at least once a week, yoongi hovers in jungkook's art room and watches him work, whilst asking a series of questions that seem like an attempt at art lingo, but mainly come off as gibberish. that probably has something to do with the fact that yoongi tends to be smashed off his face half the time jungkook comes over and if he's not, he's verging on sleep-deprived or dehydrated or whatever. jungkook brings it up month or so after noticing, only to have yoongi go off on a string of giggles.

'you worry too much,' yoongi says. 'i get caught up in my work and forget. s'not like it's intentional. don't think about it so much.'

jungkook shrugs it off, but rather than letting it slide, he takes a precaution of making two snacks in yoongi's kitchen when he comes over, one for himself, one for yoongi, and if the elder's pantry shelves are verging on empty, he nags him until he goes and fills them up again. getting called an annoying brat is worth it in comparison to the irritating pang of anxiety he feels when he catches sight of the sunken quality to yoongi's cheeks.

worries aside, jungkook finds yoongi's passion admirable. to be so invested in something you love so much you forget to do crucial things like eat, drink and sleep is the height of every aspiration jungkook's ever dared dream about.

he wants to mimic it, get so caught up in his art that nothing else matters. but he's been struggling. he's hit a low point in his work. everything that comes from his pen, pencil or paint brush is complete garbage no matter what he does. it's been like that for almost a week and he's on the brink of losing it, frustration gnawing at his insides like a dog would a bone.

so when his pencil lead snaps from pressing too hard against the page, rather than swearing, or grabbing a pencil sharpener like a normal person, jungkook starts crying.

he's mortified by it, tells himself to get over it but it's no use, he's over-exhausted and the stupid drawing won't fucking work and he's an idiot but he can't help it.

a minute into it, yoongi walks in, and the self-loathing jungkook feels increases tenfold.

yoongi comes up behind him and jungkook expects some wry comment about being a man. he hasn't cried since he was fourteen and his brother said something along those lines to him, but all he gets from yoongi is a sympathetic: 'hey, it's okay.'

jungkook sniffs, hides his face in the crook of his elbow. yoongi's hand falls onto his shoulder and he feels his bottom lip wobble. god, this is stupid. 'sorry.'

'what for?'

'being an idiot. it's just stupid. i'm being stupid.'

'you're not stupid, jungkook,' yoongi says. 'and don't be sorry. you're my friend. i'm here to coach you through the bullshit.'

jungkook gets his breathing back under order, it's a struggle, but he manages after a couple moments and yoongi waits patiently, rubbing his back in soothing circles. they're friends, here to coach each other through the bullshit, but there is no bullshit with yoongi, he's got everything under control.

'yeah?' jungkook asks. his voice only quivers a little.

'yeah,' yoongi says. 'you wanna go get something to eat?'

'do you?'

yoongi chuckles, pats jungkook on the shoulder and gets him to his feet. 'i could eat. come on, let's go.'

during the new year, after the christmas celebrations have faded out, quite a few months since their last visit, taehyung, jin and jimin show up again, and this time, jimin brings a friend.

his name is hoseok, and his smile is as bright as jimin's and he has energy to last for days. he's only been a traveller for a few months according to jimin, but he's just as touchy, just as bright and just as lively as the three other guys jungkook's met.

he, jimin and taehyung spend the afternoon together, including jungkook in on their inside jokes and pestering him to show them all the latest pieces he's been working on. they spend an hour together and coax him into staying the night and jin cooks dinner for them all.

the three go off whilst jungkook's still eating and jimin insists he come and join them once he's finished. jungkook takes his time with finishing, listening to jin and yoongi banter over yoongi stealing jin's drink. ('you have absolutely no proof that it was me who drunk that.' 'jungkook doesn't drink!' 'sure he does!') he finishes the meal and stacks his plate in the kitchen, pulls on his jacket left hanging over a chair.

'where you going, jungkook?'

jungkook freezes in the threshold, spins on his heels back to face yoongi. there's something reproachful about his tone, commanding in that way only min yoongi could hope to possess.

'i was going to see what jimin and the others are up to,' jungkook says.

yoongi shakes his head. 'not a good idea.'

'why not?'

'the stuff they're getting into is best kept to themselves. really i'd prefer taehyung wasn't out there either.'

jungkook frowns. so what, they're drinking? maybe smoking pot or something? he's literally heard jimin describe in different sex positions he's tried in the past, (jungkook might have flushed from head to toe at some of them but what's the big deal?) point is, he can handle it.

