I Wanna Stay This Way For Life, I Wanna Be Young Forever

Jungkook wakes up the next morning surrounded by warmth.

He blinks a few times, vision hazy. He's got cotton balls in his mouth and there's a faint pounding behind his eyes, the tell-tale sign of an oncoming hangover.

Great.

He tries to swallow away the thick, unpleasant feeling clinging to his tongue, shifting up on his elbows as he tries to remember what happened last night- and why exactly he's laying on the floor.

He registers, belatedly, the arms tucked across his middle, snug just above his waist. When he shifts up the arms tighten a bit, fingertips digging into the skin of his h.i.p.s; Jungkook glances behind him to see Taehyung clinging to his back like a koala. He's sleeping peacefully, expression so soft and calm that Jungkook stills his movements so that he doesn't wake him up.

Last night, last night…

Oh right.

Jungkook remembers coming back into the apartment with Namjoon and joining a rather rambunctious game of Scrabble (no, he'd never before have thought to put the words rambunctious and Scrabble together, but, well, after seeing Hoseok and Yoongi get into a rather animated discussion on whether or not names are to be allowed and Seokjin literally flipping the game board after Namjoon got yet another maximum-score word, literally dominating the game, it seems like an appropriate description).

Jungkook was surprised at how strong Namjoon's English was in comparison to everyone else, but when he's scoring words like equalize while Taehyung and Jimin argue over the spelling of the word cat. ("It's a K, isn't it? What?! Jiminie, stop hitting me, I'm right! Right?!")

Jungkook rubs his face with one hand, exhaling softly. Okay, he remembers that much, he remembers the game promptly ending after that, but what happened after that?

Slowly, it all comes back.

There was beer- a lot more beer- and some shitty drama playing on the television that Jungkook wasn't paying attention to. He was far more interested in listening to the quiet conversation carried on between Namjoon and Seokjin seated next to him, anecdotes thrown in by Yoongi who was curled up in an impossibly small ball on the lone armchair in the room, headphones dangling lazily around his neck.

One in the morning had turned into two, then somehow four before Jungkook started nodding off, head tipping on Namjoon's shoulder as he drifted. He tried to keep himself awake, not wanting to disturb anyone who still wanted to hang out in the living room, but, well, it wasn't long before Jimin wound up curled up in Jungkook's l.a.p, Taehyung flopped on top of him.

Jungkook wasn't entirely sure how exactly Jimin could breathe in that position, Taehyung literally laying flat on top of him like a cat- but he seemed to be very relaxed and comfortable.

"Okay, time for bed," Seokjin had said, shaking Taehyung lightly to rouse him. Jungkook had expected that to be the end of it, everyone in their own beds so that he could curl up on the couch with a blanket, but then Seokjin had continued. "Kookie, there's no need to sleep on the couch, someone will share their bed with you."

Jungkook turns bright red as it all comes back to him. Right. Taehyung had offered to share his bed, as did Jimin- and even Hoseok- but Jungkook refused adamantly. He wasn't about to impose like that and even just the idea of sharing one of their beds- no. It was way too embarrassing. It was one thing to cuddle on the couch, but he wasn't ready for more than that. Thankfully, Namjoon seemed to understand and had quieted everyone down.

Nobody seemed pleased with the idea of Jungkook sleeping on the couch by himself, though, which somehow had lead to this- Yoongi's suggestion.

Everyone sprawled out on the living room floor, cuddled up haphazardly under blankets pulled off of Yoongi, Namjoon and Taehyung's beds.

Jungkook surveys the room and can't help the small fond smile that breaks out on his face.

Jimin is curled up behind Taehyung, one arm flung over top of him so that his fingertips brush against Jungkook's arm. He's completely cuddled up under a fluffy pink blanket that matches his hair; he wrinkles his nose and wiggles further under the blanket when a sliver of sunlight peeks through the blinds and lands right on his face. He looks completely at ease, as if they do this sort of thing every day.

Well, maybe they do.

Jungkook decides that he's excited to find out.

A snore catches his attention and Jungkook turns to his other side to see Namjoon flopped out on his stomach, face pressed in a pillow that muffles his snores. He's stretched out, his toes sticking out from underneath the edge of the blanket but it doesn't seem to bother him. He's only an arm's length away from Jungkook- close enough that if Jungkook wanted to, he could reach out and touch him.

That thought is oddly comforting.

