Work Text:
The mix of excitement and nerves within Jungkook manifests in an accelerated heartbeat, sweaty palms, and what seems to be a flock of hummingbirds in his tummy beating their wings so fast and hard that his whole being shakes.
Jungkook swallows down hard as he watches his hyungs gather in the living room one by one and take their preferred seats.
“You okay, kid?” Yoongi asks, one eyebrow lifted.
He’s the first one to show up and the first to claim the highly coveted single armchair. Not that several of them don’t cram onto it if the mood strikes, but rarely anyone bothers Yoongi when he sits there, knowing he prefers his space.
Jungkook flinches at the question for some reason. “Yep,” he squeaks out, and his voice breaks on the one syllable. That gets him a dubious look from Yoongi.
Hoseok, Seokjin, Taehyung and Namjoon enter next. All of them eye him with confused and/or worried expressions. Except Namjoon.
Yes, there’s concern in his leader’s gaze, especially noticeable in the slight wrinkles around his eyes. But Namjoon smiles at Jungkook softly, cups Jungkook’s cheek in his warm big palm, nearly having Jungkook melt.
“Whatever it is, you got this, baby,” Namjoon’s deep voice and the pet name tingles all over Jungkook’s body, and Jungkook barely contains a shiver.
Namjoon pinches Jungkook’s cheek, chuckling when Jungkook pouts and bats him away, and then goes to perch on the armrest of Yoongi’s chair.
Taehyung glances around everyone gathered in the room. “This is giving major Yoongi-hyung coming out to us vibes, and then all of us admitting we’re not that straight either,” he comments with a tickle under Jungkook’s chin that makes Jungkook blush slightly and his shoulders lift up in embarrassment.
Taehyung winks at him, a smirk on his lips, and then goes to cram himself in between Hoseok and Seokjin who occupy the couch.
Jimin, the last one to arrive, stops by Jungkook. His eyebrows furrow with a frown, eyes running all over Jungkook’s face. Jungkook has no idea what expression he has on, but he probably looks like he’s about to throw up.
“Are you feeling well?” Jimin asks. His fingers run through Jungkook’s hair so casually, the petting feeling so familiar and easing Jungkook’s nerves some more.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jungkook says, stronger now. Even manages a tiny smile for Jimin. “Sit, Jimin-hyung,” he urges, putting his hands on Jimin’s waist and pushing him towards the others. Taehyung intercepts Jimin easily, pulling him onto his lap.
“Jimin-hyung?” Seokjin questions with eyebrows raised in surprise. “This must be serious if you’re calling Jiminie hyung.”
The comment pulls another smile out of Jungkook. The hummingbirds inside his ribcage calm down some, and he feels like he can take a full breath.
There’s no reason for you to be so nervous, he tells himself. He spent months agonizing over this, analyzing every smile and touch from all six of his hyungs, asking other idol friends for advice and dissecting his hyungs’ words and actions with them. The conclusion Jungkook’s come to is simple - his hyungs do love him back.
No one is as caring and attentive towards Jungkook to the degree his hyungs are. No one flirts with him like they do. No one’s as protective of him. No one is as good to him and for him as his hyungs are.
And it’s scary and potentially dangerous to reveal their feelings for each other, Jungkook understands. Which is why he’s being brave for all seven of them and doing this first. He’ll crack the door open and the flood of love confessions from all of them will bust it wide open.
“Wanna sit with me?” Hoseok asks, arms outstretched and fingers wiggling cutely towards Jungkook as he pouts.
Adorable, Jungkook thinks with a little laugh. But he shakes his head, refusing, even if Hobi’s lap is very tempting.
“I wanna look at you all when I do this,” Jungkook says as he demonstratively glances at each of them in turn.
He swipes his sweaty palms on his jeans, takes a couple deep breaths. Being brave isn’t easy. Even if Jungkook is nearly a hundred percent sure this will go well, there’s this little doubt at the back of his mind that gets the words stuck in his throat.
