi tells him to watch him do something, hugging Yoongi when he comes and goes, and the one terrible time they’d gone for drinks when the bakery closed and Jimin had practically laid on him the entire time.

Jimin is the most irritating thing Yoongi’s come across in years.

Still, when he catches Jimin staring determinedly into the mixing bowl, hands on his hips and lips pressed tight together, he can’t help smiling just the tiniest bit.

---

“I think Yoongi likes him,” Hoseok stage whispers into Seokjin’s ear, grinning conspiratorily.

“You’re lucky you’re across the table from me or I would hit you.” Yoongi deadpans.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking someone, Yoongi.” Seokjins tells him, trying his best to sound wise.

Yoongi snorts. He is well aware that there is nothing wrong with liking someone. That does not mean that he likes Jimin in the slightest.

“I mean, you do deal with him clinging to you all the time.” Namjoon says thoughtfully. He’s got an arm around Hoseok, and Yoongi is positive that he thinks Yoongi likes Hoseok too much to punch him out. He’s so wrong.

“You never let me cling.” Hoseok says, fake pouting at him.

“Me either.” Seokjin adds, mirroring Hoseok’s pout.

“I don’t know what that has to do with anything.” Yoongi crosses his arms over his chest, staring down all three of them.

Yoongi doesn’t like Jimin. Yoongi likes baking, a stiff drink, music with just the right tempo to get his blood pumping on the walk to work. Yoongi doesn’t mind Hoseok, or Seokjin, and he can stand Namjoon. Yoongi likes their dairy delivery boy, Taehyung. He adores their newspaper boy, Jungkook. Jimin is nowhere in that list.

Across the table, Namjoon and Hoseok nod sagely, before breaking into giggles. Seokjin leans into him, a supposedly comforting thing, but the smile on his face tells a different story.

The waitress chooses that moment to arrive with fresh drinks, and Yoongi has never been more thankful.

---

Seokjin, while sober, is very easily embarrassed. Seokjin, while drunk, is not that different.

“Oh my god, oh my god, Yoongi, stop them.” Seokjin repeats, face planted firmly above Yoongi’s collar bone, his nose pressed to the underside of Yoongi’s jaw.

Namjoon and Hoseok are struggling their way through some old pop song. Neither of them are great at singing, and they keep laughing so hard they have to pause.

The four of them are beyond pleasantly drunk, and Yoongi probably should’ve practiced some restraint, but the bakery is closed on Sundays, and he deserves a night out. Hoseok and Namjoon are way worse off than him anyway.

Yoongi’s apartment is the furthest from the bar, and he’s not surprised when Namjoon follows Hoseok up the stairs to his. They’re a little too wrapped up in each other to notice the two behind them, although Hoseok manages a wave. Namjoon is probably too excited about the possibility of getting laid to pay attention to anyone but Hoseok. Too bad Yoongi knows that Hoseok is going to pass out the second he gets in his bed.

“Thank god,” Seokjin mutters, finally removing his face from Yoongi’s neck, “I thought they were never gonna shut up.”

“We’re gonna hear all about it when Hoseok falls asleep on Namjoon.” Yoongi laughs.

“No. I’ve had enough.” Seokjin says stoutly. Yoongi laughs harder, and he shakes Seokjin with the arm he’s got around his waist.

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean they have.”

Seokjin pouts,and Yoongi’s always a little disappointed he has to look up to see his face properly, but he does appreciate that the first thing he gets to see is Seokjin’s lips. They’re very nice lips, and Yoongi really wouldn’t mind kissing him and not talking about they’re freakish friends.

Seokjin stops walking, and Yoongi doesn’t, not noticing until he’s almost made them both fall.

“What’s that for?” Yoongi asks, glaring at Seokjin.

“This is my stop.” Seokjin says, smiling at him and pointing at his door.

“Oh,” Yoongi nods, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Alright, well, see you later then?”

Seokjin hums, stepping into Yoongi’s space and throwing his arms around his shoulders. His mouth is very close now, and Yoongi really, really wouldn’t mind kissing him.