Jungkook almost doesn't notice Yoongi nestled up to Namjoon's other side. He's burrowed right up against him, tucked in so tight and neatly between Namjoon and Hoseok who's pressed right up to Yoongi's other side, arm thrown over his waist. They're sleeping so close together that Jungkook thinks that the position can't be comfortable- but it must be, because Yoongi lets out the softest little sigh of contentment as he sleeps. Jungkook scrunches his nose in confusion- that's only five of them- and looks around until he spots Seokjin stretched out on the couch above them. He has an arm thrown over his face, purple throw blanket askew, c.h.e.s.t rising and falling rhythmically.

For once, Jungkook really and truly feels like he's not alone.

For some reason, that realization hits Jungkook harder than he'd expected it to.

Tears spring to his eyes that he tries to bite back. He doesn't want to cry, he doesn't want his emotions to get the best of him- he's not sad, so there's no reason to even cry, really- but it's hard when his mind is finally, finally quiet, no room for dark thoughts when it's filled to the brim with the soft sound of sleepy breathing, blankets shuffling, and the feel of Taehyung's heartbeat against his skin. He cuddles back down towards Taehyung, who holds him so secure and steady that it makes Jungkook's bones ache.

He feels secure. He feels safe. But more than anything, he feels like finally, he's home.

Jungkook presses his face back down into his pillow and for the first time in years, he lets himself cry.

Jungkook must fall asleep at some point, because when he wakes up there's movement in the house. He blinks a few times, shifting carefully, but still feels a heavy weight at his back.

"Mh, five more minutes," Taehyung mumbles sleepily behind him, hugging him a little tighter. It'd probably be cuter if Jungkook didn't have a wicked headache brewing. His eyes sting, and when he brings up a hand to rub them, he can feel that they're swollen and probably red.

Great.

Jungkook moves to sit up, ignoring Taehyung's w.h.i.n.es of protest. He blinks hazily as light from the window all but blinds him, prompting him to drop his face into his hands and groan.

A chuckle comes from the kitchen, followed by some footsteps approaching the living room. Jungkook takes a deep breath and looks up to see Yoongi smirking at him, eyes flitting towards Taehyung fondly.

"Here, drink this," Yoongi says, and presses a cool bottle of water into Jungkook's hands. "You want an advil?"

Jungkook nods once, uncaps the bottle and downs half of it in one go. "Please, hyung."

Yoongi disappears into the kitchen and Jungkook takes another sip of the water. The cool water helps to wake him up and clear away the fuzziness in his head. He glances up at the clock on the wall- a hideous old thing- and notes the time, 11:13 am. They slept in pretty late.

Something's sizzling in the kitchen and the shower runs in the distance. Jungkook listens to the sounds around him and uses them to center himself. He hasn't changed from the borrowed sweatpants and sweatshirt he'd worn yesterday, the clothes light and comfortable against his skin. Taehyung's still clinging to his waist, nuzzling his hip sleepily. Jungkook huffs and runs a hand through Taehyung's hair that's gone wild from sleep, sticking out in all directions.

Yoongi laughs when he returns, dropping two pills into Jungkook's hand. "You look like a bomb just went off, Tae," he says, snorting. He squats down while Jungkook takes the pills and ruffles Taehyung's hair, making it look even worse than before.

"Hyung," Taehyung w.h.i.n.es, but makes no move to try and smooth down his hair.

Yoongi responds by doing it again until Taehyung finally lets go of Jungkook and swats at Yoongi's hands. Yoongi grabs at his hands immediately and pulls in a motion that looks quite practiced, forcing Taehyung to sit up.

"Get up, Seokjin-hyung's making breakfast," Yoongi says. He lets go of one of Taehyung's hands, but when Taehyung sways like he's about to fall right back down he tugs even tighter on the hand he's still holding. "He's making sausages. If you don't get up now I'm not saving any for you." With that he lets go of Taehyung completely, who hurriedly steadies himself, palms pressed to the floor.

"I'm up!" Taehyung yells, but with his eyes closed he's not convincing anyone. Yoongi just laughs as he heads back to the kitchen and Jungkook offers Taehyung the last of what's left in his water bottle. Taehyung takes it and drinks it back, humming happily once it's all gone.

"Thanks, Kookie," Taehyung says, and brushes his hair off of his forehead with a hand. "Did you sleep well?"

Jungkook finds himself nodding, which is oddly the truth. He actually slept well, and feels rested, despite his early-morning crying session. He hopes that it's not too obvious on his face.

"I did," Jungkook says, "you guys didn't have to sleep here though." He still feels a bit guilty about that, even though it wasn't his idea.

