Jungkook stumbles through the door around one in the morning as Jimin is wrapping up his final paper, unaware of the late hour. He trips over a pair of boots by the door when he makes his entrance.

" Ta-da! I'm here!" he exclaims.

Jimin yawns. " I can see that. Did you drive home?"

He shakes his head violently, hair bouncing. " Nooo, Tae did."

" Okay, good."

Jungkook makes his way over to Jimin and sits in the floor next to him, placing his head on Jimin's lap. " m gonna fuck you."

Jimin snorts. " Babe, I don't think that'll be happening tonight."

He can feel Jungkook's pout against his leg. " But why?" he whines.

" Because I am too tired to pretend that I'm into it and you are too drunk to be any good."

" Um, rude."

" And anyway, I'm not done yet. Just, like, three more paragraphs."

" Min, it's so late. Let's just go to bed. We can sleep. I'll rub your shoulders. I wanna. Please." He kisses Jimin's thigh, and Jimin almost gives in.

Almost.

" Go get ready for bed Jeon. I'll be in there right after you."

Jungkook makes no attempt to move at all. Instead, he rubs in between Links ears, who is sleeping soundly underneath the table. " What are you grading? What was the assignment?"

Jimin sighs. " We're working on creative writing pieces. I wanted them to write a story instead of researching something. They're not doing a bad job so far."

" They're all telling young their own stories?"

" Basically, yeah." He taps his foot, hoping Jungkook will get the hint that he's growing impatient and just wants to wrap up without his drunk boyfriend whining and playing 20 questions.

" Hey, Min?"

" Christ, Kook, what?"

He squeezes Jimin's ankle through his joggy's. " Can I tell you a story, too?"

Jimin drops his head to the back of the chair, " If I say yes, will you go to bed after?"

Jungkook pulls at a string on his own jeans. " Mhm, yes."

He thinks that sounds more like probably than a definite yes, but he goes with it. " Okay, tell me your story."

He appears to be struggling to stay awake, alcohol clearly taking a toll. He blinks slowly and heavily. " Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jungkook."

Jimin puts his hands through Jungkook's hair, scratching. " What are you doing?"

" Shh, it's story time," he slurs. " As I was saying, there was a boy named Jungkook. There was a boy named Jimin, too. That scratching feels nice, don't stop."

He laughs. " I won't."

" And Jungkook and Jimin were best friends. Like, obsessed with each other. And a lot of the time, all I could think about was kissing you, even when we were kids."

Jimin blushes. " You're switching between tenses, baby."

" You gonna punish me, Professor?"

" For the love of God," he laughs.

" Keep telling your story."

Jungkook nuzzles his face back into Jimin's thigh. " There was a summer a bunch of years ago. I invited you and Tyler to come to the lake for the week. It was the summer before you went to college for the first time."

" I remember," Jimin hums. " This isn't a made up story, Kook."

" You didn't say it had to be. You said tell a story."

Point taken. " You're right."

" Course I am. So we were at the lake and I was standing at the end of the dock and out of fucking nowhere, bam!" Jungkook claps his hands together, startling both Jimin and Link in the process. " You came out if nowhere and tackled me into the water, screaming the whole time. And the water was freezing and I stepped on a stupid rock and you were still shrieking in my ear and..." His already pink and blotchy face turns even redder. " And all I could remember thinking was 'My God he is such a pain in the ass, I love him so much."

Jimin swallows. " Really?"

He nods. " It occurred to me around then that that's not a normal thought to have about your platonic friend, especially when he's being a major brat." His eyes are glassy and his breathing shallow. Jimin think he might fall asleep right there on the kitchen floor. " I could have happily married someone from college or work or a friend of Tae's if Tyler was still here and everything was like it used to be. I would have moved past it. My crush. I would have gotten over it. But." He pauses to hiccup. " It wouldn't have been right because I think I was supposed to end up with you. Possibly." Jungkook looks up at Jimin. " Probably."

The unabashed sincerity in his voice and on his face is what makes Jimin get up out of the chair and sit down on the floor beside him. The tile is freezing. He doesn't care. " Probably,"he echoes back. " This is a lovely story, Jungkook. Best I've heard all night."

He clears his throat. " Thank you." Dragging his hand up and down Jimin's calf, he keeps going, half whispering, eyes hooded. " I've always loved you. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but I did. I always loved you. There was a time within recent years that I thought that this maybe wasn't just platonic love anymore. That maybe this crush is more than that, and it's not so under control anymore. But when I compare how I felt about you then to how I feel about you now...l" He pinches Jimin's Knee for no apparent reason. " I didn't truly know what it actually felt like to love you. I only had an idea of what it felt like, I know now, though." He looks at Jimin, their kicking together.

" Do you think Tyler would be okay with this?" he asks suddenly, a hint of wavering desperation to his voice. Do you think he would like that we're together now? He wouldn't feel betrayed or anything?"

Jimin can't think of what to say, partly because he's stunned from all of Jungkook's words, partly because he asks himself that question everyday. He tangles his hands up in Jungkook's. " Tyler told me to find someone who loves me as much or more than he did, remember? he whispers. " He trusted you with his life and he loved you so much. I think...I think he would be grateful that I found comfort in someone so close to both of us. At least, that's what I tell myself."

Jungkook nods, not saying anything else. He reaches out and touches Link again, movements even slower than before.

" I found more than just comfort in you, Kook," he says, touching Jungkook's chin and turning his face towards his own. " You're the best thing that could have happened to me."

He bites at his bottom lip. " I feel the same way."

After a moment, he admits, " I don't remember that specific day at the lake."

Jungkook smiles at that. " I could probably come up with a thousand meaningless moments between us that made me think I loved you. They all blend together now."

" Now because you're drunk?"

" Now, because I have so many of those little moments that I can't keep track."

Jimin grins, scooting over on the floor, sliding closer to Jungkook. " I've loved you for such a long time, Jeon. It took a really terrible thing in our lives for me to get here, for me to eventually fall in love with you the way I was supposed to. And every moment of all of this with you has been...My favourite everything."

Jungkook puts his head on Jimin's shoulder. " Your story was nice, too baby," he mumbles.

Jimin laughs. " Thanks." Suddenly, he realises just how very tired he is. " Let's go to bed. I'll finish that paper in the morning."

Jungkook stands up with wobbly knees, pulling Jimin up with him. " My distraction tool worked."

He yawns, patting Jungkook on the chest. " Yeah, I'll say."

They brush their teeth and change together, and when they slide under the covers side-by-side, Jimin thinks Tyler would be happy to see his boy so happy.

In fact, he knows.

Time to throw a spanner in their relationship I think!!