“Unless you wanna come inside?”

---

Yoongi wakes up the next morning at barely past eight and he wonders what kind of hell he’s gotten himself into where he can’t even sleep in properly. Seokjin is still asleep next to him, sprawled out and taking up more of the bed than Yoongi feels is reasonable. He does look cute though, laying on his stomach with his head turned to the side, mouth a tiny bit open and breathing deeply. He considers waking him up just to see the way his nose wrinkles and his eyes scrunch up, but he figures he might as well let someone sleep in. He needs a shower anyway.

The air is cold when Yoongi pushes back the blankets and steps out of the bed. He shivers as he gets to the bathroom as quickly as possible without rousing Seokjin. It’s pointless, because he’ll wake up when the shower turns on, but its the thought that counts. He should’ve thought to put some clothes back on before he and Seokjin passed out, then he wouldn’t be so cold and he could move slower.

Seokjin has an incredibly nice shower. Not that Yoongi’s is terrible, he’s just too lazy to replace the shower head and Seokjin has a fancy one. His water heater is bigger too, and Yoongi plans on taking advantage of that. He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he goes to turn the water on, and he winces. Seokjin has always been a bit of a biter, but they went a little too far last night, if the state of his neck is anything to go by.

“Yoongi,” Seokjin mutters from behind him. His eyes are still closed, and Yoongi has to fight the urge to coo at him.

“Hm?” He turns around to put his arms around Seokjin’s waist, pulling him closer.

“It’s early.”

“It is,” Yoongi chuckles, “You should go back to bed.”

“Don’t wanna.” Seokjin pulls away from Yoongi’s hold and steps into the shower, smiling pleasantly in the hot water.

“That was for me.”

“Come in too.” Seokjin says, opening his eyes just enough to stare Yoongi down, his smile turning a little mischievous.

“Seokjin, it’s eight in the morning.”

“And?”

Yoongi sighs in defeat, stepping into the shower and crowding Seokjin so he can get some of the hot water too.

---

Yoongi’s bed is calling his name by the time he gets home. It’s hard to break the habit of naps, just as hard as not getting up early. He doesn’t mind though. His bed is nice and he’s got a movie he’s been meaning to fall asleep to.

He starts up his laptop and sets it on his bed, figuring he might as well face the inevitable and start the movie. He’s still got his clothes on from last night, so he changes into loose sweats and a worn shirt while his laptop turns on.

Yoongi sinks into his bed gratefully. Seokjin’s bed is plenty comfortable, but he appreciates his own blankets and the distinct lack of strange laundry detergent (Seokjin had switched it up this time, something not floral, but he still didn’t like it). He starts the movie up with one hand, the other piling on all of his blankets until just his head and the arm on his laptop is out of them. He likes this, being cocooned in warmth while some movie he doesn’t really care about plays in the background.

Yoongi’s just beginning to drift off when his phone starts ringing, loud and sharp. He groans, reaching out of blanket to grab it from next to his laptop. The screen reads ‘Jimin’, and Yoongi can’t help groaning even louder.

“Hello,” he says roughly, immediately followed by, “this better be good, I’m napping.”

“Sorry!” Jimin says quickly, “look, I wouldn’t call it’s just I don’t know what to do and Hoseok isn’t answering his phone and I-”

“Jimin, get to the point.”

“Okay. Okay, you know I go running at the park across from the bakery, right?”

“No.” Yoongi says, irritated. This really better be good.

“I told you.” Jimin says, like it’s important, Yoongi huffs in return.

“Anyway,” he starts again, “I was going past the bakery, and I’m sorry, but it looks like- well, it looks like someone broke in.”

“What?” Yoongi shouts.

“The window is broken, but I checked and the back door is locked and the front door looks locked to, but-”

“Jimin. Can you stay there until I get there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Definitely.”

“Good. I’ll be there in ten.”