Taehyung just shrugs as he tries his best to smooth out his hair. "We pay rent because we have to. We wanted to do this," he says simply. Jungkook wants to say more, but all of his words dissolve on his tongue, replaced by the warm feeling in his stomach at Taehyung's words. Jungkook sits in a nice silence with Taehyung until there's some noise from the kitchen, plates being pulled out of cupboards to set the table.

Jungkook pushes himself up and heads over to the kitchen. "Can I help?"

Seokjin's stirring something over the stove and Yoongi's busy counting plates. "Can you make some coffee?" Yoongi says, pointing to the counter next to him where there's a coffee machine sitting. "Coffee's in the cupboard above it."

"Um, sure," Jungkook says. He's never made coffee before, but it can't be that hard, right?

Well, turns out, it is that hard.

He manages to get the filter in after a few attempts (he figures out, belatedly, that there's instructions on the box, which he wishes he'd read initially because the whole thing needs to be folded in weird places that he really doesn't understand) and pulls down some coffee beans. He rummages around until he finds a grinder and guesses how much coffee beans he needs to put in. He must be doing okay though, because Seokjin looks over and nods approvingly.

Jungkook gets the coffee brewing just in time for Yoongi to come back and start pulling mugs out of the cupboard. Six mugs that clearly each belong to someone in the house- Jungkook recognizes the World's most handsome mug, but there's a few that he hasn't seen yet. Yoongi pauses, rummages around in the cupboard until he picks out a seventh one that he places down on the counter.

It seems like such a practiced routine. Yoongi spoons sugar into a few of the mugs, and pulls milk out of the fridge. He mumbles a quiet yeah, yeah when Taehyung yells out his request from the kitchen and drops a tea bag in one of the mugs, pushing it off to the side to fill with water.

Jungkook nibbles on his lower lip and wonders if he should tell Yoongi he's not sure he made the coffee properly, but the smell of fresh coffee wafts through the kitchen and Yoongi seems pleased enough that Jungkook's pretty sure he did well enough. Yoongi picks up the pot and starts pouring the coffee. Four mugs get coffee poured into them before Yoongi hesitates.

"What do you take in your coffee?" He asks, turning to Jungkook.

"Um," Jungkook lets go of his lower lip, not wanting to split it again while it's still fragile from healing, "I don't really drink coffee."

Yoongi stares at him like he's got two heads. "What?"

Jungkook looks down at his hands, shuffling on his feet awkwardly. "Oh, uh, sorry, is that weird? It's just, um, kinda bitter, so I don't really-"

"No, no," Yoongi shakes his head and puts down the coffee pot, mouth pulled into a grin as he laughs. "Why didn't you say so earlier? You drank a lot of it yesterday."

Jungkook shrugs a little, shyly, and watches Yoongi open up the cupboard above them. He roots around in it until he comes out with a black tin with red characters printed on the front. Jungkook recognizes it immediately.

"You like hot chocolate?" Yoongi asks. Jungkook just stares, and he must be quiet for a while, because Yoongi continues, almost fl.u.s.tered, "um, you said you don't like coffee 'cause it's bitter, and this is, uh... sweet?"

He gets an eager nod in return and Jungkook stirs the coffees while Yoongi heats up some milk for him. Soon enough Jungkook has a mug pressed into his hands, steaming hot and smelling of rich chocolate. Jungkook unwraps his fingers from the mug and looks down at it, chuckling when he sees what's on it. The mug has little bunny ears, eyes, nose and whiskers on the front, then a fluffy ball for a tail drawn on the back; the words 'the baby' are printed across the top of the mug in small letters, but are clearly still there. Jungkook can't help but wonder where in the world this mug came from, but he doesn't get the chance to ask.

"Alright, sit," Yoongi tells him, then turns to Seokjin, "I'll tell Joon he can come back in."

Jungkook looks at Seokjin curiously as Yoongi disappears. "Is he not allowed in here?"

"Not while I'm cooking, no." Seokjin grimaces. "The last time I agreed to let him, somehow the food ended up undercooked and he burnt the pan. The pan! He ruined my favourite frying pan."

"Are you still on about that?" Hoseok asks as he wanders in, hair fluffy, towel-dried after his shower. He picks up a mug from the counter without bothering to check what's in it. It has 'Weird? I'm limited edition' written on it. Jungkook can't help but think how appropriate that is.

He takes a big sip of the coffee and hums appreciatively. "This is good, who made it?"