'i'm not a kid, hyung.'

'yes you are,' yoongi says and jungkook grits his teeth. 'and i'll let you drink and stay up late and paint or whatever, but you're not dabbling in whatever they're getting into whilst you're staying at my place, okay?'

jungkook's looks to jin, sees the eldest is nodding without looking at either of them, attention on the television screen. blowing his bangs off of his face, jungkook settles into the couch and tries his hardest not to sulk at the decision. it's not even worth the effort of arguing with yoongi, he'd never win, better to save his breath.

they watch a movie together, yoongi drinks his weight in alcohol and ends up retiring to his room halfway through. jungkook sits through ten more minutes of the film before jin ends up leaving too, telling jungkook to let him know what happens. jungkook listens to the front door click shut and after a moment of nothing, he bolts to his feet and heads out to jimin's van, parked out in the sprawling field by a fire pit thats barely going at this stage.

jimin's sitting outside on the grass, smoking a cigarette with neither hoseok or taehyung in sight. he looks up when jungkook approaches, the light of his eyes orange from the cigarette's light. he blows out a plume of smoke and shifts, cricking his neck.

'hey kookie,' jimin grins at him, then up at the sky. 'good night, yeah? stars are all out.'

jungkook nods, glancing up at the night's sky, alight and beautiful. he frowns and locks back to the elder, lips pursed.

'where's taehyung-hyung and hoseok-ssi?'

jimin takes a long drag of his cigarette and blows out a smoke ring into the air between them. he grins at jungkook's wide eyed stare and shrugs his shoulders. 'you can call him hyung, you know. he won't mind.'

jungkook shifts from foot to foot. 'okay. where's taehyung and hoseok hyung?'

there's something a little unsettling about jimin's smile as he cocks his head back so it knocks against the back of the van.

'hyung's taking some time out,' jimin says. 'things got a little intense for him. taehyung went to bed because a dragon fucking told him to or something.'

confusion riddles jungkook's brain as a thousand and one questions spring to mind. he glances at the van, back to jimin, licks his lips.

'is he okay?'

'hoseok? oh yeah. he'll be fine. happens all the time.' he cocks his head towards the house. 'yoongi sleeping?'

'yeah.'

'pfft. lightweight. he's so tragic when he drinks.'

jungkook shrugs. 'i guess.'

he flinches when he hears a sound coming from the van, a loud thump followed by an incoherent shout. jungkook looks to jimin for a reaction, but his face stays pleasantly neutral, jungkook finds it strange just how uncomfortable the expression makes him. he doesn't know what's going on, but nonchalance doesn't feel right.

'hey,' jimin says, the light from his cigarette catching on the meaningful glint in his eyes, fixed straight on jungkook. 'maybe you should get some sleep, huh? preserve all that youthful beauty you've got going for you.'

jungkook isn't stupid. he doesn't know what's going on, but he does know when he's being distracted. however, all things considered, his heart's beating rather fast when hoseok shouts again, noise sounding a bit wet, so he nods, letting his questions simmer.

maybe it really is best not to know.

jungkook finishes shading in the dark strands of jimin's hair and pulls the pad back to look over his work. it's not bad, he thinks, he's got the sunshine smile down-packed and the eyes, almost closed shut with the intensity of the grin.

'that jimin?'

yoongi's voice comes from over his shoulder and jungkook recoils, dropping the sketchbook in shock. yoongi sniggers and it is seriously unfair how easily he can sneak around without being detected, it should be illegal or something.

the elder crouches down beside him, bumping knees with jungkook as he reaches for the discarded sketchbook. he raises his eyebrows, pointing to the book, a wordless request to look through. jungkook doesn't understand why he asks anymore, the answer will and always has been yes whenever it came to yoongi.

yoongi picks the book up and flicks through it, grunting and tapping the images jungkook presumes he likes, though it's hard to tell without actual words being said. he gets to the sketches of seokjin, a couple pages of profiles, a page of getting the gist of the plumpness of his lips. taehyung's page is next, the easiest to draw, in jungkook's opinion, the hard part was getting him to stay still long enough to get the lines down. yoongi lingers on that page for a while, tracing the outline of taehyung's smile before flicking to his completed sketch of jimin, yet to be signed and dated.

jungkook waits for yoongi to ask if he's been sketched as well, for him to ask if he can see that drawing. he bites down on his tongue at the thought. he's drawn yoongi a grand total of twenty-six times in the months he's known him and not one of those sketches are good enough. it's the most he's ever drawn any one person. he'll never tell yoongi that.

yoongi passes the book back to jungkook, letting out a contemplating hum. 'you're getting better at realistic shit aren't you?'