---

Yoongi doesn’t bother putting on real clothes, just throws on a hoodie and some shoes and races down to the bakery. It’s usually a fifteen minute walk, but he makes it there in less than ten. He’s sure he’s never run this fast for anything in his life.

Jimin is standing in front of the broken window, tapping his feet anxiously. He’s wearing shorts, which Yoongi is certain is inappropriate for the weather, but he is also certain running for fun is so inappropriate it doesn’t matter what you wear.

“Jimin,” he hollers when he gets close enough.

Jiimin’s head shoots up and he stares at Yoongi with wide eyes, his hands fiddling restlessly in front of him.

“I don’t know what happened, I was running and I saw this and-”

“Why did you call Hoseok first?”

“I thought he might take it better.” Jimin says, he looks at least marginally ashamed of this. Yoongi can’t really blame him, he does tend to snap, but this is his bakery.

“Alright. Let’s- let’s go in.” Yoongi puffs up his cheeks with air, blowing out harshly as he steels himself to go inside.

The door, thankfully, is still locked. It takes him a second to open it because his hands won’t stop trembling. He can feel Jimin shooting worried glances at him, but he ignores it.

When he gets the door open he steps in immediately, Jimin lagging behind him. He takes a quick glance and doesn’t notice anything. He breathes a sigh of relief, but realizes that if anyone was going to take anything it wouldn’t be his chairs or the art on the wall.

The counter, though, is similarly undamaged. No one’s taken a crack at the register (not that they’d find anything anyway, it’s empty on Sunday’s), and all the coffee making supplies and equipment are untouched.

“Maybe it’s just a broken window?” Jimin pipes up, sounding unsure of himself.

Yoongi nods, but he’s still holding his breath. The kitchen is the only thing left to check. The kitchen with all of his things, where he makes his living. Where everything that got him started down this road happens.

He walks through the open doorway, his breath quickening and Jimin not lagging behind this time.

There’s nothing. Everything is where it should be and nothing has been taken or damaged and Yoongi can feel the relief drain through him. He leans over one of the counters and starts laughing.

“Yoongi?” Jimin’s voice is puzzled, but Yoongi honestly can’t stop laughing.

“Thanks for calling me, kid.” Yoongi says when he finally manages to stand up.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Jimin answers. He’s looking at Yoongi oddly, but he seems much calmer now that they know everything is okay.

“Well, you can go. I gotta call around and see how much it’s gonna cost me to fix that window.” Yoongi pauses, glaring down at the counter for a moment. “And get a hold of fucking Hoseok.”

“I can stay.” Jimin offers, “You might need help and I called him like fifty times. I don’t think he’s gonna pick up.”

“Whatever you want.” Yoongi shrugs, “I’m gonna call Hoseok and then look for window repair companies.”

“I’ll start looking first!” Jimin smiles, way too chipper for the predicament.

---

Hoseok doesn’t answer the phone, and Yoongi is definitely going to punch him the next time he sees him. Namjoon’s dick can’t be that amazing.

Jimin, however, stays until Yoongi finds a window fixer who will come out on a Sunday on short notice. It’s going to cost him a little extra, but he’s too paranoid to leave the window like it is until lord knows when. He’ll just have to pick up an extra order or something, it won’t be the end of the world.

“Thank you,” Yoongi says, “for staying this long.”

They’re sitting at one of the tables in the front, staring out the broken window while they wait for the repairman. They’ve made giant mugs of cocoa, and have mostly been sitting in silence after all the excitement. Yoongi would prefer coffee, but neither of them know their way around the espresso machine well enough to make anything.

“You don’t have to say that,” Jimin smiles at him, and he seems oddly grateful, even though Yoongi is the one who should be.

Yoongi raises his eyebrows at him. He doesn’t have to say it, but it is polite, and its Jimin’s day off. No one wants to spend their day off at work.

“How could I leave you alone when you looked like you were gonna cry?” Jimin’s smile turns a little too cheeky for Yoongi’s liking, and he considers reaching over to push him out of his chair. Since he missed his nap, though, he’s feeling too low on energy for it. Lucky Jimin.