Jungkook stares above his hyungs’ heads as he gathers himself. He bites his lip, digs his toes into the plush carpet. How does he say this?
“I have gathered you here because I have an important announcement,” Jungkook starts, wincing at the overly formal wording and tone. “Not so much an announcement but a confession? A declaration? Just, I wanted to tell you something,” he finishes with a sigh, cheeks flaming. He imagined he’d be a lot smoother about this.
Taehyung snorts into Jimin’s neck, Jimin’s own lips twitching, and then they’re giggling, shaking the couch along with Seokjin and Hoseok who sit either side of the duo. They get a reproachful look from both Yoongi and Namjoon, Hoseok smacks the back of Taehyung’s head, and Seokjin pinches Jimin’s thigh.
“Show some respect. Jungkook is trying hard to tell us something important to him,” Hoseok admonishes the soulmates.
“Yah, I didn’t even do anything. It was all Tae,” Jimin grouses with a pout sent Seokjin’s way, rubbing at his abused thigh.
“You fucking traitor,” Taehyung gasps dramatically and pushes Jimin onto the floor, making Jimin squawk indignantly.
“Don’t yah at me, you brat,” Seokjin scolds Jimin in the meanwhile and adds onto Taehyung’s mistreatment by pushing Jimin over.
Jimin kicks at Seokjin, sticks his tongue out at Taehyung, and then crawls to sit at Yoongi’s feet, leaning against his legs. Yoongi rolls his eyes but goes to pet Jimin’s hair anyway.
Not to be outdone, Taehyung curls himself around Seokjin and pulls Hoseok into their pile so he’d have both hyungs cuddling him. With a weary sigh of great (and very much faked) hardship, Seokjin lets Taehyung cling onto him while Hoseok chuckles to himself before nosing at Taehyung’s neck and leaving a little kiss there to soothe his sulking.
Jungkook’s heart feels warm warm warm, and a smile spreads across his lips. These are the people he’s in love with and he couldn’t have picked better even if he tried.
Namjoon clears his throat, ignoring the chaos that always erupts when all seven of them are together.
“Go ahead, Kook-ah. Take your time, there’s no rush,” Namjoon gives Jungkook another one of his patented warm smiles that make Jungkook feel so cared for and have his heart melting into goo.
The usual behavior puts Jungkook at ease, as do Namjoon’s words. So what comes out of his mouth next is a hundred percent sincere.
“I’m in love with you,” Jungkook says, clear and strong and with as much of that love in his voice as he can physically express.
Immense relief washes over him after the words leave him. This secret that he’s been holding in for years is finally out in the open and he can’t believe how freeing it feels.
But it doesn’t last long.
The hummingbirds still and a void fills Jungkook’s gut when all six of his hyungs freeze and look at him with wide eyes. Jungkook’s heart starts a panicked quick rhythm when no one says a word, when the love confessions he expected to hear don’t follow.
“You’re in love with Namjoonie?” Hoseok asks, eyes ping-ponging between Namjoon and Jungkook. He pulls away from Taehyung slowly, and Taehyung sits up, mouth agape as he stares at Jungkook.
“Oh,” Jungkook flushes furiously when he realizes his mistake. “Not just Rapmon-hyung. All-all of you. I’m, uh, in love with all six of you,” he stutters and stumbles over his words, not so sure of his decision to tell them anymore.
More silence follows Jungkook’s words. He can do nothing more but fiddle with the hem of his oversized t-shirt as his throat closes up and eyes dart from hyung to hyung.
Seokjin has a slight frown on his face, his usual joking persona exchanged for the serious responsible hyung for the moment. Taehyung’s eyes are wide, he looks at Jungkook like he’s never seen him before.
Beside him, Hoseok shares a look with Namjoon that Jungkook can’t interpret. Hoseok’s eyes are sharp, jaw clenching. But Namjoon turns away from Hoseok and focuses on Jungkook. He lifts a hand to run his thumb over his bottom lip and Jungkook sees his eyes glaze over with deep thought.