'i guess.'

'it's cool,' he jabs a finger at the sketch of jimin. 'you like these nerds then?'

jungkook nods. 'yeah. i don't know many people like them.'

he still doesn't really know many people, full-stop, but that's not anything yoongi needs to know.

'haven't met many travellers then, have you? eccentric motherfuckers, all of them. you remember that festival taehyung was talking about on your birthday? when you asked about the fire pits? it's coming up soon. i'm gonna have about a thousand travellers swarming the place in a couple weeks time.'

jungkook lets out a low whistle, eyes going wide. 'wow.'

yoongi grunts. 'you know, i could make a really legitimate looking math camp form that could get you about a week off school. if you were interested in coming. you could do some paintings for the set-up then spend the rest of the week doodling the freaks to your heart's content.'

'seriously?' jungkook asks, interest piqued. 'you'd do that?'

'why not?' yoongi shrugs. 'would be good practise for you and i can see you enjoying sanctum. just say the word and i'll make it happen.'

jungkook nods frantically, heartbeat kicking up to punctuate his excitement. 'alright. it sounds sick.'

yoongi grins and gives him a light punch in the shoulder, nudging the younger back a little. jungkook snorts and goes to recuperate when a thought catches him and the smile fades a couple degrees.

'oh shit,' he mutters.

'language.'

'sorry, i—' jungkook scrambles for his bag, slides it in between his legs and unzips it hurriedly. he'd almost forgotten, god, he could kick himself. he digs inside and the paper crinkles as he pulls out a package, tentatively handing it to yoongi, who's reprimanding smirk has moulded into something that almost looks irritable, eyes narrowed and lips slightly parted in question. his hands stay at his sides, refusing to accept the parcel.

jungkook grins and places the parcel in yoongi's lap. 'happy birthday, hyung.'

'who told you?'

'taehyung. he felt bad that they couldn't be here this time so he told me.'

'taehyung told you?' yoongi asks, blinking back a look of surprise. he scoffs and runs a hand through his hair, a little shakily. 'they're gonna see me in like a month, he's such a fucking dork.' his fingers come down and run across the parcel, finger nails scraping across the paper. 'you didn't have to get me anything, jungkook.'

'yeah i did,' jungkook says, nudging yoongi's knee. 'you gonna open it?'

'nah, i think i'll just stare at it as it is. this wrapping paper is awesome.'

'hyung, it's standard parcel paper.'

'a true work of art.'

'hyung.'

'fine.'

yoongi carefully unties the string at the top of the parcel and picks at the tape on the bottom, removing the wrapping carefully as if scared to tear it. the paper pulls away to reveal a hand decorated scrapbook with the cover of yoongi's latest mixtape on the front cover along with a picture of him from some camp-out.

eyes wide, yoongi flicks the front cover open, sees a sketch of the property staring back at him, the house sitting on the horizon line with the sun sitting low behind it. he leafs through the other pages, taking special care to study each page, some sketches, some magazines cut outs of yoongi's success or pictures snapped from years ago.

'shit,' yoongi says finally. 'when have you had time to do this?'

'i've been doing it here.'

'bullshit. i would've noticed.'

'well you didn't,' jungkook says. 'i'm just that stealthy.'

'as if.' yoongi leafs through a few more pages, eyes studying the page. 'this is really fucking cool, jungkook.'

'jin-hyung helped too. he gave me the pictures.' jungkook leans over to tap a picture on the page from a while back. 'by the way, you looked like a dork when you were my age. what's with the polo shirts?'

'i'm feeling sentimental brat, but don't think for a minute i won't snap your neck if you keep this shit up,' yoongi says, but there's a lack of venom in his voice. 'this is... jesus.'

'you're welcome.'

yoongi's eyes flick to him, soft like jungkook's never seen them before. he punches jungkook again, lightly on the shoulder. it's as much acknowledgment as jungkook needs.