“Brat,” he says instead, glaring at Jimin over his cocoa mug.

“Seriously, I thought you might cry.”

Jimin is definitely enjoying himself too much now, and Yoongi doesn’t care if he’s tired, he gets up to push Jimin anyway. (Jimin barely budges, and Yoongi is disappointed in his own strength.)

---

“Shit,” Hoseok breathes, threading his fingers through Namjoon’s hair. Namjoon smiles up at him from between his spread thighs, and Hoseok finds himself grinning right back.

“Come up here,” he mutters, tugging Namjoon’s hair to get him to move faster. Namjoon clambers up him, clumsy and awkward in his body like he always is. Hoseok would be concerned for his safety, but he’d just woken up to Namjoon giving him the blowjob of a lifetime and he can’t find it in himself to care.

Namjoon kisses him when he finally gets their heads even, and the morning breath after a night of drinking mixed with Hoseok’s own come makes him turn his head away after a small peck.

“No way,” he giggles, taking his hand out of Namjoon’s hair to push his face away, “Changed my mind. Let’s shower.”

Namjoon sticks his tongue out at him, but rolls off the bed all the same. Hoseok feels sticky, and his teeth are unpleasantly fuzzy. A shower will do him good.

“Get up if we’re showering.” Namjoon says, nudging Hoseok towards the edge of the with his hands.

“Carry me?” Hoseok pouts, and the second Namjoon leans down to do so he jumps up on his own. “Changed my mind. I’d like to not take a trip to the hospital this morning.”

“That’s so rude. I wouldn’t drop you.”

“You say that but,” Hoseok trails off, shrugging at Namjoon as he walks out of the bedroom. Namjoon follows behind him with a small harumph, unamused by Hoseok’s teasing.

“If this is what I get for wake up blow jobs, rest assured I’m never doing it again.”

Hoseok laughs, and it echoes loudly in the bathroom, barely masked by the sounds of the water coming on.

“Never again.” Namjoon says stoutly.

---

“Have you seen my phone?” Hoseok hollers from the kitchen. He’s making an attempt at breakfast, which really means toast and coffee, but its breakfast. Namjoon, being the great help that he is, had climbed right back in bed when they’d gotten out of the shower.

“No, do you want me to look for it?” Namjoon yells back.

“Please.”

Hoseok waits for a moment before he hears Namjoon shuffling around in the bedroom. He makes an abnormal amount of noise when he moves around, which is only good because you always know where he is.

“Found it,” he yells after a few moments of digging through Hoseok’s things, “It’s dead, want me to plug it in?”

“Yeah.”

Hoseok hears him shuffling around for a moment longer before the distinct sound of him flopping too harshly on Hoseok's bed comes.

Hoseok sighs, but he's still got the slightest bit of a smile on his face. He's finished with their breakfast and he's ready to walk back in the room, slowly and carefully so he doesn't drop anything, when his phone starts screeching.

"What is that?" Hoseok yells, managing to only slosh a tiny bit of coffee.

"Your phone." Namjoon yells back, Hoseok can tell he's not moving to check.

"Thanks." Hoseok says as he walks into the room, setting the toast and coffee onto the bedside table.

"Well," Namjoon shrugs, "you're in here now."

Hoseok scowls, and he goes to pick up his phone. He's not sure what he's expecting, but it certainly isn't the over twenty missed calls from Jimin and Yoongi. He checks the texts first, they start with Jimin's "pls pick up idk what to do", and end with Yoongi's "i hope u enjoyed ur time w namjoons dick bc im cutting both of urs off :))".

Hoseok is concerned. Very concerned. Both for the future of his genitals and for whatever the problem was, or is.

He presses Yoongi's name on the missed call list, figuring its better to start with the worst of the two. Jimin is probably with him anyway, they can't both be having emergencies at the same time. Unless they are. Shit.

"Asshole." Yoongi picks up on the second ring, which is quick for him.