Jimin is biting on his plush lip, eyes on the carpet, not meeting anyone’s gaze. Yoongi, however, leans forward, elbows braced on his knees, sharp feline eyes dissecting Jungkook’s very soul.
It’s also Yoongi who speaks first.
“Are you sure, Jungkook-ah?” he asks. Jungkook realizes he’s not trying to be patronizing or mocking but, with his vulnerable heart out there in the open, it’s what it sounds like to Jungkook.
So Jungkook pouts and crosses his arms. “Yes, I’m sure of my own feelings, hyung, thank you.” it comes out less annoyed and more choked up than Jungkook intended.
“But,” Seokjin says, “all of us? Really?”
Jungkook pokes his tongue into his cheek. Why are they so bent on doubting his love confession? Sure, it wasn’t the most eloquent thing but it was sincere.
“With you specifically, Jin-hyung, it kind of comes and goes if I’m honest,” Jungkook mutters, causing an amused tilt to Seokjin’s lips.
Hoseok snorts at Jungkook’s words and immediately claps a hand over his mouth, but Jungkook smiles at him to show that it’s fine. He did mean is at as a joke and a tease. All hyungs are precious to Jungkook, but he shares a special bond with Seokjin.
“For how long?” Taehyung asks. His gaze feels even more intimidating than usual as it runs over Jungkook’s features with intense scrutiny.
Jungkook chuckles, a bit breathy and a lot embarrassed. He ruffles his hair. “Forever, it seems like,” he says.
Taking a deep breath, Jungkook looks at Namjoon. If they need more proof of his feelings, Jungkook can provide plenty.
“My heart was yours from the very beginning,” he tells Namjoon, who immediately looks away from Jungkook. “I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you but I just didn’t know it then. You were the coolest person to me. I wanted to learn from you, talk to you until morning and then some, just be near you, always. You’re the reason I joined the group, Namjoonie-hyung. You’re the reason all my dreams are coming true.”
The confession has Jungkook’s cheeks blazing, and his stomach doing somersaults. But Namjoon seems to be in a similar position - cheeks flushed, eyes downcast to where he’s fiddling with his hands.
“I love you too, Kook-ah,” Namjoon says, low voice barely audible. A tiny sad smile plays on the corner of his mouth as he glances up at Jungkook. “You and the rest of our members are easily the best thing to happen to me.”
It’s not an I’m in love with you too, Jungkook realizes. It’s not a confession of romantic love, not an admission that he feels the same simmering warmth whenever their eyes meet. There’s no jumping into each other’s arms and holding one another close as they share a chaste first kiss. A foreboding feeling creeps up in the back of Jungkook’s mind and a whole new picture forms right before his eyes.
“Thanks, hyung,” he mumbles, throat threatening to close up. But he clears it and turns to Seokjin. One down, five more to go, he thinks wryly.
“You’re the reason I stayed in the group,” Jungkook tells Seokjin, and Seokjin’s ears start turning red immediately. But he looks straight at Jungkook, pretending to be unbothered and going with the flow as usual. It’s endearing, and Jungkook’s heart can’t stop the fondness swelling within it.
“You were the one to make the dorm feel like home and make me realize that family isn’t just blood. Falling for you, hyung, was inevitable. I don’t think anyone has made me feel as cared for as you do. It dawned on me slowly just how much I love you and how much I can’t bear to be separated from you. Nothing makes me feel as at home as hearing hyung’s laughter.”
“And here I was thinking you were just dazzled by my incredibly handsome looks and stellar personality,” Seokjin says, but his voice is a touch too high, betraying that he’s not actually unaffected.
Jungkook snorts even as the apprehension rises within him. Seokjin is trying to save the situation with a joke, and Jungkook allows him.
“The looks didn’t hurt either. Your personality, though…” Jungkook scrunches his nose in mock distaste.