"Kook did," Seokjin says. He picks up his Worldwide handsome mug and drinks some, reaching out to ruffle Jungkook's hair. "Thank you."

Jungkook smiles shyly and Hoseok repeats the thanks before setting himself down at the table.

Jungkook follows suit, sitting in the empty chair next to Hoseok. He sips his hot chocolate and hums; it's good. He sets down his mug as everyone else starts to filter in, the quiet quickly replaced by the sounds of footsteps and chatter, but it's not in an unwelcome way. Rather, Jungkook finds that he enjoys the hum of life that always seems to fill the house.

Namjoon sits at the head of the table and sips on his coffee from a mug with some text printed across it- 'I will probably spill this', it says. He has his glasses settled on his nose, and when he wrinkles it they slide right down to the tip. Taehyung drops down next to Namjoon with his mug that reads I'm the favourite, filled to the brim with tea, and Jimin settles in next to Taehyung, mug filled with what looks like some kind of juice.

"Be careful, it's hot," Seokjin says, placing the pan of sausages on the table on top of a dish cloth. He's followed by Yoongi who brings an assortment of vegetables and a plate of eggs. Everyone cheers excitedly, chopsticks clanging as the fight for food is on.

Jungkook waits and watches everyone get their portion first- he's still a bit too nervous to just jump in- so he's surprised when Yoongi drops a sausage on his plate.

"Don't be shy," Yoongi says, quietly enough that only Jungkook will hear him, "Or else they'll eat everything." He smirks, picking a few pieces for himself and pointing his chopsticks accusingly at Taehyung and Namjoon. Jungkook follows suit, filling his plate with food. He bites into a piece of omelet and smiles wide because wow, it's good. He really needs to ask Seokjin to teach him how to make some of this stuff.

"Eat, it'll soak up all the leftover alcohol," Seokjin says, placing some more food on Jimin's plate. The chatter around the table goes quiet as everyone eats, a true testament to how good the food is.

Jungkook eats his fill, and slowly sips his hot chocolate. He glances a look over at Yoongi and just about spits up when he notices what's written on the mug- I am a ray of f.u.c.k.i.n.g sunshine.

Somehow, though, it fits perfectly.

As the day wears on, everyone falls into their regular routines. Taehyung heads out to work first, followed by Yoongi, who looks far too sleepy to be going to work, but brightens considerably when Jimin presses a travel mug full of coffee in his hands. He ruffles his hair affectionately as he leaves, and although he doesn't say anything, he squeezes Jungkook's neck in a silent goodbye before he leaves.

Seokjin coaxes Namjoon into helping with some of his work and Hoseok disappears into the bedroom that he shares with Jimin for a nap. Jungkook finds himself down on the couch again, thoughts running wild once he's left alone.

Jungkook isn't entirely sure what to do with himself.

He feels like he fits, but at the same time, he doesn't. Where does he go from here? He'd always just assumed that he'd go to college after he graduated high school and figure out his life then, but now that's not really in the cards.

But now… he has so many options. He's not limited, like before- his parents had wanted him so badly to study business, but now he doesn't have the weight of their expectations on his shoulders. He can actually pursue his passions.

The freedom of choice is exciting, but it's also terrifying. All of the responsibility is now on him and- what if he makes the wrong choice? If he f.u.c.ks up now, it's on nobody other than himself. He can feel anxiety coursing through his veins as his mind races, unable to stop the thoughts tumbling through his brain.

He must be silent for a while because soon enough there's a hand tapping at his shoulder then Jimin's signing to him, 'you okay?', his face scrunched up in concern. His hair is damp from the shower- Jungkook remembers hearing him start it up, but he hadn't realized how long he'd been sitting here spacing out.

'Yes,' Jungkook signs in response, 'just thinking.'

Jimin gives him a look like he's listening in case Jungkook wants to continue, but he just shakes his head. There's nothing to say, really- Jungkook's still just looking. Searching.

Finding his place.

Jimin offers him a smile, and Jungkook pushes those thoughts away for now. It's only been a day- he's got all the time in the world, now.

That realization is pretty freeing.

'We're gonna go to the dance studio', Jimin signs, nodding over towards his bedroom, 'I just gotta wake up Hobi. You wanna come?'

It's been years since Jungkook's danced- not since his father decided that it was a waste of his time and distracting from his studies when he entered middle school.

Jungkook's skin tingles with anticipation.

"Yeah," Jungkook says, freedom making him brave, "Take me with you."