"I'm sorry!" Hoseok nearly shouts.

"Too late for sorry, what if we were dead?"

"Jimin is with you then? Also how and why would you be calling me if you were dead?"

Hoseok feels mildly relieved that Jimin is with Yoongi, at least there's only one emergency.

"Details, Hoseok. The point is your phone was dead for like twenty hours."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't change anything."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Hoseok asks, defeated. His shoulders are slumping and Namjoon is staring at him with a concerned look on his face.

"One of the windows in the bakery got smashed." Its a bit of an exaggeration, but Yoongi doesn't feel bad about it.

"What?"

"Jimin saw it and he tried to call you, then resorted to calling me, even though its my bakery and he should've called me first, when you wouldn't pick up."

"Shit." Hoseok starts pacing, walking out of the room and down the hallway only to walk right back in. "Was anything stolen?"

Namjoon sits up at that, his eyes widening. Hoseok flaps his hand at him, shaking his head when Namjoon opens his mouth.

"No," Yoongi sounds relieved despite his obvious irritation at Hoseok, "thank god. The window was just broken, it doesn't look like anyone came inside."

"That's good." Hoseok breaths, feeling calmer than he has since his phone turned back on. "Are you guys still there?"

"Yeah. We're waiting for the window repair people to get here. Come make us coffee."

"Sure. See you soon."

Yoongi hangs up without saying goodbye. Rude, but at least there's a reason this time.

"I gotta go," he tells Namjoon, already rushing to get dressed, "someone broke a window at the bakery and I need to be there or else Yoongi is gonna injure me. Probably."

"Alright, but I'm gonna eat this breakfast you worked so hard on."

Hoseok thinks he's being serious till he looks up and sees the barely concealed smirk on Namjoon's face.

"Lock the door on your way out." Hoseok says with a glare, grabbing his hoodie and leaving the bedroom.

Everyone is a jerk. He's spending the night at Seokjin's tonight if this how they're all going to treat him.

---

Jimin leaves when the people who are fixing the window get there. Hoseok has made them all coffee, and after his many failed attempts to cheer Yoongi up with terrible renditions of pop songs, Jimin figures he's been through enough for one day.

Yoongi has no problem waving him off, but Hoseok pouts while he grabs he washes his mug in the back before he gets out of there.

"C'mon, he's crabby, and he's actually nice to you. Don't leave me in his evil clutches." Hoseok begs, clinging onto Jimin's back.

"I can hear you." Yoongi says, and Hoseok can feel his glare through the wall.

"See?" Hoseok shudders, clinging tighter and whispering. "Evil."

"I gotta go." Jimin says, and he does sound truly regretful, so Hoseok lets him go with a final whine.

"I'll see you both tomorrow." Jimin smiles and waves as he walks out the door.

"How come you're still glaring at me?" Hoseok whines, slumping down in a chair next to Yoongi's at the table the three of them had been occupying.

"You called me evil. Twice"

"You heard that?"

Yoongi's glare hardens, and Hoseok gives up. He throws his arms on the table and hides his face in them.

"Did you have fun with Namjoon?" Yoongi asks, after a moment of silence passes.

"I guess," Hoseok shrugs, "but I left him in my apartment."

Yoongi laughs, "Better hope he remembers to lock the door when he leaves."

Hoseok groans. Yoongi is so rude.

---

Jimin shows up for work the next morning just as lively as he always is. Yoongi finds it even more inappropriate than he normally does (really, he just stayed up too late watching the movie he meant to fall asleep to).

“Muffins,” Jimin sings under his breath, “mixing muffins.”

He’s got a smile on his face that’s way too big for the act of mixing muffins, and when he gets out the muffin pan he continues his unnecessary singing. It’s the same tune, but the lyrics have to do with muffin pans and pouring now.

Yoongi needs more coffee before he has to deal with this.

“Jimin, why are you doing this?” Yoongi whines.

“What?”

“Singing. It’s too early for your shenanigans.”