“Yah!” Seokjin shouts, sputtering a laugh and throwing a cushion at Jungkook’s head. Jungkook ducks out of the way and grins at his hyung even if it’s fleeting.
“Jimin-ssi,” Jungkook addresses him next, and Jimin rolls his eyes even as his lips twitch in barely there amusement. “I’ve never wanted to kiss a boy so bad before I met you.”
For some reason, everyone nods at Jungkook’s words, and Taehyung mumbles a quiet, “Understandable.”
Jimin pays them no mind and lifts an eyebrow at Jungkook. “So I get lust over love?” he tries to joke too. The tension in the room is near unbearable, though, and it hardly works.
Jungkook flushes hard, gaze going to the carpet. “At first, yeah. You were the prettiest person to me. Really made me question everything. But you were also the kindest to me even when I wasn’t to you. I can’t imagine why I kept trying to fight my feelings for you when loving you is easier than breathing.”
Jimin gulps heavily and turns away from them all. A tremble shakes Jungkook’s heart. There’s no smile on Jimin’s face, only tears shine in his eyes before he hides behind his hands. The foreboding feeling intensifies, tangling into a heavy ball in Jungkook’s stomach unpleasantly.
He should probably stop. Quit while there’s half of his heart to be saved. But his eyes wander over the three hyungs that are left, and Jungkook decides they deserve his honesty as well. No matter how much it will hurt after.
He glances over to Yoongi next.
“Hyung is my safe place,” Jungkook tells him and fists his hands to hide the tremor when Yoongi closes his eyes with a deep sigh that reads like nothing but hurt.
And yet Jungkook continues, needing to get this out. “I know I can come to you with whatever and hyung will always find time to listen to me. You would never judge me, only advise me and gently guide me. You always take care of all of us so quietly and calmly. Loving you is so peaceful, hyung. You’re my island in a storming ocean.”
Yoongi lifts his head to look at Jungkook. Tears shine in his eyes and he’s covering his mouth with a hand. He nods several quick times, gives Jungkook that reassuring tiny bracketed smile. It doesn’t make Jungkook’s heart cracking any less painful, though.
Jungkook exhales slowly and looks back over to the couch. A grin, albeit a sorrowful one, comes onto his face.
“Taehyungie-hyung, loving you is electric,” Jungkook huffs a little laugh, and Taehyung smiles along with him even as his smile wobbles around the edges. “You bring so much joy into my life. You’re unpredictable in the best ways. It takes me by surprise every day just how much I love you. You can do something as simple as smile at me and I get this shock to my system that yes, I definitely am head over heels for this man. No one else knows me as you do. You have a piece of my heart and I hope you carry it around with you forever.”
“I’ll keep it safe,” Taehyung promises and taps against his chest, over his own heart, but there are tears rolling down his cheeks, and he’s gripping Seokjin’s hand so hard that Seokjin’s fingers are white. Not that Seokjin seems to be aware as he stares a hole into the carpet.
Jungkook knows that piece will be safe with Taehyung, just as he promised. But apparently not in the way Jungkook wants. It might just shatter into fine dust without Taehyung even meaning to break it.
“Hobi-hyung,” Jungkook addresses the last of his hyungs, but by no means the least.
Hoseok’s signature smile is nowhere to be found. His jaw is clenched and he’s wringing his hands that are hanging between his knees. A fleeting look is all Jungkook gets from him before Hoseok looks away.
The dread nearly has Jungkook choking on air. He knows now. Realizes what a huge fucking misunderstanding this all turned out to be. He knows and yet he still lays his bleeding heart out for the last of them.
“You’re warm like the first rays of sun in spring,” Jungkook whispers out even as Hoseok is shaking his head.
“Jungkook-ah, stop,” Hoseok pleads in a broken tone. He lifts his eyes to Jungkook and they’re red-rimmed, tears brimming on his lashes.
“It’s so easy to love all my hyungs,” Jungkook continues, ignoring him. “But it’s so easy to be loved by you, Hobi-hyung. I feel it every day. In your words, in your actions, even in the way you look at me when you think I’m not watching. It makes me feel so warm. So cared for. There’s no one else I’d rather be in love with than you.”
“Except five other guys,” Seokjin mumbles, and everyone breaks out into huffs of teary laughter.
Jungkook chuckles too until it all bubbles up and a sob forces out of him. Tears blur his vision, and he chokes on air as he tries to breathe in. He falls to his knees, fingers digging into the plush carpet, and lets his heart bleed right in front of the six people who he thought would never let it break.
“Oh, Jungkook-ah,” Jimin sobs out, and then there’s arms around Jungkook. Jimin’s hold is so familiar, so comforting, and Jungkook clings to him, shaking.
Taehyung slides off the couch to join their huddle, lips pressing to Jungkook’s forehead, his temples, over his wet cheeks.
His hyungs enclose Jungkook in their embrace. There’s Jimin and Seokjin pressed either side of him, Taehyung in front of Jungkook, pressing his forehead to Jungkook’s, Namjoon’s and Yoongi’s fingers card through Jungkook’s hair, and Hoseok grabs onto Jungkook’s hand, tangling their fingers and squeezing hard.
“Hyungs love you, Jungkook-ah,” Yoongi’s raspy voice, strained even more now that he’s crying too, reaches Jungkook’s ears.
“We love you so much, baby,” Hoseok echoes Yoongi’s sentiment in a similarly tearful tone.
Jungkook nods and pulls away from Taehyung to glance around. Through the veil of tears he sees his hyungs’ shattered expressions, their own heartache so obvious and cracking Jungkook’s fragile tender heart into more pieces.
“But you’re not in love with me, are you?” he whispers.
The six of them share looks and, one by one, they shake their heads. Jungkook closes his eyes, letting a fresh wave of tears overcome him. His hand goes to his mouth as more sobs threaten to escape.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Seokjin whispers into Jungkook’s hair. His arms are strong around Jungkook when Jungkook slumps into him, trembling with overwhelming heartbreak.
“Not even one of you?” Jungkook asks, cloudy eyes gazing up at his hyungs with the last threads of hope.
He lands on Taehyung, his partner in crime, his best friend, his everything. But Taehyung gives Jungkook the most regretful pain-filled expression.
“I’m sorry, Kook-ah,” he repeats Seokjin’s words.
Jungkook swallows down the lump in his throat and nods. Of course Taehyung doesn’t. Why would any of them? Jungkook is no more than a little brother to them, a kid they’ve known for years even if he wasn’t really allowed to be a kid ever since he joined the company.
Jungkook’s hand goes to the void in his chest where his heart used to be. It aches so immeasurably that Jungkook wants to wail and scream in agony. He fists his hand in his t-shirt, knuckles turning white.
“Did you know?” he has to ask. “Before I confessed, did you know I’m-” he halts. The simple word gets stuck in his throat, and Jungkook can’t utter it anymore.
Yoongi crouches down, pulls a sleeve over his hand and wipes at Jungkook’s wet cheeks with it. “I think we all knew about your crush on Joon,” he mumbles.
“You’re not very subtle, Jungkook-ah,” Seokjin tries to lighten the mood and manages to pull from Jungkook a huff of something that might be classified as laughter if they’re being generous.
“I thought it would pass. Puppy love, you know?” Namjoon is the one to speak up. His eyes, so full of concern, run over Jungkook’s features, lips turned down at the corners. “And I figured it did when you started showing more attention to the others. Especially Jimin.”
“I love attention from my Jungkookie,” Jimin declares and presses a smacking kiss to Jungkook’s cheek. It’s unfair of him to do so. It feels like he’s playing with the shards of Jungkook’s broken heart, crumbling them into dust in his hands.