“But, the special ingredient is love! Its like plants, you know? You gotta sing to-”

“No,” Yoongi cuts him off, both hands raised in the air to emphasize the strength of his disagreement, “it is nothing like plants. You never have to sing. And, when they say the special ingredient is love, it just trying to guilt you into eating nasty shit people you like make for you.”

“You’re so heartless.” Jimin pouts, circling his arms around the muffin pan and whispering, “It’s okay, little muffins, don’t listen to him. You’ll be tasty and full of love.”

“Gross.” Yoongi’s face scrunches up, and Jimin rolls his eyes at him. He doesn’t bother to argue. He seems to have given up on arguing for Yoongi for longer than a couple minutes. Really, he’s smarter than Yoongi gives him credit for.

---

“Admit it,” Hoseok says, slamming his shot glass down on Seokjin’s kitchen counter (Seokjin winces, although whether its for his glass or his counter top, Yoongi can’t say for sure), “you like Jimin.”

Yoongi swirls his empty shot glass in his hand before placing it, gently, next to Hoseok’s.

“I will admit no such thing.” He says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Seokjin lets out a snort of laughter, and Namjoon rolls his eyes. They’ve had this conversation at least once today already, and they’re all trying to be surprised that Hoseok hasn’t given up yet.

“That basically means you do, you just won’t admit it.” Namjoon, very unhelpfully, points out.

“Fine,” Yoongi glares over at him, “I like Jimin more than I like you.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you like him.” Seokjin says, smiling way too much for Yoongi’s comfort.

“Hey. Hey, whoa,” Namjoon says, looking around dejectedly, “Yoongi likes me.”

“He doesn’t.” Seokjin and Hoseok say, simultaneously. Yoongi’s face turns smug, happy to have the conversation shifted away from Jimin.

“Why isn’t Jimin here?” Namjoon counters, the clever bastard.

“Something to do,” Hoseok says with a shrug, “he didn’t say what.”

“Probably doesn’t wanna spend his weekend with a bunch of boring old people.” Yoongi says, and he’s really only trying to get Seokjin’s goat. It works most of the time, but the look Seokjin gives him tell him he’s up to Yoongi’s tricks.

“We’re not boring.” Hoseok argues, skipping over the old comment entirely. “We have plenty of fun, and I’m pretty sure Jimin enjoyed himself last time we went out.”

“Yeah, enjoyed being physically attached to me all damn night.” Yoongi says grumpily.

“Alright, sourpuss, more shots. That’ll make you feel better.” Hoseok grins, grabbing the bottle of whiskey.

Its not going to make him feel better, but at the very least, it might make Hoseok more tolerable. He’ll drink for that.

---

“Yoongi! Yoongi, my phone is ringing.” Hoseok yells, despite being less than three feet away from him.

“Then answer it.” Yoongi drawls. He’s very comfortable, tucked away in the corner of the couch, and he doesn’t pan on moving.

“I can’t,” Hoseok wails, “look, the distraction is already wounding me.”

Yoongi glances up the television to see that the distraction is in fact giving Namjoon a bit of a lead, if he’s remembering the sides correctly. Hoseok could just be losing in the first place, but Namjoon’s cackling tells him he probably wasn’t.

“Yoongi! Its in my pocket, get it, please.”

Groaning, Yoongi lays down on the couch and scoots towards the other end so he can reach into Hoseok’s pocket and grab his phone.

“Its Jimin.”

“Answer it.”

“I hate you.” Yoongi whines, but he presses answer all the same.

“Hello this is Yoongi answering Hoseok’s phone because he’s a whiny asshole.”

“Oh,” Jimin says. It’s quiet in the background, which Yoongi thinks is odd because didn’t Jimin have something to do?

“What did you want?”

“Uh, well, Hoseok said I could come over if I wanted, and my plans kinda fell through so I was-”

“What’s he saying?” Hoseok yells, loud enough that Jimin can hear him.

“He wants to come over.” Yoongi tells him. “Did you even ask Seokjin?”