“We figured your heart is just so loving that it can’t help crushing on every one of us,” Hoseok says. He shares a look with Namjoon, the same one from before. “But we thought it was just phases - first Namjoon, then Jimin and Tae, me, Yoongi-hyung, and Jin-hyung.”
Seokjin knocks his shoulder into Hoseok’s, making Hoseok sway at the light impact. “How am I last?” he mumbles. “He literally confessed to me second.”
Jungkook wipes at his runny nose, sniffling. “No, hHobi-hyung is right. You were definitely the last one I expected to fall for.”
“You little shit,” Seokjin curses at him and digs his fingers into Jungkook’s sides to have him giggling and struggling to breathe because of it.
The short reprieve is nice. For a dozen of seconds Jungkook can pretend this is another normal evening, that he didn’t just deliver his exposed tender heart to the people he trusts most, and that they didn’t thrust it back at him, bleeding and broken.
But the moment passes and it hurts just the same, if not more. Jungkook hides his face in his hands, can’t stand all the pitiful looks sent his way.
“I’m so stupid,” he mumbles.
“You’re not,” Jimin argues heatedly, tone almost harsh. “Being in love is not stupid.”
Fingers wrap around Jungkook’s wrists and gently tug his hands away from his tear-streaked, red and puffy face. Namjoon’s thumbs stroke over Jungkook’s pulse points.
“You’re amazing,” Namjoon tells him. “And so brave. You’ve got such a big loving heart, baby, and all of us are honored it chose us.”
Yoongi tucks a lock of Jungkook’s hair behind his ear. “I’m sorry none of us can return your love the way you need. It’s not fair to you. You deserve an epic love, someone that will shake you to your core and change your whole world.”
You do that, Jungkook wants to argue. His hyungs are the ones Jungkook’s world revolves around. It’s not gravity keeping him here, it’s his hyungs. There’s no greater force, nothing that matches what he feels for them.
But it’s not enough. Jungkook is not enough. And that hurts the most.
“Now that you know, you can start letting us go,” Hoseok tells him, trying for gentle but only making it feel like he’s grabbed one of the shards of Jungkook’s heart and stabbed it right into Jungkook’s chest where the void is consuming him from the inside out.
“I don’t want to let you go,” Jungkook argues in a whisper. He hiccups on a sob and immediately there’s voices shushing him, hands petting his hair, fingers wiping his tears away.
“You have to, baby,” Jimin mumbles in the same choked up voice as Jungkook. Like all his hyungs, Jimin’s eyes and nose are red from crying, cheeks splotchy with it. Maybe only Seokjin remains as handsome as usual, even snotty and flushed.
The pet name, the affectionate touches, and the gentle murmurs of reassurance tingle all over Jungkook’s body. His bleeding heart gives a valiant thump, the silly thing still holding out hope. But Jungkook shakes his head.
“Don’t,” he says, pushing them away and standing up. “If you’re not - just don’t call me that. Don’t treat me like this. Like you care. It makes me all… It’s better if you don’t.”
“Of course we care,” Yoongi argues at once, a frown on his features.
“This hurts us too, Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung says, also rising to his feet. He steps closer to Jungkook, but Jungkook can’t handle it, wants to fall into Taehyung’s arms and let him take the pain away too much, so he steps back.
“We love you,” Taehyung continues, tears clinging to his long lashes, voice shaking. “Do you think it’s easy for us to see you like this? To know we’re the ones who hurt you like this?”
“Taehyung-ah,” Seokjin mumbles, putting a hand on his shoulder, but Taehyung shakes him off and strides over to Jungkook, forcefully cupping his cheeks and leaning their foreheads together.
“I’m so fucking sorry. I wish there was something I could do to make myself love you the way you need but-”
Taehyung shuts up at once when Jungkook surges forward and connects their lips in a kiss. It’s wet and salty, and Jungkook is too desperate to make it any good. But he has to try. Has to make at least Taehyung see how good they fit together.