“Seokjin doesn’t care, tell Jimin to come.”

“You heard him.” Yoongi says into the phone, and Jimin laughs. Something seems off about it, but Yoongi can’t place why.

“I don’t know where Seokjin lives,” Jimin says, Yoongi can tell he’s walking now, and if he knows Jimin at all, he’s probably walking the wrong direction.

“I’ll text you his address. Stop walking before it gets there.”

Yoongi hangs up, immediately going to text Jimin the address.

“Is he coming?” Hoseok asks.

“Yeah.” Yoongi answers. He’s still taking up the whole couch, and he’ll have to move when Seokjin gets back from the corner store, but until then, he’s king of the, incredibly comfy, castle.

---

Seokjin has been gone for an ungodly amount of time, and Yoongi’s stomach is starting to actually rumble.

“Call him.” Hoseok whines. He and Namjoon are still playing video games, and Yoongi’s not only hungry, he’s also bored. You can only watch people playing the same video game for so long, especially when they both suck.

“Why don’t you call him?” Yoongi asks, already knowing the answer.

“C’mon, please. He’s been gone for twenty yea-” Hoseok pauses the game, head snapping towards the door, “Seokjin!”

Seokjin comes in, glaring at them, and Yoongi sees why when Jimin steps in guiltily behind him.

“He was just sitting outside,” Seokjin hisses, pointing at them even though his hands are full with bags, “you invited him but you couldn’t even let him in?”

“It’s okay,” Jimin says quickly, “don’t worry about it.”

Seokjin turns to glare at him, and Jimin wilts back.

“Jerks.” Seokjin says decisively.

“Right! Okay!” Hoseok jumps up, clapping his hands together. “Now that we’re all here, let’s eat!”

“And more booze!” Namjoon adds from the floor.

Seokjin gives them all a last glare before turning around to head into his kitchen, bags in tow. He’s got at least three, from what Yoongi can tell, and he hasn’t moved from laying on the couch yet. Seokjin always buys too much, but no one is complaining. Plus, they’ve got an extra mouth to feed, and Jimin can eat.

“Food, glorious food.” Hoseok croons as he follows Seokjin into the kitchen. Namjoon stumbles to his feet, going after them.

“Whoa,” Jimin stares wide-eyed at the counter as Seokjin unloads his bags, “you bought everything.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Seokjin shrugs.

“It’s a twenty-four hour convenience store,” Yoongi snorts, “you could always just go back.”

“Hush,” Seokjin says, “and get over here before they eat it all.”

---

The air outside is just on the edge of too cold, but Seokjin's balcony is one of Yoongi's favorite places to be. He doesn't have the best view of the city or anything, the other buildings around him are tall too. Yoongi likes that he can look up and see the stars much closer than on the ground. It doesn't make that much of a difference, still, he loves it out here.

He loves the calm even more. Its too loud inside. Hoseok and Namjoon are back to playing video games, this time with much more alcohol in their system, which means much more yelling. Seokjin is busy being their cheerleader, and its so loud Yoongi can't stand it.

Jimin, though, has been quiet, and out all the things that bothered him inside, it bothers him the most.

Jimin is rarely quiet, and he never misses an opportunity to act foolish with Hoseok, and normally, Yoongi would love the slightly more peaceful atmosphere, but its wrong. Jimin isn't acting like himself.

He's so caught up in his thoughts that he barely notices the sliding glass door opening. He nearly jumps when a hand touches his elbow.

"You're cold." Jimin says, and its not teasing, there's no smile on his face and its so wrong that Yoongi can only nod.

"You should come inside." Jimin doesn't move his hand from Yoongi's elbow, his touch is light, gentle, not like him at all.

"Nah," Yoongi says, turning to face Jimin, "too loud in there."

Jimin nods, Yoongi isn't sure why he's agreeing, Jimin has never minded the loudness before.

"Alright," Yoongi stares Jimin in the eyes, "you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"Its nothing!" Jimin answers too quickly, waving his hands in front of himself.

"Its something." Yoongi narrows his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. He's not usually one to push, he really isn't, but something is definitely wrong. Its not like Jimin came out here to bother him for no reason either.

"Its nothing important." Jimin mutters, doing his best to not look at Yoongi at all.

"If it wasn't important why would you be so bothered by it?"

"Who said I was bothered?" Jimin looks at him now, obstinate, and Yoongi can tell he would rather turn this into a fight than tell him what's wrong,

"Don't tell me then," Yoongi says with a shrug, turning back to lean against the edge of the balcony, "but its obviously bothering you."

He can't see Jimin's expression like this, but Jimin doesn't say anything. Yoongi's content to let the quiet take over, the night sky is still twinkling down at him, he'd rather watch stars than convince Jimin to say what he doesn't want to.

"Am I annoying?"

Yoongi tilts his head to the side, considering. It didn't take Jimin long to decide to open up. He wants to laugh at it. Jimin sounds too sad to handle it right now.

"Sometimes." Yoongi decides on.

"I, uh," Jimin clears his throat, and his words sound thick in a way that puts Yoongi into a mild panic, "I got stood up. Before I came here. I waited for hours but, well, here I am."

Yoongi nods, unsure of what to say.

"I went out with them, once before. It was a good night, I thought so anyway, but they just didn't show up."

Jimin's voice keeps getting more and more choked up. Yoongi reaches over to pat him on the back, awkward, and Jimin takes it as an invitation to press himself against Yoongi's side, face in his shoulder.

"Its because I'm so annoying." Jimin whispers, and Yoongi can tell he's crying now, though he's still trying to hide it.

"Probably not." Yoongi says, and he wraps his arm around Jimin's shoulder, pulling him closer. "It could be plenty of things. I don't know, maybe it is that. It doesn't matter, if they stood you up they aren't worth it anyway."

"But-" Jimin's shoulders shake, and he can't quite get the words out, "but what if everyone thinks I'm annoying and that's why no one ever likes me?"

"Kid," Yoongi exhales, gathering his strength before he plunges in, "who invited you here?"

"Hoseok." Jimin lifts his head just enough to give Yoongi a confused look.

"Right, and who got angry when you were sitting outside even though you didn't even tell us you were here?"

"Seokjin."

"Uh huh, and who gave you the last of the tequila even though its their favorite?"

"Namjoon."

Realization dawns on Jimin's face, and the tiniest smile makes Yoongi want to burst into a grin.

"What about," Jimin's face falls again, and Yoongi wants to groan but he stays strong, "what about you?"

"I'm out here, aren't I?"

"Oh." Jimin says, and his smile is back.

"People like you. That person did a shitty thing to you, but we're all here. You can still have a good time."

"Thank you." Jimin sounds so sincere, and his smile is bright, even if his eyes are puffy from crying.

---

Later, inside Seokjin's apartment, Jimin passes out with his head in Yoongi's lap. It is a testament to how much Yoongi has truly grown to like him that he doesn't jump off the couch to kick Hoseok's ass when he coos at them.

"So cute," he whispers, and behind him Namjoon giggles.

"Go home. Get out of here. Damn kids." Yoongi grouses.

Seokjin laughs, following the pair of them to the door so he can lock it behind them.

He's smiling when he comes back, and Yoongi really doesn't want to hear it.

"I'll bring you a blanket." Seokjin says, kissing the top of his head.

"That's it?" Yoongi asks, puzzled.

"Mhm." Seokjin lays a blanket over them. "Goodnight."

"Night." Yoongi echoes, craning his head for a moment to watch Seokjin leave.

Yoongi looks down at Jimin’s face, calm with sleep, and something tightens in his chest. It’s true, that Jimin is annoying, but he’s so much more than that. Maybe, Yoongi regrets hiring him, but he doesn’t regret that Jimin is here, now. That Yoongi was the one who was able to see him cry, and to make him smile afterwards.

At the very least, Yoongi definitely likes him more than Namjoon.