The peck lasts barely a few seconds, but it has Jungkook’s heart thundering away. Taehyung pulls away from him slowly, a sort of pitying expression on his face. Jungkook has to look away from it and glances down to where his fingers cling onto Taehyung’s shirt in a grip of hopeless despair.
“A solid ten. Very good kisser, Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung tries for a boxy grin but it dies a swift death.
Realizing what he’d done, Jungkook’s eyes go wide and he steps back. “Shit. I’m sorry, hyung. I forced you to - I’m so sorry.”
But Taehyung doesn’t let him go far. He grabs Jungkook’s t-shirt and tugs Jungkook into his arms, hugs him so tight that Jungkook can barely breathe.
“It’s fine. It’s okay,” Taehyung shushes him, petting through Jungkook’s hair.
It’s an easy out, and Jungkook takes it. His hyungs always were too quick to forgive him for any faults, too ready to let it go and move just to see Jungkook smiling again. It’s that kind of care and these unspoken gestures of love that they’ve been showing all through this whole shitshow of a conversation that made Jungkook believe that they’re in love with him.
Chin hooked on Taehyung’s shoulder, Jungkook doesn’t have much of a choice but meet eyes with the rest of his hyungs. Their gazes are too understanding, too full of a mix of hurt and love, so Jungkook turns away from them, hides his face in Taehyung’s neck.
“What do we do now?” Jungkook mumbles.
He feels tired all of a sudden. Exhausted beyond measure. The void where his heart used to be grows vaster with every second, erasing any and all joy Jungkook might ever feel.
Jungkook hears a shuffle and, of course, bodies press all around him and Taehyung, making Taehyung groan when they’re squeezed together tightly.
“Whatever you need us to do,” Hoseok assures him. There’s a squeeze around Jungkook’s waist, probably from Hoseok too.
I need you to love me back, Jungkook thinks. He blinks rapidly, trying to stave off the tears, not wanting them to ruin Taehyung’s shirt.
“This will change things, won’t it?” Jungkook returns from hiding, lifting his head, and meets Yoongi’s bloodshot eyes first.
“We won’t let it,” Yoongi promises. As if to prove it, he lifts a hand and strokes his knuckle over the apple of Jungkook’s too warm cheek.
“Our bond is strong. There’s nothing we can’t survive together,” Jimin says. He’s clinging to Yoongi’s side, puppy eyes trained on Jungkook. He smiles softly at Jungkook, but as all smiles this evening, it doesn’t reach his eyes and is full of sorrow.
Namjoon’s hand pets down Jungkook’s back. “You’ve got us forever, Jungkook-ah. Nothing will change that.”
But Namjoon doesn’t know that. Jungkook fucked up bad falling for his hyungs and then admitting it out loud so boldly. He shouldn’t have listened to his friends, shouldn’t have trusted his stupid heart. Look where that got him.
“Ah-ah, no arguing with hyungs,” Seokjin flicks Jungkook’s ear when he sees the pout forming on Jungkook’s lips. It makes Jungkook jolt, eyes going wide in surprise.
Hoseok plasters himself to Jungkook’s back, arms going both around him and Taehyung, who huffs at being squeezed from all sides.
“See? Nothing has to change. You’re still our golden maknae, still our Jungkookie that we love and care about,” Hoseok says, nuzzling the back of Jungkook’s neck.
Yes, he is. Only now he’s a broken shell of one. He doesn’t feel so golden right now. All his insecurities are at the forefront of his mind. If only he were better, smarter, more mature, would his hyungs love him then?
“Love you, Kookie,” Taehyung whispers, and the sentiment is echoed by five other voices Jungkook knows so well that he hears the sincerity in them.
Jungkook wishes that would help. But all it does is remind him that he’s not enough.
“I love you too,” Jungkook replies and closes his eyes against the onslaught of tumultuous emotions.
Warm in the embrace of the six most important people in his life Jungkook feels freezing cold. He trembles and his hyungs hug him tighter as if they can keep Jungkook from falling apart. But his heart is already shattered.